TMC general information

General Information

retreat schedule

retreat registration

Weekend retreat Agenda

noble silence

basic guidelines for meditation

guidelines for Interview

basic rules and Regulations

what to Bring

Location: 1215 lucretia Avenue, san jose ca 95122 (408) 294-4536

how to get there...[ map to TMC]

office Hours

Retreat Registration

Due to the limited space, we will give preference to those who are able to attend the full retreat. we hope to minimize all comings and goings during the days of retreat. all yogis will be expected to arrive and begin the retreat on the opening day and are encouraged to plan to attend the entire retreat. to register please print out and complete the registration form and mail it to us.

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Noble Silence

With the beginning of the retreat, we will all enter noble silence. yogis are expected to refrain from visual, verbal and written communication with each other. you will also be encouraged to take care with the noise of movement, opening and closing doors, mealtimes, and all other general activities.

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Basic guidelines for Meditation

Meditators should do 14 hours offormal sitting and walking meditation per day.
Meditators should stay alone and observe silence. socializing is not encouraged at all. .Meditators must refrain from talking.
Meditators must keep reading and writing to an absolute minimum.
Lay meditators must carefully observe the eight precepts. smoking is not allowed. monks and nuns must strictly observe their respective monastic discipline.
Meditators must strictly adhere to the meditation teacher's instructions and should not practice according to other meditation methods.
Meditators must not get involved in any activities not related to intensive meditation ( e.g. listening to radio, listening to tapes, massage, taking photographs, collecting books, performing acupuncture, receiving visitors, cooking food, learning English, Pali. )
Meditators must restrain their senses. they should act like blind, deaf, dumb, sick and dead person.
Meditators must perform all activities in slow motion. sleep should be limited to 4-6 hours per 24 hours.
Meditators should practice with: respect and sincerety diligence honesty and straight-forwardness heroic effort perseverance patience and Sustained, continuous, moment-to-moment mindfulness from the time of waking up in the morning to the time of falling asleep at night. there is no space for thinking, reflections, speculations, analyzing or interpretations during intensive practice.
Generally meditation is for people with a normal and stable mind. if however, a person is mentally not in shape to do intensive meditation practice, especially to conform to the strict discipline, then that person may not be admitted as a yogi.

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Guidelines for Interview

1. every object encountered during one sitting meditation should be described in terms of: a) occurrence b) noting c) observation

Report the objects encountered in a chronological manner starting with the primary object, i.e. the rising movement and the falling movement of the abdomen. For example: "The-rising -of the abdomen occurred. i noted it as 'rising' and i observed stretching, pressure, tightness.' the falling of the abdomen occured. i noted it as 'falling' and i observed relaxation, decrease tension."

2. describe how concurrent the knowing of the object was and how continuously you could observe it. for example: "The knowing came only after the arising was finished anal could only observe lor 2 risings and falling before the mind wandered off." or "The knowing of the object occurred at the very moment of its arising and duration and i could observe the rising and falling continuously for 20 to 30 times before wandering off." if is most important to describe the primary objects in clear, simple, precise language in all the accurate detail you have observed. Only after that should you go to report secondary objects noted and clearly known in the sitting.

3. describe secondary objects clearly observed and noted during sitting meditation.

For example: bodily sensations (pain, itch...), thoughts and ideas, wandering mind, planning, remembering, mental states (anger , pride, happiness), etc.

Please relate the following information for each object described:

(a) the occurrence of the object, e.g. "pain arose in the knee..."

(b) what you did. how you noted it, e.g. i noted as "pain, pain."

( c) what you observed, e.g. i observed stabbing pain-

( d) what happened to the object, e.g. the stabbing changed to hard pain

( e) what you did next, e.g. i noted it as "hard, hard."

(f) what you observed, e.g. i observed slow pulsating hardness.

(g) what happened, e.g. as i noted it, it decreased.

(h) what you did next, e.g. i went back to note rising and falling

(i) the mind wandered off the object e.g. at first i didn't notice but when i did, i noted it as 'wandering' and it stopped. i then went back to observe the rising and falling.

4. you should report your entire process with each secondary object. after reporting on sitting, you may report on walking meditation, again, first describing the primary objects: lifting, moving, placing of the foot.e.g. "During walking i lifted the foot, i noted 'lifting', and observed X, Y, Z...

Moving the foot forward, i noted 'moving' and observed A, B, C...

When placing the foot down, i noted 'placing' and observed L, M, N...

I was able to note continuously for 10-15 steps before the mind wandered off or i was distracted by sights or sounds."

Secondary objects may then be reported in their entire process.

(a) when the mind wandered off, i was aware of it immediately,

(b) i noted 'wandering', the thought slowly faded from my mind and

The format for describing meditation experiences has proven extremely helpful for many yogis. it orients the mind to staying on the meditation track through the unfolding of the entire range of what may be happening in our minds and bodies.

Whatever you experience in practice can be included in your report, whether it is happy concentrated states of mind, periods of difficult emotions or thoughts or strong hindrances. the greatest benefit of this particular way of describing your meditation is that it helps to focus mindfulness directly on the experience rather than getting lost in discursive thinking about what is happening. this facilitates communication in the report, and deeply strengthens awareness, clarity and understanding in the meditation.

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Basic rules and Regulations

Breakfast and lunch are served each day. the food served is vegetarian. all yogis should observe the eight precepts during the practice but if, due to health reason, he or she needs to have meal after Noon, please inform retreat Coordinator. if a yogi needs a special diet due to medical reason, he or she should bring his/her own food.
Participants are expected to stay from the very beginning to the very end of the retreat.
Rooms are assigned by retreat coordinator and men and women are accommodated separately.
Before entering meditation hall, all handwatch alarm should be turned off.

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What to Bring

Bring only the needed items for the stay (clothing, medicine, personal hygienes). we encourage all yogis to observe only the simplest and most basic requirements for his/her own comfort. this will contribute greatly to the success of his/her practice.