Retreats in Chiang Mai

Wat Suan Dok  www.monkchat.net

Introductory course to meditation and Thai Buddhist culture including yoga, chanting and alms giving. They begin at 2 pm on Tuesdays returning at 2 pm the following day.  On the last week of the month participants return Friday. Courses are sometimes cancelled so check the schedule on the web.  The course fee is 500 baht plus donation (1000 baht for 4-day course).  Participants need to wear white clothes, available at 300 baht.

Wat Umong                                                                                                                                                                  http://www.watumong.org 053-810-965

The International Meditation Center offers “open in, open out” meditation retreats.  There is a minimum 3-day stay. Retreatants are asked to arrive at 8am.  The meditation teacher, Phra Uttara is a Vietnamese monk fluent in English who studied in Burma.  By donation.

During the Buddhist Lent (through the last week of October, 2012) Phra Uttara, the Meditation Teacher, will be giving dharma talks from 9 to 11 on Monday mornings.  He had developed quite a following.  The dharma talk is in the screened in dharma hall next to the excavations in the International Meditation Center.

Wat Doi Suthep  International Buddhist Meditation Centre                                                            www.fivethousandyears.org  doisuthepinfo@gmail.com  053-295012

Offering a variety of Vipassana (insight) meditation courses for beginners and experienced students. There are 4, 5, 7, 10, 14 and 21-day courses.  Registration must be made in advance and are often full.  All courses are run by donation.

Wat Ram Poeng Northern Insight Meditation Center                                                                         http://www.palikanon.com/vipassana/tapotaram/tapotaram.htm 053 278620

Disciplined Vipassana courses (with a rule of no food after noon and respectful silence) Taught by Thai monks with translators. The basic course is 26 days but the meditation practice can be “tried out” for ten days with special permission.  By donation.

Wat Chom Thong Insight Meditation Center                                                                                                                                  053-826-869  e-mail : watchomtong@sirimangalo.org

Located in center of the town of Chom Thong 58 kilometers south of Chiang Mai it is the center of the Northern Insight Meditation School developed by the well-known Phra Ajarn Tong Sirimangalo.  Offers 4 to 21-day Vipassana (insight) meditation courses taught in English and Thai and some European languages as well.  The meditation teachers at Wat Ram Poeung and Wat Doi Suthep are all students of Phra Tong.  By donation.

Goenka Retreats http://www.dhamma.org/en/schedules/schsimanta.shtml

Ten-day Goenka Vipassana retreats are held on a regularly scheduled basis in Pasang, a district in Lamphun province about an hour from Chiang Mai.  These retreats are quite popular and are often full.  The very same retreats are offered at Goenka centers all over the world.  They are more strict than most of the other retreats.