Breathe You are Alive!
Breathing for Health and Happiness to Transform Fear

A 5-day Retreat Ven. Thich Chan Phap An and Plum Village Delegation
Friday evening April 09 to Tuesday afternoon April 13, 2010

The Kadoorie Institute - Shek Kong Centre, The University of Hong Kong
Yuen Long, New Territories, Hong Kong

Ven. Thich Chan Phap An at the October 2009 retreat in Kadoorie

Dear friends,

We are happy to invite you to join us for the regular quarterly retreat jointly organized by Plum Village Hong Kong and Hong Kong University Centre of Buddhist Studies Alumni Association. This time, we are happy to have Ven. Thich Chan Phap An, Head of the European Institute of Applied Buddhism, Germany (EIAB) to lead the retreat. Five monks from Plum Village Hong Kong and two nuns from Plum Village Vietnam are joining him to conduct the retreat. There will be a transmission of the 5 Mindfulness Training

In the fast pace of our society, stress, fear and anxiety have become a norm rather than an exception. However, there is another possible way of living. The practice of the awareness of breathing had been used by the Buddha and many generations of practitioners throughout the ages for the sake of healing and transformation. It has been a key element for synchronizing the body and mind leading to a state of relaxation that is crucial for meditation practitioners and it is still applicable today in our society for facing a stressful life of the modern society.

In this retreat, we will have a chance to investigate the teaching on the full awareness of breathing as given in the Anapanasati sutra. A comparative study between different versions of the sutra as preserved in the Pali and Chinese Canon will be given and along the way we will learn to apply the insight of the sutra to our current situation for embracing, transforming and liberating our difficult emotions. There will be guidance and practice sessions in utilizing our breath for better health and release our full potential of energy including sitting meditation, walking meditation as well as integral Tai-Chi movement.

The tentative program for the retreat is as follows:

Accommodation and cost: The Kadoorie Institute - Shek Kong Centre is situated on 11 hectares of land near Shek Kong, Yuen Long in the New Territories. The cost for rooms and board, facilities and other expenses per person are as followed (in HK Dollars)

For more information about The Kadoorie Institute - Shek Kong Centre, please visit its website: http://www.hku.hk/kisk/

How to register: Registration is available online at Plum Village Hong Kong Website, pvfhk.org, at http://www.pvfhk.org/index.php?option=com_dtregister&Itemid=47, on a first-come-first-served basis. Young people aged six and above can attend retreats with their parents. There will be a children's program on the weekends. 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, we will put your registration on the waiting list. We encourage you to attend the whole 5-day retreat to benefit from the in-depth teachings. However, if you can't attend the whole 5-day retreat, you can register for the 2-day weekend session.

Closing date for registration: April 1, 2010. Cancellation after April 1, 2010 is not refundable. For enquiries, please contact us at retreats@pvfhk.org.

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How to submit payment: Please print out the confirmation page  (or confirmation e-mail) and  send it along with a check payable to The Plum Village Foundation Hong Kong Limited for the amount of your accommodation. For group registration, you can pay with one check. But please send in the confirmation pages for all persons.

Check payable to The Plum Village Foundation Hong Kong Limited

Please send confirmation page(s) with a check to

Weekend Retreat April 2010, PVFHK
1/F Sea View Mansion
7 Chatham Road South, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong

We are looking forward to seeing you at the retreat!

A lotus to you,
A Buddha to be

For the Weekend Retreat Registration Team
Camilla, Corrin and Grace