Meditation in Asia - Retreat Infos

electricity or telephone.
What to bring: Before your stay, buy an alarm clock, a good flashlight (spare bulb
and spare batteries), flip-flops, water bottle, and insect repellant. All these things
can be bought in Chiang Mai.
Food: The only daily meal, breakfast, consists exclusively of the food monks gather
at alms rounds. Normally this is sufficient to feed a small number of laypersons.
Laypersons can put back a snack for noon. Late afternoons, there are soft drinks,
coffee, or tea. Drinking water is boiled rain water.
Medical care: Good by Asian standards. In the provincial capital Chiang Mai there
are hospitals and pharmacies. The area is not considered malaria contaminated, but
Dengue fever has become more frequent over the past years.
Rules: All guests are obliged to adhere to the eight silas (moral precepts). Men
customarily wear black trousers and a white shirt. Women wear a black or white
Phaa Thung (wrap-around skirt) and a white blouse.
Daily schedule: After the monks’ alms rounds breakfast at 7:30 a.m., then a small
amount of cleaning and tidying in and around the kitchen. Afternoons, paths are
swept, water is boiled, wood chopped and so on. Evenings, an hour of chanting and
an hour of group meditation. There is much time for individual practice, and it is
valued highly.
Climate and best time to go: Over 1000 m above sea level, rather continental
climate. Ideal for the hot season from March to June. During rainy season, drying
laundry can become a challenge.
Notes: Laypersons can stay if permission is given, but they should be able to
practise independently to a degree. The monastery is run in a very traditional and
vinaya way. Ajahn Prajoed rather shuns publicity to retain the Wat’s quiet and „oldfashioned“
character. This has a positive influence on the conditions for practice.
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