Retreats

[Christopherxx]

Hi there gals & guys!

Was hoping to search everyones brains for some great retreat places.

I am hoping to do a more long-term retreat 3+ months. The focus can be insight, jhana, breath meditation, etc.

It would be benefical if it was in the west and hopefully under a dana base as I would love to donate but to live in a retreat for possibly a year and pay the prices of some of these retreats would probably come close to bankrupt me haha.

thanks guys for your time

[LonesomeYogurt]

May we ask what area of the country you live in?

[Christopherxx]

I live in Canada, but travel through the United States, UK, and other western areas are all okay.

Thanks yogurt

[marc108]

http://www.dharma.org/meditation-retreats/forest-refuge

[Christopherxx]

That really is a great place but to travel there, health insurance, and then those rates (100 dollars a day) that would add up quick for a long retreat.

Though they do offer a great resource and thankfully such people exist in the west

[LonesomeYogurt]

That really is a great place but to travel there, health insurance, and then those rates (100 dollars a day) that would add up quick for a long retreat.

Though they do offer a great resource and thankfully such people exist in the west

If you are established enough in your practice as to not need constant supervision or instruction, your best bet is to reach out to local, small-scale wats or temples and simply ask them.

http://www.arrowriver.ca/ - I know Arrow River Hermitage is always looking for stewards.

http://www.buddhanet.info/wbd/country.php?country_id=1 - Here is a way to search for most or all Buddhist organizations in Canada. Just click on your area and mark "Theravada."

[James the Giant]

It would be benefical if it was in the west and hopefully under a dana base as I would love to donate but to live in a retreat for possibly a year and pay the prices of some of these retreats would probably come close to bankrupt me haha.

Yeah, the prices for the Forest Refuge and other western long-term retreat centres are nuts! That's the price of a mid-range hotel. I don't understand why they are so expensive, what outlay does a retreat centre have that a hotel doesn't? Teachers maybe. Or maybe they are profit-making businesses.

Anyway, the only dana-based long-retreat places I have heard about are in Malaysia and Burma.
Round-trip flights there from Canada start at $1500 canadian, that's not too bad. That's the price of just 15 days at the Forest Refuge!!
Plus you get to go to a way cool country.

Consider living in a monastery too. You have to work a couple of hours a day though.
If you are looking at Canada, there's a great monastery called Tisarana an hour west of Ottawa, with an awesomely wise abbot called Ajahn Viradhammo. He gets major respect when he visits other monasteries, he's good.
There's also Birken in British Columbia, they are bigger and more comfy but also really good.

They don't do such intensive practise as in the long meditation centres, but I meditated about one week in four, and the rest of the time I did at least 4 hours sitting per day, plus mindfulness etc the rest of the day.

[LonesomeYogurt]

They don't do such intensive practise as in the long meditation centres, but I meditated about one week in four, and the rest of the time I did at least 4 hours sitting per day, plus mindfulness etc the rest of the day.

In my short time spent staying at three different monasteries, I can say that it's not hard to get in six to eight hours of meditation in at all. If you're up for 18 hours and you meditate for nine, which is about the most you can squeeze out of the day between chanting, working, and eating, you could spend half of your waking hours in meditation!

[Monkey Mind]

This monastery operates a wonderful retreat center. The info says stays are limited to 30 days, but if you are traveling to more than one stop....
http://birken.ca/visiting