On October 10, 2026, during our volunteer weekend, you’ll not only be able to tour the monastery, but also actively participate in its life.
🌸 Date & Time
October 10, 2026, 10:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Free admission; donations welcome
There is also the option to participate for the entire weekend, including an overnight stay. In that case, there would be an additional meditation session with the group in the evening and another in the morning, and on Sunday, you would help out at the monastery.
🌸 Program
10:30 a.m. — Welcome and Introduction: “What Is Chan?”
12:00 p.m. — Meditation
12:30 p.m. — Group vegetarian lunch
1:15 p.m. — Mindful Activities (Gardening and Other Activities)
2:45 p.m. — Walking meditation in the forest
3:30 p.m. — A brief look at the monastery rules
4:00 p.m. — Tea and an open Q&A session
🪷 What to Expect
Insights into monastic life, first experiences with silent meditation, active participation in household and garden tasks, and conversations with Shifu Simplicity and the community.
🪷 The idea behind the fundraising weekend
一日不作,一日不食
“A day without work is a day without food”
This quote is from Master Baizhang Huaihai 百丈懷海 (720–814), a prominent Chinese Chan master.
The story behind it:
Master Baizhang 百丈禪師 continued to work in the monastery fields alongside his disciples every day, even in his old age (over 90 years old). Concerned for his health, his disciples hid his tools one day so that he could finally rest. When Baizhang noticed this, he simply stayed in his room and did not come out even for meals. When his students asked him anxiously what was wrong, he replied with just this one sentence: “A day without work is a day without food.”
The enlightened master Baizhang led by example and continued to perform physical labor tirelessly even in his old age. Through his own actions, he demonstrated that work is also a form of spiritual practice, and that enlightenment does not occur only on a meditation cushion in absolute stillness.
Furthermore, he wove the profound truths of the Dharma into everyday life, brought the spirit of Chan right into the midst of people, and taught that practice and daily life are inseparably linked.
This spirit has had a profound and lasting influence on Chan practice in Chinese Buddhism.
What’s behind it:
Everything is practice—being active is not an interruption of meditation, but a form of it in itself.
Mindfulness in Everyday Life — Sweeping, gardening, and cooking can be done with the same presence as sitting in silence.
Our Volunteer Weekend embodies exactly this spirit: Anyone who joins us on this day is invited not just to watch, but to pitch in and discover their own unique sense of peace and clarity in the process.
🪷 Registration due by October 8 at the latest.
info@kloster-wassermond.de