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My all time favorite is Nilambe in Sri Lanka. It's a small center for lay meditators. It's up in the mountains outside Kandy. No warm water and no electricity. So make sure you bring a flashlight and batteries. Yoga is done two times a day. But the teaching depends on who's staying there. If you know a little bite of yoga you may end up teaching it. Two meals a day and snacks in the evening. From webpage: "Though essentially a Vipassana Meditation (Insight Meditation) centre it can be classified as non sectarian. In the evening there is a short chanting session of Lord Buddha, which many choose to participate or just listen, before beginning the last session of Meditation for the day. Going by the concept, that ultimate discipline is achieved by ultimate freedom, the programme here looks very free, yet the responsibility to adhere to it and benefit from the stay is totally in the hand of the visitor. Nilambe is ideally suited for the self explorers who want to find out what meditation is, and as well as to the serious meditators who wish to deepen their practice at his/her own pace."
I was there the first time 2001 after its resident teacher Godwin Samararatne had died so there wasn't really a teacher at that point. But an American monk that I can't remember the name of gave interviews. The second time I was there Upul had taken up the responsibility as teacher. But I don't know if he is an arhat or not. I didn't interact much with him because I was doing semi solitary retreat and was very much doing my own thing. I had a interview with him before beginning my retreat. Were I told him I wanted to do metta bhavana for five days (taking one person each day.) And then vipassana for a week. And at the end of the stay he called for me to hear how I was doing. But the centre is all about practice and not about nice dharma talks. They have dhama discussions in the evenings. But I guess the quality of the discussions depends on the participants. And they are not compulsory. One thing I noticed about meditation centers in Asia is that you rarely find the peacful and soundproff meditation centres you think you need. But Nilambe had the nices distractions I can imagine, the sounds of insect, birds and other animals, that becomes quite loud in the afternoon. The food is very basic and bland, but nutritious. When I was there I think they served three different dishes and I liked one of them. So I had something to look forward to every third day. The cost of staying is only four dollars a day so its a good place to do long retreats. One thing i which I brought is a pair of rubber glows since you have to do your own laundry by hand and the detergents are quite harsh to your hands. The best way to get there is by tuck tuck or taxi. But you can take the bus From Kandy. But then you might want to get a tuck tuck any way last few kilometres. Or having to hike uphill for about an hour. There are cellphone nr on the webpage, but I have never managed to get through when I've been there. So the best way is just to go there and se if they have any place for you. So if your are self-reliant practical meditator who doesn't need to be spoon feed dharma talks every night, this is the place for you.
http://www.nilambe.org/ http://www.nilambe.net/
Godwins gentle way of buddhist meditation i highly recommended. http://www.godwin-home-page.net/ |