Personal Retreats
Guests may visit the monastery for Personal Retreats during May to October, except during scheduled closures, scheduled retreats and winter retreat. Personal Retreats are overnight stays of varying duration for self-guided meditators who wish to partake in the monastery’s daily schedule of activities. In contrast to formal retreats, there is no formal meditation instruction given during Personal Retreats and the schedule is more open for individual practitioners to determine a practice schedule that best suits themselves and the community’s needs. Guests have occasional opportunities to join Ajahn Sona for teatime Dhamma talks.
Personal Retreat Booking Guidelines & Registration Form
Arrival & Departure Days:
Saturday arrivals only during weeks we are open for Personal Retreats. Departures are Monday through Friday. Available dates for Personal Retreat are listed below:
The retreat calendar is closed for 2024. Check in late winter for 2025 opportunities. Generally, the monastery is open for personal retreats June – October.
Length of Stay:
One week Saturday to Friday. Guests requesting to stay less than the full week must stay for two night minimum. Priority is given to guests staying for the full week. Longer stays require special permission from the senior monastic.
Prerequisite:
Prior overnight visits to Birken, or at least (1) five-day residential retreat elsewhere. Meditators new to the monastery with less than the listed experience require special permission from the senior monastic.
Birken Calendar:
Please consult the dates above, or the Birken Calendar to determine a suitable period of time for your Personal Retreat.
Guest Guidelines:
Prior to registering for a Personal Retreat, please make sure you have read the latest version of our Guest Guidelines outlining our daily schedule, monastery etiquette, and other guidelines applicable to your stay. All guests are expected to abide by the Eight Precepts outlined in our Guest Guide.
Contact with “The World”:
In order to safeguard the retreat environment at Birken, guests do not have internet or cell phone access at the monastery at any time. There is no cell signal at Birken. Guests are not permitted access to Birken’s wifi network at any time (including to initiate two-factor authentication requests), so there is no way to check personal email. Please finalize your worldly affairs and travel arrangements before arriving. It is expected that you will reside on the monastery property throughout your stay and not leave the premises to make phone calls or run errands, etc. You may provide the monastery’s email address to loved ones back home, for emergencies only: bookings@birken.ca
Helping Out:
It is customary for all guests to help out with light chores around the monastery throughout their stay. Guests are assigned yogi duties, which assist the stewards in the running of the monastery.
Transportation:
Please plan to arrive at Birken sometime between 1:00–4:00pm to be present for the Teatime orientation with Ajahn Sona at 5:00pm. Prior to registration, you must determine how you plan to arrive and depart, and include this information on your registration form (please wait to finalize your transportation arrangements until the Birken Office has confirmed your booking). Please note that Birken no longer provides rides from Kamloops or maintains a rideshare board. Visit Getting Here for more details.
Illness Policy:
If you are ill, or recovering from an transmittable illness immediately before your visit (i.e., cold, flu, COVID), please cancel your Personal Retreat. The ability for Birken to remain open for guest visits is directly related to our keeping colds and flus out of the resident community.
Cancellations:
Last-minute cancellations are burdensome to the monastery and prevent other guests from the precious opportunity to visit. Please notify us as soon as possible if you need to cancel your visit. Those who cancel at the last minute or leave the monastery prior to their scheduled departure date, may be subject to restrictions on future visits. Illness cancellation is OK.
Registration Info:
Day Visits & Dānā Meal Offerings
Day Visits
Birken welcomes Day Visitors to the monastery June to October on off-weeks where there are not scheduled personal retreats. Please make sure to email us at least three days in advance of your desired visit (see Day Visit & Dana Meal Booking Guidelines below for additional information.)
You are welcome to arrive earlier in the day and join us for lunch at 11:30am, and explore the monastery building and grounds on your own. But please keep to the main road and do not wander down the small paths to the cabins (‘kutis’), which are private for monastics and residents. Within the main building, the meditation sala on the ground floor is available for sitting meditation at any time of the day. You are also welcome to peruse our library or use the walking meditation hall, both located in the basement.
Meal Offerings
It is also possible to come for a Day Visit to offer a Dana Meal – a time-honoured, meritorious act of generosity going back to the time of the Buddha. If you wish to offer a lunchtime meal to the monastics, resident community and visiting guests, we rejoice in your generosity and will gladly schedule a date for your meal offering. Please make sure to email us at least three days in advance of your requested date (see Day Visit & Dana Meal Booking Guidelines below for additional information.)
Don’t worry if you’ve never done it before – a kitchen steward will be on site to assist you as needed. For more information, please see Food & Material Offerings.
Day Visit & Dana Meal Booking Guidelines
To book a Day Visit or Dana Meal offering at Birken:
Day visits or Dana meals may be booked the following dates, outside of personal retreat times:
Jun 8-15
Jun 22-29
Jul 6-13
Aug 3-10
Aug 17-24
Aug 31-Sept 7
Sept 14-21
Sept 28-Oct 5
Oct 12-19
If you plan to come for a Day Visit and/or Dana Meal Offering, you do not need to submit an online registration form. We do, however, request that you consult the schedule above and email at least one week in advance (bookings@birken.ca) of your requested visit, including the following information:
Day Visits:
- Your full name
- The date and time of your visit
- The names of any others who will be joining you
Dana Meal Offerings:
- Your full name
- The date and time you plan to arrive; our main meal is offered at 11:30am; you may arrive as early as 8:30am to prepare your meal offering
- The number of people will be joining you that day, including their names, if possible
- If you plan to offer the whole meal or just a few dishes for all residents and guests; please also consider this as the main meal of the day as no food is served at Birken after lunch
- If you plan to prepare your meal at Birken or will be bringing along prepared dishes
- Please email us (bookings@birken.ca) one week prior to your confirmed Dana Meal to request an up-to-date estimated meal count for that day
We will then notify you if your planned visit conflicts with any scheduled closures or events here at the monastery. Please note that your Day Visit and/or Dana Meal is not confirmed until you receive approval from the Birken Office. Please note that there are no overnight accommodations at the monastery for those offering a Dana meal.
If you plan to arrive in the morning for a Day Visit, please make sure to let us know so we can advise the kitchen that you’ll be here for the midday meal at 11am (11:30am during Daylight Saving Time). If it is your first time visiting the monastery, we recommend that you read through our Guest Guidelines to get a sense of proper monastery etiquette and our daily schedule. For information on how to get to Birken, please see Getting Here.
2024 Scheduled Retreats
At this time there are no scheduled retreats, but check back in this space, as things could arise throughout the year.
At certain times of the year, Ajahn Sona and other visiting monastics lead Scheduled Retreats at the monastery for both Absolute Beginners and Experienced Meditators. These are formal, guided retreats where participants arrive and depart on the same day and take part in a structured group schedule of mental cultivation. See below for the scheduled retreats for this year, and also note the opening and closing dates for registration specific to each retreat.
Support the Monastery
Birken Forest Buddhist Monastery is a registered Canadian charitable society and is supported entirely by donations or ‘dāna’ (generosity). All teachings, accommodations, and meals are offered free of charge. It is left to the good will and discretion of visitors and well-wishers to decide how they might support the work of the monastery.
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Mailing Address:
Birken Forest Buddhist Monastery
7000 Smith Lake Forest Srv Rd.
Knutsford, BC | V0E 2A0 | Canada