Oct-6 to Oct-15 2023
*** We are excited to announce that 10-day Tranquil Wisdom Insight Meditation (TWIM) residential retreat by Acariya Delson Armstrong is coming to Austria !
The retreat will be structured for beginners and advanced meditators with one-on-one daily personal interviews. It will be hosted at the beautiful Stift St. Georgen Am Längsee in Austria
The Teacher
Acariya (Delson) is a distinguished meditation and Buddhist studies teacher. He is regarded as a master meditation teacher in Tranquil Wisdom Insight Meditation. Since 2020 he has been teaching many online and residential retreats throughout Asia, Europe, and North America.
Acariya dedicates his life to teaching the path to liberation through the methodology laid out in the Buddhist suttas.
His latest book, A Mind Without Craving, offers a detailed exploration into the nature of reality, behavioural reprogramming, kamma, rebirth, consciousness, and liberation.
If you are interested in TWIM 10-days residential retreat around the world by Acariya, please check here.
Our guest - Venerable Obhasa
Venerable Obhasa is a Hong Kong-born Bhikkhuni in the Zen tradition originally. She is a postgraduate student of Buddhism in Taiwan, Buddhist & Pali studies in Sri Lanka, and Buddhist Counselling study in HK. She started following Bhante Vimalaramsi in 2015 in Indonesia and has four years of meditation and many hours of teacher training in the USA with Bhante. Venerable has approved to be a qualified meditation teacher in DSMC in 2018.
Summary of the program
Start: 6. Oktober 2023
End: 15. Oktober 2023
Friday 6.10, first day
15:00 – 16:30 Check in
17:00 – 18:00 Overview / organisational details
18:00 – 18:45 Dinner
19:00 – 20:00 Intro
20:00 – Meditation / Sleep
Daily schedule 7.10 – 14.10
5:30 Wake up 🙂
6:00 Precepts and group meditation
7:30 Breakfast
8:00 Meditation
11:30 Lunch
13:30 Meditation & Interviews at “Turmzimmer”
17:30 Tea / Pause
18:00 Dhamma Talk
20:00 Meditation
22:00 Sleep, Meditation
Last day / Sunday 15.10
6:00 – 7:00 Meditation & Closing
7:30 – 9:00 Breakfast & Socializing
9:00 – 10:00 Checkout & Travel
Participants are required to attend the meditation hall for the 6:00 AM and 6:00 PM group sessions and One-on-one daily interviews. During practice periods, participants will balance periods of sitting and walking meditation as recommend by Delson. Indoor and outdoor meditation practice is encouraged.
Location - Stift St. Georgen
Stift St. Georgen looks back on 1000 years of history and is now run by the Gurk diocese as an abbey hotel.
Interesting facts about the history of Stift St. Georgen here.
The monastery’s own gardens are easily accessible from the monastery and are suitable for walking as well as sitting meditation outdoors. Carinthia, the southernmost province of Austria, is known for its many hours of sunshine, and in October longer periods of sunny, calm autumn weather are not uncommon.
For our retreat we have reserved the “Festsaal” as a meditation room, the “Turmzimmer” is used as an interview room and in the “Otwinius” restaurant we can enjoy our food as well as tea undisturbed. Our (private) rooms are all on the 2nd floor.
For more details about Stift St. Georgen, please click here.
Accomodation
For our accommodation there are single rooms and a few (larger) double rooms. All rooms are equipped with shower and WC and are located on the 2nd floor of the Stift.
If accommodation in a double room is desired, please indicate when registering and we will check availability.
Registrations, Costs, and Payment
A maximum of 20 people can participate in this retreat.
Cost (per person):
Single room: 1180€
Double room (if available): 860€
The cost per participant also includes the cost of the teacher, his insurance, travel and the retreat costs for Venerable Obhasa.
There is no charge for the teaching of the Dhamma, the teaching of the Dhamma is always free.
Deposit: a deposit of 300€ is due upon registration.
Until 1 March the place can be cancelled without giving reasons and the amount of 300€ will be refunded.
Balance: the balance must be paid by 1 July 2023.
All amounts must be paid in euros.
Catering
7:30 Breakfast, vegan corner available.
11:30 Lunch, 2 vegan and 1 vegetarian dish to choose from (list to choose from at breakfast).
Tea behind the meditation room all day
17:30 Tea in the restaurant
Intolerances:
please inform us of any intolerances when registering. If the hotel restaurant cannot accommodate them, we will contact you.
Please bring with you
Clothing:
It is often sunny and warm at this time, but there can also be a period of rain, wind and low temperatures. Please bring appropriate clothing, good (waterproof) shoes, windproof and warm jacket, bonnet and umbrella.
Alarm clock
Drinking bottle
Torch (walking meditation in the evening).
Slippers
For sitting meditation:
Many TWIM meditators sit on armchairs. We have 2 types of armchairs on site: with and without armrests. Please bring a seat pad, blanket, cushion (for the back), possibly a second cushion for the hands.
If you want to meditate on the floor, I recommend that you bring your own mat, cushion and blanket. There are some mats and cushions available, but not too many.
Covid
The legal regulations in Austria at the time of the retreat apply. In January 2023 there are no special regulations for staying in a hotel. I hope that this will remain the case, if there are any changes I will inform the registered persons.
Regardless of the current regulations, what can we do to protect ourselves and others (compassion & dhana)?
We will spend a lot of time together in the meditation room and this naturally favours the spread of e.g. Covid. A voluntary PCR test immediately before the retreat reduces the risk for oneself and the group.
Note for Austrian citizens: 5 PCR tests per month per person are available free of charge.
Note for International guests: PCR tests within 3 hours are available at Vienna airport and in Vienna.Travel
The Stift is well connected to the transport network.
Railways:
Please leave the train at St. Veit an der Glan
Taxi:
A taxi from St. Veit to the monastery costs about 20€ (one way).Taxiservice: 04212/2299
Travel per car:
If you have questions regarding travel organization, please send me a mail:
Christian Kasper, metta.meditation.austria@gmail.com
Miscellaneous
Retreat Language: English
During the interviews, Mag. Barbara Toth will offer help with translating if desired.
Mobile Phones:
Mobile phones will be collected at the beginning of the retreat and kept safe until the end.
Emergency number:
The number of the monastery is: +43 4213 2046, reachable daily from 7:30 to 19:30.
Please leave at home:
Laptops, tablets, anything that distracts you from the retreat …
If you have any questions regarding the organisation of the retreat in Austria, please write me a email:
Christian Kasper
metta.meditation.austria@gmail.com
Other questions regarding the retreat:
Koen Biggelaar
Retreat Registration Form and Release of Liability
If you want to participate, we ask you to sign this document with our Release of Liability(last page) on site. Thank you.
