You are warmly invited to visit Deer Park and to practice with the community for a day of mindfulness or retreat almost any week of the year. You don’t need to have any meditation experience to visit us.
During your time here, you are invited to practice sitting and walking meditation, to enjoy mindful eating with the community, to listen to talks by our teachers, and to delight in our lovely gardens and nature trails.
Here is a sample schedule:
5:00 AM Wake up
5:45 AM Sitting Meditation
7:30 AM Breakfast
9:00 AM Working Meditation or Dharma Talk
12:00 PM Lunch
2:00 PM Rest / Personal Time
3:00 PM Classes / Meetings
4:30 PM Sports and Exercises / Walking Meditation
5:30 PM Dinner
7:00 PM Sitting Meditation and Chanting
9:30 PM Noble Silence
10:30 PM Light Out and Bedtime
The lodging in Deer Park Monastery is simple with only shared rooms (up to six people per room). Rooms have a toilet and shower. In the rooms, you are provided with a mattress on bunk bed frames. All bedrooms are heated in the winter. Men reside in the Solidity Hamlet. Women reside in the Clarity Hamlet. Couples and families reside in Solidity Hamlet.
Tenting is also available with toilets and individual showers in the campground. Men, women, and couples are segregated into different areas of the campground, but specific locations cannot be reserved. You must bring your own tent and sleeping bags.
Food is included with your registration fee. For every full day, there are three vegetarian, and generally vegan, meals per day. Unfortunately, we are limited in our capacity to accommodate people who have special dietary or medical needs. For those staying in Solidity Hamlet, a small community refrigerator is available in Solidity Tea Room.
Because of our communal practice, retreatants may not bring pets to our practice center.
If you would like more information on visiting Deer Park, please see our Come For the Day and Join a Retreat pages. For schedule information, please see our Calendar.
What to Bring – Overnight Guests
If you are planing to stay overnight, you are encouraged to bring any items that are necessary for your comfort such as:
- water bottle
- flashlight
- alarm clock
- towel
- bedding and/or sleeping bag
- pillow
- personal items
- shampoo
- hand soap
- umbrella
- good walking/hiking shoes
- warm clothing and footwear, particularly in the winter months
- sun hat in the summer and warm hat in the winter
- cloth napkin for meals
“The foundation of a good community is a daily life that is joyful and happy.”
– Thich Nhat Hanh