Healing Spring Monastery – Retreat information

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What to Bring?

Essentials

• Personal towel & toiletries
• Ear plugs and eye mask, if you are a light sleeper.
• Bedding: bed cover, pillow case, blanket case, or you can borrow from monastery with 20€ donation. (It will be free if you stay for 7 days)
• Flashlight
• Alarm clock/device (or you can use your mobile to set an alarm)
• Water bottle/thermos/travel mug
• Water-proof shoes that are easy to slip on and off (for entering & leaving the communal buildings easily)
• Slippers (for using inside your accommodation)
• Umbrella or raincoat
• A copy (digital or paper) of your invoice and travel documents
• Bring enough clothes, we don’t provide a laundry service, except the long period retreat.
• Appropriate clothing that allow you to sit comfortably. We also highly encourage people to wear Tshirt with sleeve and shorts that cover knees in monastery.
• Personal medicine if you are prescribed by your health professionals.

Note : Please leave your pets at home. Although we love animals, there is no way to accommodate pets in the monastery.

Autumn & Winter

Bring anything that warms you to support your practice, such as jacket, warm bottle, etc

Summer 

• Wide brim Sun hat to protect from harmful rays as we will have activities outdoors
• High SPF sunscreen
• Insect repellent 
• We also highly encourage people to wear Tshirt with sleeve and shorts that cover knees in the monastery.

Hiking Retreat additional items to bring

• Good shoes for walking for dry and wet path.
• raincoat in case of Raining
• a lunch box for packing food with Cuttery
• Water bottle
• swimming gear if we pass by a stream to bath.
• A small backpack for lunch box and drink

Camping with your own tent.

• Bring your own camping gear, tent,mattress,sleeping bag etc.
• We don’t recommend you to stay in caravan/car. There is no water, no proper parking space, no electricity, or no septic hook-ups for caravans/camping car.

Sample schedule

Here is what a typical day might look like

• 5:45am: Wake up
• 6:30am: Sitting Meditation(followed by Sutra Reading / Touching the Earth / Slow Walking Meditation)
• 7:15am: Breakfast
• 10:00am: Dharma Talk / Class / Presentation / Mindful service
• 11:30am: Walking meditation in nature
• 12:30pm: Lunch
• 1:30pm: Rest or Optional Guided Relaxation
• 3pm: Dharma sharing or mindful service
• 6pm: Light dinner
• 8pm: Personal study time/ sitting meditation or other collective practice
• 9.30pm: Noble Silence begins
• 10pm: Lights out

Sometimes there is also a lazy day which is a day where everyone can rest and enjoy the moment.

Contribution

Accommodation 1 : Dormitory (3 beds to 5 beds)

The Price includes accomodations, meals, and activités, including sanitary facility of the monastery.

Details :^{click the star}€30 – Monastery maintenance (building, garden, vehicle, repairs); €25 – Meals (including for the monastic brothers); €45 – Electricity, water, gaz; €50 – Monastery development, equipment, outreach efforts, and monastic training and education; €50 – Building construction/renovation, major repairs, accommodation development, and maintaining a welcoming space for all. This contribution also supports participants in financial hardship by offering greater help for retreat access and provides support for our volunteers.

Details : €30 – Monastery maintenance (building, garden, vehicle, repairs); €25 – Meals (including for the monastic brothers; €45 – Electricity, water, gas; €50 – Monastery development, equipment, outreach efforts, and monastic training and education.
This rate also supports participants with financial difficulties, offering them a 25% reduction of the reduced rate.

Scholarship Rate: 60€/night/person

Sleeping in the Car, Caravan, camping car is strongly not recommended because we don’t have private parking area. You will sleep on the side of public street outside of the Monastery.

Scholarship Rate: 60€/night/person

Child (6-12 years old) – 50% reduction

For over 40 years, the Plum Village Tradition, founded by Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh and supported by monastic and lay communities, has been offering mindfulness retreats that bring transformation and hope to individuals, families, and society. These retreats have touched countless lives, helping people find peace and purpose across all areas of life.

Healing Spring Monastery continues this mission, offering retreats in English, French, and Vietnamese every weekend. Contributions from these retreats are donation to strengthen and expand our monastery and support the monastic community. Living simply, with few possessions and no personal income or bank accounts, our monastic community is devoted to a life of service. If you’re able, please consider choosing a higher contribution level such as “sustaining Rate”. Contributions from our visitors plays a vital role as financial donation in sustaining monastic life and maintaining the monastery. It also allows us to assist participants facing financial challenges, making it possible for them to attend the retreat, including volunteers.

Cancellation & Refunds

We understand that life circumstances change.

There are limited places on Plum Village retreats, and yet many friends wish to come and practice with us. Please be compassionate to others by making your cancellation as early as possible, so others have a chance to reserve your place.

If you let us know your cancellation:

* More than 3 weeks before the arrival date, your contribution will be refunded, minus a €50 cancellation fee & any service charges.

* Less than 3 weeks before the arrival date, 50 percent of the contribution will be refunded.

* On or after the arrival date, there will be no refund.

^{Example: payment 400€, refund 300€}

^{Example: payment 400€, refund 400€-100€/2 = 150€}

• 13 days or less before arrival: No refunds.

Cancellation of Retreats by Plum Village
Plum Village reserves the right to cancel a retreat under any circumstances. In this event, you will be offered a full refund for the payments that you have made to us, including the admin fee.

Plum Village accepts no further liability for retreat cancellations beyond the retreat registration fee refund. For example we cannot be liable for any funds spent on advance travel arrangements, such as flight tickets and visas.

We encourage all our guests to take travel insurance to cover all risks and loss in case of emergencies cancellation.

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