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Requirements for Participating in this Retreat

To participate in this retreat you must agree to do the following:

1. Take and observe the 8 Mahayana precepts for one day. Precepts are special vows of moral discipline that you promise to observe diligently for 24 hours. A ceremony for taking precepts will be conducted at 6:30am. You must participate in this ceremony in order to attend any part of the retreat. Please continue reading below for more detailed information about the precepts
2. Engage in fasting for one day. This involves abstaining from all meals during a 24 hour period, except for lunch on Saturday. You should also avoid eating certain foods during the lunch, including: Meat, Alcohol, Garlic, Leeks, Onions, Chives, Shallot, Raddish.

Please note that this retreat mainly involves chanting prayers and making physical prostrations. A brief explanation of how to engage in the practice will be given during the 6:30am session, however after that no further instruction or guidance will be given.

You may wish to have a yoga or exercise mat available for making prostrations.

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About the 8 Mahayana Precepts

The practice of taking and keeping the eight Mahayana precepts is a special practice of moral discipline that is performed with bodhichitta intention, the compassionate wish to attain enlightenment for the benefit of all beings. The essence of this practice is taking eight precepts and keeping them purely for 24 hours. When we take precepts, we explicitly promise to abstain for twenty-four hours from eight actions which include:

(1) killing; (2) stealing; (3) sexual activity; (4) lying; (5) taking intoxicants; (6) eating after lunch (meaning we only eat lunch); (7) sitting on high or luxurious thrones or seats; (8) wearing ornaments, perfume, singing & dancing.

Because this practice is motivated by bodhichitta it is especially powerful for purifying negativities, accumulating merit, and creating the cause for us to attain the unsurpassed happiness of enlightenment.

If you have any questions about this retreat, please contact us at info@meditateinkl.org

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Fasting:

Day 1: No breakfast, only 1 'precepts friendly' vegetarian lunch, and no food until dawn the next day.

Day 2: Full fast: No food or drinks from dawn until the following day. (Or you can follow the same program as Day 1)

Foods to avoid: Meat, Alcohol, Garlic, Leeks, Onions, Chives, Shallot, Raddish.