The Natural Elements in Meditation

Sample Daily Retreat Schedule

Items with * are video offerings that will broadcast on YouTube – times subject to change. All remain available after their first broadcast.

Times listed in Pacific Standard Time (PST) (GMT -8). Online time conversion tool – set local time to Vancouver, Canada.

Morning:
5:30 am – Sitting Meditation
6:20 am – Walking Meditation
7:00 am – Breakfast and Morning Chores
* 8:00 am – Daily new Chant and “The Nature of the Retreat” videos
8:15 am – Sitting and/or Walking Meditation
* 10:50 am – Meal Blessing
11:00 am  –  Main Meal
11:30 am – Meal Cleanup/Free Time

Afternoon:
* 1:30 pm – Group Meditation
2:15 pm – Sitting and/or Walking Meditation
* 4:00 pm – Teatime Q&A with Ajahn Sona

Evening:
5:30 pm – Evening Meal/Free Time
* 7:00 pm – Group Chanting/Meditation
* 8:15 pm – Dhamma talk by Ajahn Sona

With this at-home practice, you will determine your own schedule.

For the maximum feeling of being “live” and sharing your practice with others, plan to watch events at their scheduled broadcast times. If you’d like to watch events in order, mimicking a daily schedule, the YouTube channel will have a playlist of each day’s events ready to go every morning. Lastly, you could map out your own retreat schedule that is a mix of “live,” already broadcasted events, and other retreat videos, based on your time zone.

Ajahn Sona encourages everyone to listen to the Dhamma Talks, teatimes, and all other recorded offerings as often as you would like throughout the retreat and beyond. This is a marvelous opportunity to bask in the theme of this retreat: the highest blessings of this life for yourself and all beings.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Q: I live in a different time zone. Can I still participate in the retreat?

A: Absolutely. For the maximum feeling of being “live” and sharing your practice with others, plan to watch the meditations, Dhamma talks, and teatimes at their scheduled broadcast times. For the schedule in Pacific Standard Time (PST), see the Broadcast Retreat Schedule tab above.

If you’d like to watch each day’s events in order, mimicking a daily schedule, the YouTube channel will have a playlist of each day’s events ready to go every morning. For an example of a typical retreat day that includes all of our video offerings, please see the Sample Daily Retreat Schedule tab above.

Lastly, you could map out your own retreat schedule that is a mix of “live,” already broadcasted events and other retreat videos, based on your time zone. Use the Sample Daily Retreat Schedule tab above to help in planning.

We will also be attempting to upload many of the events to Ajahn Sona’s podcast feed as soon as we are able. His feed is available at Anchor Podcasts or your favourite podcast platform.

Q: I don’t know if I will be able to keep the five precepts or the eight precepts during the entire retreat due to family and work obligations. What do you suggest?

A: The precepts are intentions, not hard-and-fast rules that must be followed. They can be of great benefit in supporting the quality of our practice.

Each of us can only do the best we can in our current conditions. Perhaps you can set an intention to keep the five precepts during the week and the eight precepts on the weekend, or even one day of the retreat.  For more information about the precepts please see the Birken Chanting Book, pages 26-29 and the Amaravati Chanting Book (Volume 1), pages 126-136.

Q: Could you please add a link where the food protocol is described? What are the allowable foods during teatime?

A: Teatime allowables are considered as medicines and not as foods. Very detailed descriptions of what is defined as “food” is provided by the Buddha in the Vinaya Pitaka, The Basket of Discipline. The Vinaya contains all the rules monastics must follow, including rules around food and when it may be consumed.

Here at Birken we offer our residents and guests some of the following “medicines” at teatime: coffee, tea, hot cocoa, dark chocolate (no milk, which is considered a food), assorted candies (again, those that don’t contain “food” such as nuts, milk, fruit, etc. are permitted), clear juices (i.e. apple, cranberry, grape), candied ginger, miso (bean broth based), coconut oil (all oils may be consumed), cheese (which is sometimes considered a butter), honey (sugars of all kinds are allowed), and soy milk (again this is bean broth based).

