HERMITAGE: A MEDITATION CENTRE IN THE FOREST
Many of us know the feeling: a mind jittery from notifications, a body worn out by constant hurry, and fewer moments of real silence. The Buddha pointed to simple conditions that support practice: a secluded place, a forest, the root of a tree, an empty hut. We want to create such a place in Poland.
The Theravada Foundation is building a meditation centre in the beautiful mountains of south-western Poland, near Chełmsko Śląskie. The site lies in the forest, almost two kilometres from the nearest buildings. At night, deer and wild boar roam here, and the only noise is the wind in the treetops. These are good conditions for steadying the mind, returning to the body and resting from digital noise. It is also a place to look deep within, and perhaps to arrive at insights that free us from suffering, even if only a little, or perhaps completely.
What the centre will look like?
Ultimately, 22 meditation huts will be built. Each will have two modules, that is, two single rooms, so the centre will accommodate 44 participants, each in a room of their own. Beside each room, under the hut’s shared roof, there will be a separate path for walking meditation. The heart of the centre will be the meditation hall. In later stages we plan a kitchen with a dining hall, a utility building with a dormitory for larger numbers of guests, a library, a gymnasium (a hall for physical exercise) and a multimedia room: a space for studying the Buddha’s discourses from the Pāli Canon together and for connecting online with teachers from abroad.
The centre is run by the Theravada Foundation, whose board consists exclusively of laypeople. The centre will therefore be lay-run and independent, while remaining open to cooperation with the Saṅgha. Two Buddhist monasteries, one for monks and one for nuns, will be established nearby. From the very first day the meditation hall becomes operational, monks and nuns will be able to use it for meditation, for the regular recitation of the Pāṭimokkha and for ordaining new monks and nuns. We are not reserving the centre for any single lineage or tradition. Every member of the Saṅgha who maintains good discipline will be welcome here.
NO PRICE LIST
The centre will run on a gift economy, solely in the spirit of Dhamma-dāna, the gift of the Dhamma. There will be no price list and no fees for staying, and the centre will not be rented out commercially.
Anyone who sincerely wishes to practise will be able to come, whatever their means. The centre will be sustained by voluntary donations from participants, given whenever they wish and in whatever amount they can afford.
WE’RE STARTING WITH THE MEDITATION HALL
The first step is the meditation hall. Its design is already finished, but building it requires considerable funds. That is why we are turning to everyone who would like to see such a place built in Poland. It is in this very hall that you may sit as the first retreat participants, and perhaps, as the first monks and nuns ordained here, you will recite the Pāṭimokkha. We are sharing visualisations of the centre and the hall so that everyone can see what we want to build together: a place Poland has never had before, created by people, for people, going against the current of haste and commercialism.
Every donation, small or large, brings closer the day when the first person sits down here to meditate. Let’s build it together.
Thank you.
Sabbe sattā bhavantu sukhitattā: may all beings be happy.
