A three-week meditation retreat in the tradition of Mahasi Sayadaw will be held at Kyaswa Monastery in Myanmar (Burma), from January 8th through January 28th, 2010. The retreat will be taught by Sayadaw U Lakkhana, Carol Wilson and Greg Scharf. This retreat is primarily for foreigners who have had dedicated experience in this tradition.

Foreigners may practice at Kyaswa only during the scheduled retreat. Those who wish to do additional practice in Myanmar before or after this three-week retreat must make their own arrangements elsewhere. Tourist visas currently allow a visit of 28 days, so it is possible to attend this entire retreat on a tourist visa. To get a meditation visa, you need a sponsor letter from your center, which I have. It is currently taking about 6 months for the Myanmar government to process a meditation visa. Note, the Myanmar government does not mind if you overstay a tourist visa. They simply charge you $3 a day for each day overstayed.

NOTE: Please plan to arrive at Kyaswa Monastery on January 8, not before and not later. We are guests at Kyaswa Monastery and Sayadaw U Lakkhana has asked that there be no late arrivals. We wish to respect his wishes. Also it is not possible to stay on at the monastery after the retreat is over.

Location

The Sagaing Hills of Upper Myanmar are filled with pagodas, monasteries and nunneries housing thousands of monks, nuns and novices. Many pagodas date back to the 14th century when Sagaing was the capital and it has remained one of the most important practice centers of Theravadin Buddhism since that time. Kyaswa Monastery, also founded in the 14th century, is located in a remote northern area of the Sagaing Hills. Sayadaw U Lakkhana is the current abbot. The monastery is built on several levels cut into limestone hills rising up from the banks of the Ayeyarwadi River. The new retreat center is located on the highest levels of the monastery and overlooks the river east to the city of Mandalay and the Shan Plateau beyond.

Schedule

Guidance in both Satipatthana Vipassana and Brahma Vihara meditation will be offered. About 14 hours of sitting and walking periods are scheduled each day, and retreatants are expected to maintain continuity of the practice at other times as well. The schedule is intense, wakeup bell at 3:30 am and all sittings are an hour long. A Dhamma discourse is given each day and interviews with the teachers every second day.

Living Conditions

Nights and early mornings may be chilly in January with low temperatures in the 50s. Afternoon temperatures usually reach into the 80s. Little or no rain is expected. Mosquitoes are active from dusk through dawn but malaria transmission does not occur in the area at this time of year.

Yogis are given individual rooms or kutis (meditation huts). All rooms have a bed, firm coconut-husk mattress, bedding and a mosquito net. Retreatants are provided with buckets and detergent for washing their own clothes (only cold running water is available). Water can often be warmed for bathing by leaving a filled bucket in the sun for several hours.

Burmese or Chinese food is served for breakfast and lunch, typically consisting of white rice with assorted vegetable and meat dishes and some fruit. The monastery can accommodate vegetarians who use egg and dairy products, but other special food needs cannot be provided. Yogis observe 8 precepts, which include refraining from food between noon and sunrise of the following day. Juices and herbal teas are permitted and will often be served in the late afternoon. Purified drinking water is available at all times and a thermos of hot water is provided daily. However, this is a third world country. Please bring whatever western medicine you think you might need. Also, it is possible to get drinking bottles with water filters in them. It would be good to bring one.

Registration

A $375 registration fee is required. Fees will be used for the transportation costs of teachers and translators, miscellaneous costs associated with organizing the retreat, and unanticipated yogi needs that cannot be provided by the monastery.

There are no further fees, however yogis are encouraged to offer meal dana. The Burmese economy is extremely depressed, and the local populace cannot afford to offer donations to cover the costs of meals during the retreat. The teachings are offered freely. The monastery provides lodging without charge. Translators and staff volunteer their services. All of this is made possible by the dana of teachers and supporters who recognize the priceless value of an opportunity for intensive meditation and wish to aid others in their exploration of the Dhamma. But this opportunity can only continue with adequate support, and yogis are also invited to contribute before or after the retreat in keeping with their wishes and their means.

Space is limited to about 30 retreatants.  To register for this retreat, please send the accompanying registration form, liability waiver and registration fee (checks or money orders payable to Vipassana Hawaii) to:

If we cannot register you for the course, your fee will be returned. Once we confirm a space for you, the fee is not refundable.

• PDF Version of Registration and Waiver forms. (Click to download the PDF Version of the file.)
• RTF Version of Registration and Waiver forms. (Click to download the RTF Version of the file.)