As for our 2017 retreat bookings, we will start accepting applications for our 2018 retreats from January 10th 2018 at 7.30 a.m. and, except for a few special cases (agreed upon), they will have to be done on-line through our website.
To join a retreat in Pian dei Ciliegi, it is necessary to follow these steps:

1. Register at our website, and log in with your user name and password
2. if you are not a member of the Pian dei Ciliegi association, apply for membership by  clicking on “apply for membership” from the User’s Menu, fill in the form and send
3. click on “book a retreat” from the User’s Menu, fill in the form and send

If you are already a member of Pian dei Ciliegi you can go directly to step 3.

Keep in mind that the retreat fee must be paid at the latest five days after your booking, and please remember to add the 15 euros of membership fee to the first bank transfer you make out, in addition to the retreat fee.
The retreat fee is inly for meals and accomodation at the centre, and is necessary to cover the expenses that the Association has to pay for the organization of the retreats. As for the teachers, since an integral part of the Dhamma is the practice of generosity, at the end of each retreat the meditators will be asked to offer them a donation (dāna).
If you’re not a member yet you can apply by clicking here. You can come back to this page and sign up for a retreat, or do so directly from the e-mail that confirms your application for membership.
As for the payment of the membership fee, you must add it to the retreat fee (by Bank transfer only) .
If you’re not registered to the website you can do so now.

Cancellation and refunds

In case the member gives notice of cancellation by February 9th, the refund is of 90% of the retreat fee. If the cancellation is comunicated at least 30 days before the beginning of the retreat the amount reimbursed is 80% of the retreat fee. If the cancellation is comunicated between 30 days and 48 hours prior to the beginning of the retreat the refund will be 50% of the retreat fee. If the retreat booking is cancelled within 48 hours prior to the retreat there will be no refund. If the amount paid is less than 100 euros there will be no refund, in any case. However, if there are serious reasons for the cancellation, a refund can be requested but will be granted at the discretion of the manager.

At one of its recent meetings, the Board at Pian dei Ciliegi has decided to establish a fund that will permit its more motivated yogis to participate in extended retreats here at Pian dei Ciliegi itself, or at other related centers such as the Panditarama Lumbini International Vipassana Meditation Center, the Panditarama Shwe Taung Gon Sasana Yeiktha in Yangon, the Santisukkarama Centre in Malaysia, the Centres that followthe tradition of di U-Janaka).
It is the feeling of the Board that the fund be comprised of donations made by meditators or supporters, in such a way as to allow them to develop the virtue of Dana (generosity) which, alongside Sila (moral conduct) and Nekkhamma (renunciation), is a fundamental aspect of the practice, and which we will never tire of underlining.

Dana, or Generosity is one of the cornerstones of Buddhist teaching and of the practice of Vipassana meditation. Along with Sila, Morality, it is both a pre-requisite and grounds for training, in so far as we develop these during our practice. Without the support of these two factors it is not possible to develop right concentration, and hence the wisdom that leads to liberation; they go hand in hand with each other, and as we grow in wisdom and in our understanding of the Dhamma, so too does the wish to develop these qualities grow spontaneously in us. As with Metta and the other Brahma-Viharas, they are innate to human beings who have exercised right effort in the cultivation of mind, rather than abandoning themselves to their more basic instincts related to the mental defilements.

Let's go on a tour around the center

photos by Roby Morleo