Hi,
I came out yesterday from a 6 day retreat at the "Muttodaya Forest Monastery". I decided to post the information to those interested in doing retreats or visits to the monastery. Here is some useful info:
- Location: Stammbach, Germany
- URL: http://www.muttodaya.org/en/
- Tradition: Thai forest tradition (Ajahn Chah)
- Meditation Techniques: they teach not make any separation between shamatha and vipassana, though all the instructions I got were tailored towards shamadi, i.e. Jhana
- Accommodations: five stars, clean and neat are the keywords
- Physical Setting: in the middle of a quiet forest, perfect setting for meditating
- Daily schedule
6.00 a.m. Morning puja (only on Saturdays and Uposatha days)7.00 a.m. Breakfast7.30 a.m. Work meeting, then 30 minutes house cleaning and 2 hours work period9.00 a.m. on some days the monks go out on alms round (pindapata)11.00 a.m. Main meal12.00 a.m. Dhamma conversation with one of the monks1.00 p.m. Quiet time for individual practice6.00 p.m. Evening drink7.00 p.m. Evening puja (on Uposatha days followed by a paritta ceremony, on Saturdays followed by a Dhamma talk, sutta reading etc.)after that Quiet time for individual practice - Cost: Dana basis
- Language: German, English and Thai
My personal view about the place:
- Good teacher available (german Monk trained in Ajahn Chan´s Forrest Tradition, Thailand & Australia)
- Great accommodation and infrastructure
- Very quiet
- Practice could tend to be "laid back" since there is no "tight" schedule like in the Mahasi or Goenka Centers. This can be good for advanced mediators, but not an advantage for beginners
- If you want to develop the Jhanas go for it!
- They do not follow the whole "map" thing. I guess that the forest tradition do not have anything to do with the Visuddhimagga
- You must be aware that you will invest a part of your retreat time helping with cleaning/cooking