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Host rating
100 %
Last replied
1 Feb 2021
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18
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Details
Description
Hello! :-)
We are a buddhist centre set in a beautiful mansion in the rural countryside just outside of Berlin, Germany. The centre and all our activities are non-profit and we are all volunteers. We hold regular evening meditation classes, courses and some retreats. The centre is open to the public and anyone is welcome whether buddhist or non-buddhist.
As a volunteering visitor you are welcome to take part in the spiritual activities at our Centre. In the evenings you are welcome to attend any of our regular meditation classes and our daily prayers in the meditation room.
-- ** At the moment we hardly take any working visitor due to the lock down and also the legal requirements that people from risk areas need to quarantine for 14 days if they don't have a negativ Covid-19 test. Therefore if you are coming from a country that is specified as a risk country, we won't be able to offer you a working visit at the moment I'm afraid.
IF you are coming from Germany or any non-risk country longer working visits are preferred, not just one week.
--** At the moment we are specifically looking for people who are happy to help in our renovation project. We have some old beautiful wood doors that need removing paint, preparing and then painting. We will train you but it would be great if you have already some experience and can hold a brush. :-) Happy to join in? ** --
Our Values:
Our center is a peaceful space of meditation and retreats and we ask all our volunteers and guests are respectful of this environment. As part of that alcohol, smoking or any other form of drugs are not allowed on our premises. Also, even tho we all love animals we have a no-pet policy in order to protect the wild life here.
Trial period:
Sometime life happens, or things don’t work out as we wish. That’s how it is, so we have a trial period of one week for both volunteers and the center to see if its working out on both sides.
Up for a challenge?
We are looking for volunteers to help in our centre especially helping with building work in one of our historic buildings on the property, helping , cleaning, household etc., there are many activities. We have a mixed age range of 17 residents living at the centre. There are short term and long term opportunities available. We do need a reference for those wishing to come on a working visit at the centre.
INSURANCE - You must have Travel Insurance
If you are interested in to come some time with us and to learn about our way of life we would love to hear from you.
Annette
(Admin Director)
Types of help and learning opportunities
Charity Work
Gardening
DIY and building projects
Creating/ Cooking family meals
Help around the house
General Maintenance
Interests
Vegetarian or vegan
Self development
Charity work
Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
Volunteer visits offer a unique way to experience the spiritual activities and community life of this special meditation centre for a Buddhist tradition with over 1,200 centers and branches in over 40 countries. This centre is home to an international community of 23 residents including monks, nuns and lay people of all different ages and backgrounds.
As a volunteering visitor you will have the opportunity to freely attend many of the spiritual activities including daily meditations, evening talks on Buddhist thought and daily prayers.
You will get a chance to meet people from all over the world, to discuss and experience first hand beneficial effects of Buddhist meditation and practises. A working visit with a deeper meaning! :-)
Help
We will provide seven days free dormitory accommodation and three vegetarian meals a day in exchange for 25 hours of help (usually spread over five days). Visits are usually offered for one week but can be extended for special projects. Visits MUST be booked in advance.
All meals are either vegetarian or vegan.
Since we are a Buddhist Community, visitors are asked not to drink alcohol, take drugs or smoke on the premises. We also ask the visitors not to play musical instruments and to wear head phones when to listen to music on the property.
Languages spoken
German: Fluent
English: Fluent
Accommodation
We offer comfortable dormitory accommodation – all you need to do is to bring a towel, alarm clock and work clothes and boots/working shoes. And if possible slippers/house shoes for inside the castle.
What else ...
We are located in a beautiful forest with lots of walks to discover. The nearby village Schwante has a nice bakery with fantastic cakes and a range of coffees and drinks. There are also other things to discover, the nearby lake Mühlensee with the "Milchtankstelle" where you can get nice ice cream.
From the nearby train station there are regular trains (every hour) going to Berlin.
Check trains to Berlin here:
The Centre is located outside the village of Schwante - 2km distance / 20 minute walk
Schwante also has regular train station connections to Berlin - (40min)
STATION PICK UP - We can arrange to collect you from Schwante Bahnhof.
A little more information
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
How many Workawayers can stay?
More than two
My animals / pets
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Accuracy of profile:
(4.6)
Cultural exchange:
(4.6)
Communication:
(4.8)
But this place is so much more than a monastery! Surrounded in the most beautiful nature, who knew Europe can be so wonderful! Living with very inspiring people. Eating the best… read more
The residents are so lovely and open-minded.
It was a really difficult time for all because the Corona-Virus started and we had to improvise a lot, but we all mastered it together.
There are always nice people from all over the world to talk to and share experience.
And Annette is really one of… read more
It's full of space - physical, mental, spiritual - and gives you the opportunity to slow down and take a break, in your own way.
Work is balanced and well-organised. I mostly helped with housekeeping and in the kitchen sometimes.
Communication was very good, open and honest. Annette, Oli, Hank and all the other… read more
Everything was really well structured and the work was quite varied.
So all in all it was a great experience and I can highly recommend it :).
Während meines Aufenthalts startete außerdem ein Schweigeretreat und ich durfte in meiner Freizeit die Veranstaltungen besuchen. Es war eine ganz neue Erfahrung.
Die Menschen sind sehr verständnisvoll, warmherzig, tolerant und offen. Ich wurde sehr… read more
She stayed with us for over a couple of weeks and she was great. She is interested, clever, happy to help with anything we asked her to do and she is very open minded. She is also funny, calm and is just getting on with stuff.
It was a true joy of having her around. She gets on with everyone in our international community… read more
This is a truly wonderful community of people whose main wish is to bring peace and love to every single living creature they encounter.… read more
they made me appreciate and understand more puja and i… read more
Everything is well organized and this made the tasks very easy to accomplish in time and form, it was my first time working in the kitchen and it was a… read more
We hope she is coming back at some point and meet again.
Much love, Annette
The voluntary work was well organised with enough breaks which left me with a lot of free time to take long walks to discover the area and relax. A huge bonus about this working visit was to meet positive people all around the world, who want to spread their positivity.… read more
Annette and Alex welcomed me with respect, calm, compassion, love, kindness, .. I felt right away very well :blush:
The work is hard but everyone works at his own pace. The vegetarian meals are excellent. And above all, I had the opportunity to meet very good teachers… read more
