Summer Retreat 2020

FAQ German Retreat

ARRIVAL

Q: I cannot arrive for the retreat on arrival day, may I arrive a day or two later?
A: As the orientation on arrival day at 19:30 is required for ALL retreat participants (including people already familiar with the practice), we ask that you arrive ONLY on arrival day and not later. We are sorry we cannot accept registrations for those who cannot arrive at the beginning of the retreat.

Q: I cannot attend the whole retreat, may I join the retreat only for the weekend?
A: We are sorry we cannot register people who only wish to come for the weekend. Please check our website (Events & Courses) for other weekend retreat/course opportunities at the EIAB. Link : https://www.eiab.eu/index.php?index=88

Q: May I stay longer after the German Retreat ends (i.e. leave 1 day more after departure day)
A: If you wish to stay longer after the German Retreat, only “Option 1” (departure  after departure day) is available. Please choose “Option 1” when you register online.

https://www.eiab.eu/registration-option-german-retreat-en

Q: If due to unexpected circumstances I cannot stay until the end of the retreat, may I have a refund for the days I’m not there?
A: As per our cancellation policy, no refunds are available on or after arrival day including for situations that arise during the retreat.

Q: I can attend the whole retreat, but may my children come only for a few days (or the weekend) for the retreat?
A: As rooms at the EIAB are limited, priority for all EIAB rooms is given ONLY to adults and children who can attend the whole retreat. We cannot register your child in a room if he/she cannot come for the whole retreat. 

If you are camping or commuting and if your child can arrive on arrival day but needs to leave early, please write to retreatde@eiab.eu before registering.

Q: May I arrive earlier (before arrival day) for the retreat?
A: To SUPPORT our registration process, we encourage everyone to arrive on arrival day. However, we understand that there are certain cases where people may have to arrive a day earlier. 

If you would like to arrive early for the retreat, please first write to: retreatde@eiab.eu . Please note that in these days before the arrival day (there will be no scheduled activities, except meals, and support us in the working meditation time). The price for each extra night’s stay will be calculated BASED on the EIAB general retreat prices.

Please visit this website in order to see the price:

https://www.eiab.eu/details-anmeldung

ACCOMMODATION

Q: Are there any single rooms at the EIAB for the German Retreat?
A: We apologize that SINGLE ROOMS are not available at the EIAB for the German Retreat.

Q: May I choose who is in the room with me?
A: When you register online, you can let us know who you would like to room with by filling in the field: “Room Sharing”. This applies for couples, families and friends who would like to room with each other.

Q: I am staying at a room at the EIAB. Are sheets provided?
A: If you are staying in a room at the EIAB, please bring your own sheets, blanket cover, pillowcase and towel; a blanket and pillow will be provided. If you are unable to bring your own bedding, we have limited sets of bedding for rent at €10 when you register. 

Exception: bedding is provided for those staying in the EIAB "2 Person Room with Private Toilet"

Q: I am staying in a room at the EIAB. Do you have sheets for people with ALLERGIES?
A: If you are staying in a room at the EIAB, please bring your own sheets, blanket cover, pillowcase and towel; a blanket and pillow will be provided. If you are unable to bring your own bedding, we have limited sets of bedding for rent at €10 when you register. 

Exception: bedding is provided for those staying in the EIAB "2 Person Room with Private Toilet". We are sorry we do not have sheets for people with ALLERGIES for rent. Please bring your own sheets in this case to ensure sleeping comfort.

Q: I have a very small camping car, may I drive it to the EIAB and sleep in it during the retreat?
A: Due to limited parking space at the EIAB, no camping cars of any size are allowed at the retreat.

TRANSPORTATION

Q: I’m arriving at Schladern (Sieg) train station after 18:00 on arrival day of the German Retreat Can I still be picked up by the EIAB shuttle van?
A: As dinner on arrival day is at 17:30, and orientation is at 19:30, we ask that all retreat participants arrive and register between 13:00 and 17:00.

The shuttle vans will drive from the Schladern (Sieg) train station to the EIAB at 3 times, on on 14:00 PM, 16:00 PM, 18:00 PM on arrival day. If you arrive after 18:00, please take a bus or call for a taxi.

Buses from both Schladern and Hennef train stations take less than 1 hour to come to Waldbröl.

- From Schladern: Take Bus 342 to “Waldbröl Busbahnhof” (15-20 min by foot to the EIAB). 
- From Hennef: Take Bus 530 to “Waldbröl Kreissparkasse” (10 min by foot to the EIAB). 

Please visit www.vrsinfo.de (Tel: +49 (0) 1803 / 504030) or www.bahn.de for more bus information.

For local TAXI SERVICE from Schladern to Waldbröl: 
Taxi Lang Tel: +49 (0) 2291 / 2222 or 4444 or 5555

CHILDREN'S PROGRAM

Q: My child is 5 years old and nearly 6, may he or she take part in the children’s program?
A: The children’s program is for children from 6-12 years old. If your child is nearly 6, you may ask the Children’s Program staff when you arrive if he or she may join the program. All children 0-5 years old are completely in the care of their parents.

