Here are our house rules and guidelines are for all residents, employees, visitors, guests and seminar participants:

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1 Monastery Guidelines Very welcome in our cloister Buddhas Weg! You'll be staying in a house that is also a convent and a guesthouse. Through this combination, it is important for us to bring to your attention some things that are very dear for us and to support cooperation and our house rules. We ask you to respect, pay attention and keep these points. If you have difficulty with it, please seek the conversation with us! Thank you for your understanding! Here are our house rules and guidelines are for all residents, employees, visitors, guests and seminar participants: In the monastic environment, we apply the 5 Mindfulness practice rules not to kill, not to steal, not to lie, no sexual relationships in the monastery, and no intoxicating agents. We wish to create a quiet environment in which to retire. When we listen to music in our room, we use headphones. We avoid making loud phone calls that could disturb our fellow residents and guests. Sound travels easily in the building. In our buildings and on the property, we do not eat meat nor do we consume alcohol or other intoxicating agents. We are not allowed in the house if we are in a drunken state. We refrain from smoking in the building or the rooms, only at the appropriate distance to the buildings. We do not use incense and candles in the rooms. From 21:00 we go to rest at night i.e. We talk in a quiet tone. According to the agreement Gudrun / Sister Hue Nghiem: The seminar is not affected by the fix resttime. Dancing, making music and similar as part of the seminar is welcome. We can accept no liability for stolen property, so please protect your own valuables. Lost items will be given up at the reception. First Aid can be found at the front desk and in the kitchen. In case of emergency use the internal number Telefone of the house manager: dial 28 Room phones are available for internal calls and can be called under the number room number. The front door is locked in the period from 22:30 until 05:00 o clock. Who comes home later uses the side entrance, which is always open. If you arrive later please let the reception know to organize accordingly. 1

2 Current events will be announced on the table opposite the reception. You are cordially invited to participate in all activities of the monastery! Pets are allowed but must first be cleared by the director / reception. To take into consideration people with allergies, pets are forbidden to stay in public areas. At no time do we allow an animals in the TCM clinic area, the dining room, in the therapeutic area, the library, the Buddha hall or the seminar rooms. To make the stay of our guests enjoyable, to help create a positive atmosphere, and to help support the house, we ask especially to pay attention to the following: Help us to save electricity and heating: Where light or heating is not required, please turn off. Please put your room heater on * or in the winter at 1. Please do not turn off completely. Please also remember to turn off lights in the toilet. Help us to maintain order in the house: If you take cups, etc. from the dining room please always always return them. Please clean up your dishes after mealtimes, remove all food residues into the trash and place your dishes on the counter by the dishwasher. Please stack them. Support us with participating in the community dishwashing: Seminar participants will sign up with their course leader, house guests are welcome to contribute their assistance as well. It takes about 30 minutes to clean the dishes together after the ending of the meal. To help us keep the house clean: in the upstairs hallways and rooms please do not wear your outside shoes. We separate our biological garbage from the general garbage. The bins are marked accordingly. When we are departing, we draw the dirty sheets from the beds and place the sheets and our towels in the laundry container by the elevator on each floor. Mealtimes: During our breakfast and lunch times we perform a small monastic ceremony. After taking our food from the buffet we wait for others to sit down before we begin eating. We chant the Buddhas name together and we eat the first 10 minutes in silence. This is followed by a second gong and it means we may speak again. A third gong ends the meal. We then stand up and bow at the table to show gratitude for the community and the food. If high monks are present, the ordained will to wait until they have left the table. If you wish, after the last gong you may remain seated at the table, but we ask the dishes are brought away to facilitate the dishwashing. Dinner is informal and can be taken from the time between 18 and o clock. A copy of the lunch prayer is on the tables in the dining room for reference. 2

3 Behavior in the Buddha Hall: Shoes are not permitted in the Buddha Hall or in all other meditation rooms. It is also not permitted to bring drinks in open jars or cups. Out of respect for this spiritual place we wear appropriate clothing. For public meditations, like our morning or evening meditations, women sit on the left and men on the right side of the room. A passage in the middle is kept free. In the front of the room, the seats are reserved for monks and nuns. We put all our mats, blankets and cushions back after use. To respect the hall and those inside we open and close the door mindfully. Our daily schedule *: 05:30 o clock Morning meditation and recitation (except Mon) 08:00 o clock Breakfast together 12:00 o clock Lunch together 17:00 o clock Mantra recitation and meditation (only Thu) 18:00 o clock Dinner (informal) 20:30 o clock Evening Meditation & recitation (except Thu and Sun) 21:00 o clock Noble silence We will announce all activity 10 minutes prior beginning with the mindfulness bell. Changes to the house program will be written on the white board in front of the reception. We wish you a pleasant and enriching stay in our monastery and guest house. Thank you for being our guest! And thank you for your respect for the characteristic of this guest house. 3

4 Community Mealtimes For breakfast and lunch with the community, we perform a small ceremony over the meal. Please serve yourself at the buffet and take your food to a comfortable place. (Please note that the large decorated table in the corner is reserved for the monks and nuns.) We start serving breakfast at 8:00 and lunch at 12:00 o clock. A gong is struck to signal the start of the eating ceremony. After a brief recitation and the chanting of the Buddha s name, we begin to eat together. For the first ten minutes, we eat in silence and in mindfulness. A second gong signals the end of the silent period. The end of the meal is announced by a third gong. We then stand up, bow to the community and also to the Master as he leaves the room. After the official conclusion of the meal, we may sit back down and continue your meal. When leaving the table, we bring our dishes to the dishwashing room and stack them on the counter. For seminar participants, we have are prepared for you to help with the washing. House guests are also invited assist the community with dishwashing. We separate the biological in food waste from the general waste and put them in specially marked bins. Dinner can be taken between 18:00 and 18:45 o clock and is without a ceremony. Enjoy your meal! "Peace begins with each of us taking care of our bodies and minds, everyday." (Thich Nhat Hanh) 4

5 Lunchtime Prayer The Buddha advises us to eat in mindfulness, to stay in the present moment, to be aware of the food before us and the community around us. We partake of the food in a manner that allows us to experience peace, joy and a sense of togetherness throughout the entire meal. Dear Community, let us recite the 5 Recollections: This food is a gift from the earth, from the sky, innumerable beings and a lot of hard, loving work. May we eat with mindfulness and gratitude to show our full appreciation for the meal we have received. May we recognize and transform our unwholesome mental formations, especially our greed, and learn to eat with moderation. May we only partake of only those foods that are nourishing and healthy for our bodies and minds. We accept this food in order to develop our practice, strengthen our community, and nurture our ideal of serving all beings. Namo Shakyamuni Buddha (Chant 3x ) 5