Mindful Living Exchange

Dear friends,

Thank you for your interest in coming to Deer Park to practice mindful community living. We would like to tell you about our Mindful Living Exchange Program (MLEP), which enables retreatants with limited financial means to come to Deer Park for several months. We do ask you to contribute the full rate for your initial two-week trial period, before coming to Deer Park.

The MLEP is created in response to many requests from practitioners of limited financial resources to come to Deer Park to practice mindful living for a longer period of time. These practitioners are willing to do extra work for the community in exchange for a reduced fee. Our emphasis is on providing an environment that is best suited for your practice and your aspirations of living a mindful life. Therefore, you will experience all aspects of mindful living that we do together at Deer Park. You can participate as a retreatant and have the opportunity to also contribute as seasonal staff of Deer Park practicing alongside us as we do our daily activities. In this way, after returning home we hope practicing alongside us you will have received the support to be able to continue your practice and help establish and participate in a community of mindful living in your home town.

In order to provide opportunities for others to come to Deer Park Monastery, the maximum length of time one can be accepted into the MLEP is one year, consisting of 12 consecutive or intermittent monthly periods. A review of the applicant’s status is made every month for those applying to stay longer than one month. We find it most helpful for people to aspire to stay at least three months in succession.

Participants are eligible for a 75% reduction in our normal fees. They will be housed in furnished dormitories or rooms with five or more beds. They will use communal toilets and showers. Three vegetarian meals are provided each day. In the summer retreat, and in retreats where there are big demands for indoor housing and, when the weather permits, at our discretion participants may be invited to stay in tents.

The usual duration of an exchange period is at least one month, or longer, with the option to stay longer if things work out for the community and the practitioner. Even though approval to stay longer is granted on a monthly basis, those who sense they would like to stay on for more than one month should indicate on their initial application how many months they would like to stay provided that things do work out well for all concerned. However, they can only be accepted in the program one month at a time. Everyone wanting to extend their exchange period to include another month, must write a brief letter to the community stating the reasons and aspirations for further participation in the program before the end of the month they are currently in. Approval of further participation in the program is dependent upon their practice and capacity of living harmoniously with the community. The process is repeated every month, for up to a maximum of one year, including the first month.

Participants work for 10 hours per week in exchange for the 75% fee reduction. This additional work is in addition to mindful work they are assigned to do as part of the practice of living in a community, such as cooking, washing up, cleaning, preparing the meditation hall, etc. The additional work assignments depend upon the needs of the community and on the skills of the participants, and may include building maintenance, copying video/audio tapes, transcribing Dharma talks, landscaping, etc.

Please note that initial acceptance into the MLEP is still dependent upon your acceptance into the community as a whole after a two-week trial period which must be paid for in advance (at full rate). After this two-week trial period, a decision is made based on the level of harmony you have manifested in living harmoniously within the community.

Participants are requested to pay for their first monthly exchange period (with 75% reduction), and each subsequent exchange period, in advance. If, for any reason, they leave the program before the end of the month they are in, they are not eligible for any refund. This policy helps to facilitate the registration process.

We hope participants will take full advantage of this program to devote their time and energy to the practice. If you are desirous of applying to the MLEP, please complete the attached application and return it to us at the address indicated together with payment for your initial two-week stay.