Happiness is the Way 4-day Retreat with
Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh and the Plum Village Monastics

May 23 – 26, 2013

at Wu Kwai Sha Youth Village Ma On Shan, NT

The responses to the 4-day retreat with Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh March 23 - 26, 2013  were overwhelming. Registration for the retreat and for the waiting list are now closed.

Thank you for your interest in the retreat.

PVFHK-AIAB Retreat registration staff

 Dear friends,

We are happy to inform you that Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh will come to Hong Kong in May 2013. The monks, nuns, and lay practitioners of the Asian Institute of Applied Buddhism would like to invite you to participate in the “Happiness is the Way” retreat at the YMCA-Wu Kwai Sha Youth Village. The retreat starts at 10:00 am on May 23 and ends at 16:30 on May 26, 2013.

The way we live our lives and the way we work is crucial to our joy and happiness. If we bring our awareness to every moment, if we practice mindfulness in everything we do, our family, work and friends can help us realize our ideal of living in harmony with others and of cultivating understanding and compassion. Learning the art of stopping, of releasing tension, of using loving speech and deep listening, and sharing the practice with others can have a huge impact on our family and work. When we know how to take care of our strong emotions and to establish good relationships at home and work, communication improves, stress is reduced and our lives much more pleasant. This is a huge benefit not only to us, but also to our loved ones, our family, to those we work with and the whole of society.

At the retreat we will do the formal practices of morning sitting meditation, walking meditation, eating meditation, and deep relaxation in a joyful manner. We will listen to Dharma Talks on how to live a more awakened life by Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh. There will be sessions for sharing in small groups so everyone can sit and reflect deeply on the talk and how to put the teaching into practice, even outside of the retreat. Activities in the retreat help us realize our home and workplaces are also practice sites not only the meditation hall in a remote temple; Mindfulness, transformation, and healing can be experienced everywhere, anywhere and anytime.

Tentative Schedule:

Accommodations and cost: Dormitory rooming is the only option for this retreat. You can register in groups of six or eight female or of six or eight male or as a whole family (you may share room with other families), so as to be assigned to the same room, otherwise the registration office will allocate rooms according to gender. The final placement is up to the registration office depending on the room availabilities.

Those with financial needs may apply for subsidies, which will be given on a first come, first serve basis.
*Free Admission for Monks and Nuns.

*Arrival time for 3-day retreatants is 7:00 am on May 24 to join the walk with Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh at 7:30 am and have breakfast at 8:30 am. Orientation starts at 9:30 am.

* Time for commuter is : 6:15 am – 9:30 pm.

All meals will be Vegetarian, with no diary or egg. Unfortunately we are unable to cater to special dietary needs.

How to register: Registration is available online at the Plum Village Hong Kong Online Registration Website on a first-come-first-serve basis. Registrations are not final until we receive your payment. Please make payment within one week after you register. Due to the limited spaces and the high interest for attending in the retreat, if payment is not received within one week, your spaces will be released and your registration will be canceled.

For means of payment, details will be sent along with the confirmation email to those who completed online registration. If you do not receive a confirmation email within an hour after you register, please notify us by email. Registration is opened on March 1^st, 2013. Cancelation can be made before April 1st, with a cancelation fee of 20%. Registrations made after April 1^st are final, not eligible for any refund. For enquiries, please contact us by e-mail: retreats@pvfhk.org or by phone +(852) 2985-5598 from 15:00 – 18:30 (Tuesday - Saturday).