If you would like to visit Vimutti Buddhist Monastery, the best time is at 10:30am-1:00 pm any day of the week. If you wish to bring a food offering and join in with the meal, please arrive by 10:30, because the one meal of the day is served at 11:00 am .
From 12:00-1:00 pm the senior monk will be available to speak with guests.
Vimutti Buddhist Monastery has limited overnight accommodation for lay guests who wish to stay at the monastery and practice with the resident community. Guests are expected to follow the daily monastic routine and join in with all communal meditation sessions, meetings, and work activities. Generally guests have many hours of the day free for individual Dhamma practice, so in order to make the best use of the situation it is expected that they will have had previous experience in Buddhist teachings and meditation. In accordance with the monastic environment, emphasis in practice is placed on co-operation, self-sacrifice, diligence and communal harmony. The lifestyle encourages the development of simplicity, renunciation and quietude. It is the deliberate and sincere commitment to this way of life that facilitates a community atmosphere where people of diverse backgrounds, nationalities, and personalities can co-operate in the effort to walk the path of the Buddha and realize its goal of enlightenment.
Lay guests who stay at Vimutti Buddhist Monastery are expected to abide by the traditional ethical standard known as the eight precepts:
- To refrain from intentionally harming any living being, including insects.
- To refrain from stealing and taking anything that is not given to you. This includes making use of supplies in the monastery unless they have been specified for your use, for example, taking food from the kitchen outside the mealtime.
- To refrain from all romantic and sexual behavior.
- To refrain from lying. It is encouraged to speak sparingly and mindfully, saying that which is true, beneficial, kind, meaningful and harmonious.
- To refrain from alcohol, recreational drugs and other intoxicants that cloud clarity.
- To refrain from eating after midday . The monastery’s practice is to eat one meal a day in one bowl at one sitting. At other times there are certain drinks and tonics that may be consumed. This practice frees time for meditation and enhances simplicity of life.
- To refrain from entertainment such as music, dancing, playing games and adorning the body with jewellery, make up or perfume. This assists in focusing the mind’s attention inwards towards the Dhamma.
- To refrain from using luxurious beds, in order to encourage wakefulness, austerity and contentment with simplicity.
These training precepts are guidelines for good conduct in body and speech. They provide a foundation for the development of mindfulness and clear comprehension in meditation and in every activity throughout the day. The precepts also serve to promote harmony within the community through restraining unwholesome speech and action. These fundamental principles of training cultivate the self-discipline necessary for spiritual development and are taken up as an act of deliberate personal choice and initiative. We aim our Dhamma practice to include all aspects of daily life, however simple and ordinary, as opportunities to develop mindfulness and other spiritual qualities: kindness, respect, effort, joy, contentment, faith, and patience. In time, the virtuous qualities that grow out of such training gather strength and contribute towards deeper peace and concentration. This in turn fosters insight and liberating wisdom.
Guests will need to bring a torch, toiletries, towel, a sleeping bag and walking shoes.
If you wish to stay at the monastery, please write or email the “Guest Monk” (vimutti.atba@gmail.com), tell him what dates you would like to arrive and depart, give a brief account of your Buddhist experience and motivation for coming, and include your contact details.
If you would like to visit Vimutti Buddhist Monastery, the best time is at 10:30am-1:00 pm any day of the week. If you wish to bring a food offering and join in with the meal, please arrive by 10:30, because the one meal of the day is served at 11:00 am .
From 12:00-1:00 pm the senior monk will be available to speak with guests.
Vimutti Buddhist Monastery has limited overnight accommodation for lay guests who wish to stay at the monastery and practice with the resident community. Guests are expected to follow the daily monastic routine and join in with all communal meditation sessions, meetings, and work activities. Generally guests have many hours of the day free for individual Dhamma practice, so in order to make the best use of the situation it is expected that they will have had previous experience in Buddhist teachings and meditation. In accordance with the monastic environment, emphasis in practice is placed on co-operation, self-sacrifice, diligence and communal harmony. The lifestyle encourages the development of simplicity, renunciation and quietude. It is the deliberate and sincere commitment to this way of life that facilitates a community atmosphere where people of diverse backgrounds, nationalities, and personalities can co-operate in the effort to walk the path of the Buddha and realize its goal of enlightenment.
Lay guests who stay at Vimutti Buddhist Monastery are expected to abide by the traditional ethical standard known as the eight precepts:
- To refrain from intentionally harming any living being, including insects.
- To refrain from stealing and taking anything that is not given to you. This includes making use of supplies in the monastery unless they have been specified for your use, for example, taking food from the kitchen outside the mealtime.
- To refrain from all romantic and sexual behavior.
- To refrain from lying. It is encouraged to speak sparingly and mindfully, saying that which is true, beneficial, kind, meaningful and harmonious.
- To refrain from alcohol, recreational drugs and other intoxicants that cloud clarity.
- To refrain from eating after midday . The monastery’s practice is to eat one meal a day in one bowl at one sitting. At other times there are certain drinks and tonics that may be consumed. This practice frees time for meditation and enhances simplicity of life.
- To refrain from entertainment such as music, dancing, playing games and adorning the body with jewellery, make up or perfume. This assists in focusing the mind’s attention inwards towards the Dhamma.
- To refrain from using luxurious beds, in order to encourage wakefulness, austerity and contentment with simplicity.
These training precepts are guidelines for good conduct in body and speech. They provide a foundation for the development of mindfulness and clear comprehension in meditation and in every activity throughout the day. The precepts also serve to promote harmony within the community through restraining unwholesome speech and action. These fundamental principles of training cultivate the self-discipline necessary for spiritual development and are taken up as an act of deliberate personal choice and initiative. We aim our Dhamma practice to include all aspects of daily life, however simple and ordinary, as opportunities to develop mindfulness and other spiritual qualities: kindness, respect, effort, joy, contentment, faith, and patience. In time, the virtuous qualities that grow out of such training gather strength and contribute towards deeper peace and concentration. This in turn fosters insight and liberating wisdom.
Guests will need to bring a torch, toiletries, towel, a sleeping bag and walking shoes.
If you wish to stay at the monastery, please write or email the “Guest Monk” (vimutti.atba@gmail.com), tell him what dates you would like to arrive and depart, give a brief account of your Buddhist experience and motivation for coming, and include your contact details.