Q: I am coming with children under 6, may I still take part in the adults’ activities?
A: Children 0-5 years old are completely in the care of their parents. However, in past retreats many parents with children under 6 were able to coordinate childcare among themselves in order to participate in the adults’ activities.

DISABILITY / MOBILITY ISSUES

Q: I have difficulty walking, what are the facilities at the EIAB like for people with mobility issues?
A: We have very few bedrooms on the ground floor at the EIAB, and there is a step from the entrance of the building to the ground floor rooms. During the retreat, you would need to get from one place to another for the different activities, and some of the EIAB grounds have slopes. We may also walk on steep paths during walking meditation. 

If you have concerns regarding this matter, please write to us at: retreatde@eiab.eu before registering. 

If you have handicap parking permission, please write to: retreatde@eiab.eu in advance and we are happy to provide you with a special parking sticker to park at the EIAB.

Q: I have difficulty walking and climbing stairs. May I join a Dharma Sharing group that meets on the ground floor?
A: We have limited space on the ground floor at the EIAB, If you need to join a Dharma Sharing group on the ground floor, please fill in the field: “Mobility and Health Issues?”  on the registration form. We will try our best to accommodate your request.

ONLINE REGISTRATION

Q: Do I need to register my children?
A: Yes, all children 0-12 years old need to be registered. Please submit a separate registration form for all children 0-12 years old.

E.g. 
If you are coming as a family (2 parents, 2 children ages 8 and 3) then you should fill in 4 separate online registrations

2 for the adults
2 for the 8-year-old and 3-year-old child.

On all 4 registration forms, you can indicate that all 4 of you would like to room together.
Children from 0 - 5 years old may attend the retreat without charge, but they will share the same bed as their parent.

PAYMENT

Q: To which bank account should I make my payment after I have registered online?
A: Please make payment ONLY to the below*, which is specific for this retreat. Payment to our other EIAB account will result in a delay in the processing of your registration.

*European Institute of Applied Buddhism
Kreisparkasse Koeln
Bankleitzahl: 37050299 (national bank transfer only)
Account Number: 341553957 (national bank transfer only)
IBAN: DE94 3705 0299 0341 5539 57
SWIFT-BIC: COKSDE33 (international bank transfer only)

Q: May I pay by credit card or can I pay by cash when I arrive?
A: We apologize that we cannot process payment by credit card or cash. We are only able to accept payment by bank transfer. As we can only confirm your registration after we have received your payment, we cannot accept payment in cash when you arrive for the retreat either. Thank you for your understanding.

Q: I am not living in Germany and do not have a German bank account. How should I pay?
A: Please pay by international bank transfer. If you are making a bank transfer from outside the European Union (e.g. Switzerland, USA, UK etc.), please note that you should add ALL bank charges for the transfer to the “Total Amount” before making THE BANK transfer. Otherwise we shall not receive the full amount and your payment will NOT be complete.

Q: We are a couple/a family/friends making more than 1 ONLINE REGISTRATION but are coming to the retreat together. May we pay together and make only 1 bank transfer?
A: As much as possible, we ask that you make one payment for each ONLINE REGISTRATION. 

If you are coming as a couple, a family, or as friends, and choose to make one bank transfer together, please be sure to list on the payment reference ALL the individuals' “Registration References” when making your transfer.

WHAT TO BRING?

Q: Do I need to bring my own meditation cushion to the retreat?
A: Yes, please bring your own meditation cushion – if you need.

We also provide mat and cushion for everyone.
Q: May I bring my pet to the EIAB?
A: Please do not bring your pets to the EIAB.

TEEN PROGRAM

Dear Parents and Teenagers,  

Welcome to the International Retreat!

We are happy to welcome parents and their teenagers who attend the retreat together as a family. Here is a brief summary of our program.

The teens, while on retreat at the European Institute of Applied Buddhism, essentially follow the same schedule as the adult retreatants, however given their age, their particular needs and in order to give them the necessary space to share their experiences and be together, they have a separate group or “family” with monks, nuns and maybe one or two adult lay practitioners who have an interest in and experience with working with teenagers.

We may offer a separate orientation for teens on the first evening of the retreat. Sometimes boys and girls who have been on our retreats before and know about our practices and activities introduce those to new comers.

We clearly say to the teens that they are expected to attend the whole Dharma talk and join walking meditation with Thay and the Sangha; we also ask their parents to remind them of that expectation and when possible to be with them for the morning activities and for lunch. This creates conditions for families to be together in the practice.

In the beginning of the retreat, we invite all parents to meet our team of monks, nuns and lay staff. We share with them the spirit of the teens’ program, take care of any practical issue that may come up and arrange for the parents to join the Beginning Anew session with their children. We (monks, nuns, parents, teens and staff) are able to support each other better in the retreat thanks to meeting like this.

