Staying as a guest at Santi
Santi Forest Monastery has accommodation for lay guests (male & female) who wish to meditate and experience the monastic lifestyle. The natural environment is pristine and quiet, perfect for anyone who wishes to spend a period of time in seclusion.
Guests are encouraged to rise early, meditate often, and to seek pleasure in solitude. Previous meditation experience is desirable. There will be plenty of personal free time, but guests should come with the intention to learn and benefit from the monastic way of life. Santi is not a retreat centre but rather a monastic dwelling, there are no structured meditation retreats conducted at Santi. Dhamma teachings are given usually twice a week, see events for weekly schedule. If you would like to arrange a time to talk with Bhante Sujato or one of the other monks or nuns about your meditation or other questions, please mention this at breakfast or lunch.
Daily Schedule
The schedule at Santi Forest Monastery is simple.
04:00 AM - 06:30 AM: Individual meditation time
06:30 AM - 07:30 AM: Breakfast
07:00 AM - 07:30:AM: Breakfast clean up
07:30 AM - 11:00 AM: Chores time and meal preparation, all guests must attend the work meeting
11:00 AM - 01:00 PM: Main meal & clean up
01:00 PM onwards: Individual meditation time
06.00 PM - 07.00 PM: Teatime (optional)
There will usually be a Dhamma talk on Wednesday night, and a Sutta class on Tuesday 4:00 PM. On Saturday evening there is group chanting and meditation.
Sometimes there are all night group meditation sits & early morning sits with chanting.
Guests must observe the Eight Precepts while staying in the monastery. Please see the guest application form for more details.
All accommodation and other services of the monastery are offered free, dependent on the continuing generous support of the lay community. If you wish to offer items needed at the monastery, please check on Dana Page.
Please note that there will be no accommodation available from the 16th of July 2008 until the 14th of October 2008 due to the rains retreat and lack of accommodation space.
Please read the below file and fill in the Guest Application Form and return it to: santiguest@gmail.com.
Guestaplicationform2.doc(fill in and e-mail)
Guestaplicationform1.pdf (no e-mail? You can Print the pdf file then post the application. Alternatively, use Foxit pdf reader to write on the pdf file directly.)