Staying at Bodhinyana

Bodhinyana has rooms available for short term residence in the monastery. Local guests may stay for up to 2 weeks, interstate and international guests up to 4 weeks. If this interests you, please carefully read the information below.

If you would like to stay at Jhana Grove Meditation Retreat Centre for the 3 month annual rains retreat you can find more information here. We do not offer places for visitors at Bodhinyana monastery during that period. These rooms are reserved for prospective anagarika candidates and by invitation only.

Visas

Please remember that you need a visa to enter Australia if you are from overseas. To find out which one is the right one for you follow this link: http://www.border.gov.au/Trav/Visi/Visi#. A visitor visa will cover you to come and stay as a guest at Bodhinyana.

General Requirements

To stay, applicants should meet the following criteria:

• Applicants should be Buddhist, and a member of the BSWA if living locally
• Applicants should have completed at least one Buddhist retreat, and preferably have a daily meditation routine. There is no formal meditation teaching program at the monastery, so one must be able to meditate independently.
• Applicants should be in good physical and mental health.
• Guests are required to keep the 8 precepts (see below) and respect the monastery rules while staying at the monastery.
• Guests should participate in any work duties assigned to them during their stay.

The Eight Precepts

1. To refrain from intentionally taking the life of any living creature.
2. To refrain from taking what is not given.
3. To refrain from any sexual activity: no physical contact or intimacy with the opposite sex.
4. To refrain from dishonest speech.
5. To refrain from using alcohol or non-medicinal drugs. (Smoking is banned in the monastery).
6. To refrain from eating after noon. (Non-milk drinks, juice, sweets, sugar & honey are allowable).
7. To refrain from dancing, singing, playing music, and wearing cosmetics, perfume, and jewellery.
8. To refrain from using luxurious beds and seats.

 Daily Schedule

Male Guest Work Duties

Female Guest Work Duties

Arrival and Departure

The monastery gates are open at these times:

6am – 6pm, Monday – Friday

6am – 1pm, Saturday and Sunday

It is best to arrive at the monastery before the main meal—starting at 10:30am—as one cannot eat in the afternoon.

If you need to leave the monastery during your stay, or return home earlier than intended, please notify a senior monk or the guest monk.

On departing, please ensure your room is clean and tidy by 10am on the day of departure, ready for the next guest. Return your key to a monk or anagarika if the guest monk is not available.

For those without transport, please take the Australind train, from Perth to Serpentine Station: departing Perth at 9:30am (daily) or 5:55pm (Mon-Fri) / 7:55pm (Sat & Sun). For bookings call: 1300 662 205, or see: www.transwa.wa.gov.au. After booking a seat, please confirm with us your arrival time, so we know when to pick you up.

What to Bring

The following items are useful to bring to the monastery

• Torch
• Alarm clock
• Toiletries and towel
• Sheets & sleeping bag. (Bedding is available, but must be cleaned before you leave).
• Work clothes and shoes/boots
• MP3 player (useful for listing to Dhamma talks and guided meditation)
• A drivers licence

Having read all this you can now complete the guest application form. Applications may take a few days to be reviewed, so please be patient.

If you have any questions you can contact the guest monk:

(NOT IN USE DURING RAINS RETREAT)

Please don’t use the above email address for general correspondence with the monastery, rather contact the office administrator of the Buddhist Society of WA for such matters. The email address of the office administrator is as follows: