We don't feel that the quality of a retreat is determined by the amount of time spent in formal practice in the Meditation Hall. Nor do we feel that a rule of rigid silence is necessarily the most conducive for a retreat environment. We do not wish to create an environment so different from daily life that the lessons learned here have no use when we go home. Practice nurtures many needs, some of them interpersonal, and so we do our best to foster an environment of conviviality and ease, in which it is possible to develop sustained awareness throughout the day within a communal context.
Silence follows by itself without being imposed.
Thich Nhat Hanh once proposed that we use the word 'treat' instead of 'retreat', signifying that the practice, to be most effective, needs to be conducted in a spirit of joy and well-being. Knowing that we do have this ability to transform our heart and mind we can relax. Insight and compassion, patience and good humor come like flowers after a spring rain. Discussion or instruction may occur at different times during the course of the day. During longer retreats there is an opportunity to meet privately with the teachers.