Happiness is the Way
A Mindfulness Retreat for Young People with the Plum Village Monastics
at the Asian Institute of Applied Buddhism – Lotus PondTemple,Ngong Ping Village, Lantau Island, HK
Date and time: 14/01/2016 @ 4:00pm – 17/1/2016 @ 2:00pm
Dear friends,
You are invited to attend The Fifth Annual “Wake Up” Retreat, for friends between the ages of 18-35 years old. Wake up is a movement made up of friends interested in building a Healthy and Compassionate Society. The retreat is focused on Youth, love, ideals so that we canlistening deeply to know more about ourself, what we are willing to do for our lives and cultivating the loving kindness, compassion, joy and equanimity to have more Joy and Happiness for our life to deal withthe difficulty in the very fast pace of the society in Hong Kong. When we can be free in each moment of our lives, then the happiness already there. With a clear mind we will find out the meaning of the life.
In this Retreat, we will learn how to live a more awakened life by practice sitting meditation, walking meditation, eating meditation and have discussions groups as well as exercises together. These practices can help us live in Mindfulness. As a young person, they help us to gain clarity into the future on what to and how to do it in order for us to be at peace with ourselves, to love and understand others, and to have true communication with family and friends. We can be a stable source for reconciliation to take place within our family and in difficult situations. Practicing with a group of people is helpful because the collective energy of mindfulness and concentration is more powerful and grounded. You do not need to be Buddhist in order to learn mindfulness. The training in mindfulness brings relaxation to the body and mind. Having to meet life’s demands creates much stress and disease within our being, we need to learn the art of relaxation. This even includes joyfully playing games, singing song, hiking with no intention of winning or proving our self, we can simply be our self…free and happy. Happiness is the Way Retreat is a chance to heal and to nourish our tender hearts, so we can play an active role in making our society a better place, starting with ourself.
The retreat will be conducted in English with Cantonese translation.
The tentative schedule is as follows:
| Jan 14 (Thur) | Jan 15 – 16 (Fri – Sat) | Jan 17 (Sun) | |||
| 16:00 | Registration | 5:15 | Wake Up | 5:15 | Wake Up |
| 18:00 | Dinner | 6:00 | Guided Sitting Meditation | 6:00 | Guided Sitting Meditation |
| 20:00 | Opening Talk | 7:00 | 10 Mindfulness Movements & Walking Meditation | 7:00 | 10 Mindfulness Movements & Walking Meditation |
| 22:00 | Night Out – Noble Silence | 8:00 | Breakfast | 8:00 | Breakfast |
| 9:00 | Working Meditation | 9:00 | Working Meditation | ||
| 10:30 | Dharma Talk | 10:30 | Dharma Talk | ||
| 12:30 | Lunch | 12:30 | Lunch | ||
| 14:00 | Total Relaxation | Closing Circle | |||
| 15:00 | Dharma Sharing | ||||
| 16:45 | Exercise/Hiking |
Farewell & happy continuation |
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| 18:00 | Dinner |
of the practice at home |
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| 19:30 | Presentation / Be-In | ||||
| 21:30 | Light out – Noble Silence | ||||
Accommodation and cost: Accommodation for this retreat is limited to dormitory-room. Participants will be housed in dormitories (bunk beds) at Lotus Pond Temple and Hop Tak Tong temple. Pillows, bed-linens, and blankets will be provided.
The cost per person is listed below (in HK Dollars).
| Room Type (4 days, 3 nights) | Dormitory (HKD) |
| Wake Uppers (18 – 35 years old) | 900.00 |
*Please write us at retreats@pvfhk.org if you are in need of a scholarship.
Working Meditation: Because the retreat is held in the monastery, all the preparation and cooking will be done by the monastics and some volunteers. During the retreat, we need help from participants in preparation works like: setting up the meditation hall and dining hall, washing up after meals… Participants will be grouped into Dharma discussion groups and will work together in the same groups to help with the retreat.
How to register: Registration is available online at the Plum Village Hong Kong Website HERE ON THIS LINK on a first-come-first-served basis. Registrations are not final until we receive your payment. Please make payment within one week after you register. If payment is not received within one week, our registration will be placed on a waiting list. For means of payment, details will be sent along with the confirmation email to those who completed online registration.
Closing date for registration: Jan 2, 2016. Payment is not refundable for cancellation after Dec 15, 2015. For enquiries, please contact us by e-mail: retreats@pvfhk.org or by phone from 14:30 – 17:00 (Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday): 2985-5033 (English), 2985-5281(Chinese).
We are looking forward to seeing you at the retreat!