On the first day of the teen’s program, we usually play a few ice-breaking games which contribute to creating a first sense of family. We may set up a second-body system where each person in the group is caring for one other person and receives the care of a third person. This system is mainly meant to help us know if everyone is present when we start an activity and if someone is missing, his or her second body will let the group know the reason of that absence and if there is something we need to help him or her with.

Sometimes we also make what we call a circle of secret friends: each of us picks from a box the name of someone in the group and that person is your secret friend, you have to observe, understand, learn something about or from him or her and make a gift for him or her at the end of the week. The gift could be a flower, a pebble, a feather, a song, a dance, a letter… it is offered for example during the bonfire evening which also is a highlight of the program.

Apart from that we have mindfulness games, questions and answers with young monks and nuns, cooking or baking, hikes, singing, sharing, sports (may include taichi or kungfu) deep relaxation, arts and meals together.

In the sharing we may speak about topics such as friendship, love, stress, deep desire for our life… we normally present the Five Mindfulness Trainings and share about them as well. In past retreats, teens expressed beautifully how they wanted to experience true love and also reflected about toxic consumption amongst other things.

The most healing practice at every retreat is often the Beginning Anew session with parents. Even the families who have been coming for many years and may be practicing the fourth Mindfulness Training of loving communication at home participate wholeheartedly; everyone is helped by the collective energy to touch and speak out the love for their son, daughter, father, mother, brother and sister. Gratitude is also expressed between young friends and for staff members.

Other flowers in the program include involving the teens in Sangha service (e.g. carrying food to the serving tables, recycling, and gardening), decorating and mindfully performing for the Sangha festivals (“be-in”), and tea meditation.

What matters most to us is the love growing between the young people, between the staff, between the parents and among us all. For the teens especially, some have said they found that the practice centre is one of the rare if not the only place where they can be themselves and they are loved as they are. They also find that there are very helpful things for them to learn, like enjoying their breathing and relaxing their body.

* Important:

Proper attire at the monastery
Everyone including the teens is invited to dress comfortably yet modestly. In the monastery where celibate monks and nuns live, dressing modestly means to dress in such a way that the shoulders, chest and knees are covered. We realize it is summer and the teens like to be cool as well as attractive! Some creative ways to observe our dress code is to have a light weight shirt or shawl to cover shoulders and to wear the popular leggings beneath shorts.

We deeply appreciate the parents and teens observing our dress code and adding to the collective energy of mindfulness during our Family Retreat. We invite all teens to bring appropriate clothing and shoes for outdoor sports such as hiking, working in the garden and other physical activities.

Electronic devices
We know it is important for parents to maintain communication with their children through cell phones, however, in order to benefit the most from the practice and support the collective energy of the community and our periods of silence, everyone is requested to turn off their cell phones, mp3 players, electronic games and devices during all scheduled activities (i.e. Dharma talks, presentations, sitting and walking meditations etc).

To our joy, several teens in the past have taken the courage to set aside their gadgets including cell phones, in this way they were able to directly experience life and the connectedness with others.

We look forward to meeting you and your teen(s) for the retreat!

Thanks in advance for your time and consideration.

A bouquet of wildflowers,

CHILDREN PROGRAM

Dear Parents and Children,

We are happy to welcome parents and their children who attend the retreat together as a family. The practices in EIAB are very child-friendly. Children may be young but their capacity to understand the practice and teachings of mindfulness can often be quite profound. Here is a brief summary of our program.

The Children’s Program

The retreat is rich and full of diversity. The Program is open for children between the ages of 6-12 years. We apologize that we cannot provide a program for those children under 6 years old who require more attention and therefore are better cared for by their parents. But these younger children are welcome to join in with the Children’s Program if they are accompanied by a parent or guardian.

During the day when there are activities for the adults, there would be separate activities for the children. An example of a week’s schedule is as follows:

The evening session is only for the older children 9 - 12 years.

Note:
There will be a separate Orientation for the children's program at the same time as the Orientation for the rest of the community.

The staff would like to be regarded as friends as well as mentors for the children. We aspire to nourish and water the seeds of beauty and goodness in everyone as we help to care for and share with the children.

Your Support

Dear parents and guardians, please also help us by bringing art supplies you might have like colour pencils, drawing pencils, crayons, scissors and needle and thread for making pebble bags.

We very much need the parents and guardians support and during your stay with us. There is always space for you to join us in any of the children’s activities. And if you have any special skills, for example story-telling, music (bring your instrument along!), arts and crafts, yoga, leading community games etc… to offer during your visit with us please let us know by responding to this email or informing us on arrival day during the Children’s Program Orientation.

Of course the most important thing is to simply share your presence. Any contribution would be deeply appreciated and nourishing to us all while learning and practicing the art of mindful living.
Finally, if you have books, games or arts and crafts that can be shared with the children, please feel free to bring them along too!

Thanks in advance for your time and consideration.

A bouquet of wildflowers