If you would like to learn more about which foods and drinks are allowable after noon, please see Thanissaro Bhikkhu’s book, The Bhikkhus’ Code of Discipline, as well as Bhikkhu Ariyesako’s  book,  The Bhikkhus’ Rules: A Guide for Laypeople. By using these links you can then search for such words as “medicine”, “tonic”, “food”, “bean”, “noon”, “juice”, etc. for more details.

Q: I have limited access to the internet. How can I still participate?

A: The common component, unfortunately, with a virtual retreat is the sharing of teachings over the internet. If you have a friend or family member that may be able to share their online access with you, even occasionally during the retreat, that may prove beneficial for both you and your friends. If you have access to a hard copy of a chanting book, you could perhaps follow along during our scheduled meditation times on your own. Also please be aware that the evening Dhamma talks and daily teatimes will be available to watch and listen to after the retreat as well. See our Sample Daily Schedule tab on this page for other suggestions to support your retreat.

Q: With the holidays, family and work commitments, I’m not sure I will be able to join in all the retreat activities. Can I still participate in the retreat?

A: Absolutely. Please participate in whatever way works for you, making use of the videos that we are broadcasting and posting daily to Ajahn Sona’s YouTube Channel. We have a Sample Daily Retreat Schedule that you can use almost like a menu: choose the events you can join with other retreatants and those you may want to re-visit later. Just do the best you can. Please note that all of the retreat videos will be available to watch on Ajahn Sona’s YouTube Channel until sometime in February 2022 when they will be taken down.

Q: I’m finding lots of negative emotions are coming up for me during the retreat. Sometimes there is depression, sometimes tears, sometimes lots of anxiety and fear. What do you recommend for those of us experiencing these types of mental states?

A: If you are in a bad mental state during the retreat, please reach out to a friend or loved one, a mental health professional, or ask Ajahn Sona a question on our livestream teatimes.

Why can’t you livestream Ajahn Sona’s Dhamma talks, the meditations, and other portions of the retreat?

A: Living in a remote forest in British Columbia, Canada has countless pluses, yet one of the minuses is our sketchy satellite internet connection. At this time the only way we are able to offer all of you this virtual retreat is by recording and uploading the videos to YouTube in advance. We are hopeful that our livestream Teatime Q&As will go up without a hitch, but we’re certainly not certain of that. If we lose our internet connection during the teatime livestreams, we’ll keep going with pre-submitted questions and upload the recorded broadcast immediately afterwards.

Q: How can I submit a question for the daily Teatime Q&A?

A: Ajahn Sona will answer questions at our live daily Teatime Q&As. If you would like to submit a question, please fill out our Highest Blessings Livestream Question Submission Form (note: this form is now closed; questions may be asked at our final livestream Q&A today, December 31, at 4:00 pm PST.). Questions submitted by 9:00 am PST will be considered for that evening’s teatime. Please be sure your questions pertain to Ajahn Sona’s nightly Dhamma talks and/or other teatimes for this retreat and stay on the subject of this retreat. These guidelines will help to make your question more valuable to all of our retreat participants. The relevance of your submissions to the retreat’s theme of  The Highest Blessings and the Mangala Sutta, in addition to the quality and clarity of your questions, will factor into the ones selected.

Even if you do not submit a question, we invite everyone to join us December 26-31, 2021 at 4:00 pm PST for these very special live teatime Q&As at Ajahn Sona’s YouTube Channel.

Q: Where can I find the Mangala Sutta ?

A: The Mangala Sutta (The Great Discourse on Blessings) may be found in the Birken Chanting Book, page 18 (Pali version) and page 19 (English version).

Q: Many of these chants are new to me. Where do they come from?

A: Ajahn Sona combines both Sri Lankan and Thai traditions in his chanting. Some are in English, others are in Pali. You will find most of them in the Birken Chanting Book so you can follow along.

Q: Where can I find Ajahn Sona’s books?

A: All of Ajahn Sona’s books, articles, and other Birken Monastery publications may be found at our Resources page. Cemetery Contemplations is available as a free pdf download. Bloom: Buddhist Reflections on Serenity and Love is available at Sumeru Books, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, other online book sellers, and your local bookstore. Life is a Near Death Experience: Skills for Illness, Aging, Dying and Loss is available at Amazon worldwide and your local bookstore.