Retreats
Retreats Information
From 2024, Tathāgata Meditation Center (TMC) no longer offers weekend retreats but focus on organizing more short retreats along with special long retreats to provide meditators with more opportunities to practice Vipassanā meditation. Short retreats include seven-day and fourteen-day retreats. Special long retreats are sixty-day retreats. Specific information about these retreats will be announced about two months before the starting date of each retreat. Please refer to the yearly schedule for specific dates of these retreats.
The retreat program consists of Vipassanā meditation practice, Dhamma talks, interviews, and, if needed, question and answer sessions. The daily practice during the retreats includes taking precepts and periods of continuous sitting meditation, walking meditation, and mindfully observing all other activities while dining, resting…from 5 A.M. to 10 P.M.
Dhamma talks take place daily except Saturday or any other day during the week and are recorded for posting on TMC’s website at the end of the retreat. Interviews are set up after the first few days of the retreat for meditators to report their experiences to the meditation teachers. Based on the information provided, the teacher will guide the meditators to further progress.
Venerable U Thuzana Sayadaw, TMC’s abbot, and TMC’s Sangha as well as assigned Sangha from Panditarama usually lead the retreats. Meditators are asked to practice sincerely and to closely observe the rules and regulations of the center, especially those for retreats. They are advised to keep noble silence to avoid distractions for themselves and others.
For these retreats, meditators are asked to pay retreat fees ($30/day) to cover the retreat expenses such as food, utilities and traveling expenses for the meditation teachers and their assistants. Accepted meditators are advised to bring sleeping bags, blankets and other daily necessities with them to the retreats.
For more information, please refer to the announced information for each retreat.