Blue Cliff Monastery — Local services in Town of Mamakating

I had the honor of enjoying Blue Cliff Monastery (BCM) for an entire week during July 2022. Leaving the material world of NYC, and stepping into the spiritual realm of BCM was the exact inner-nourishment I needed which coincided with a major, positive transition in my life at that time. While at BCM, you live the monastic schedule of the monks/nuns, which includes morning and evening sitting meditations, walking meditations, and work meditations on a daily basis. Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner are delicious, vegan, and in of themselves a meditation. And there are Dharma talks (i.e. Buddhist teachings) once a day. And while there is ample time for silent meditation and reflection, it's not a completely silent retreat. For example, about 20 or so minutes into mindfully eating your meal in silence, the monks ring a bell which indicates that you may speak with those next to you if you desire. The hope though is that the conversation itself is mindful as well. I appreciated being able to mindfully converse a bit, because it gave me an opportunity to share my experience, learn from others, and make some wonderful connections. However, outside of all of the spiritual growth I obtained from the meditations and Dharma talks, what I truly appreciated is how personable and kind the monks and nuns were. I not only got to have deep, spiritual conversations with the monks, I even got to sing with them! One of my most treasured moments was jamming with a monk on a guitar around a bonfire, under a full moon, belting at the top of our lungs. A very magical, unexpected moment indeed. I received so much spiritual expansion out of this experience, (e.g. I now turn my meals into an opportunity for spiritual practice...as opposed to mindlessly inhaling my food in front of Youtube) that has significantly improved my "worldly" day-to-day life. But the greatest take-away was how much love and compassion I received from both the monastics and the lay-persons who were in attendance that week. And now, no matter how chaotic the worldly energy in NYC gets, I know that deep within myself lay the strong roots of compassion and love nourished by Blue Cliff...

We went to Blue Cliff for a weekend on my daughter's invitation. She had been there before and was going to stay there for a week. I had tried to meditate for some time and had even bought 'Meditation or Dummies' to try to get some idea of the how to get going. Some success...didn't know what to expect or how to know if I was doing it right.

At Blue Cliff , the meditation you join in comes at structured times in the meditation hall, guided and unguided, at mealtimes and during daily walking meditation around their property. You follow the brothers and sisters schedule of daily life. You wake with them, meditate with them and eat with them. They are always available talks and questions.

Meditation becomes easy whether for a 20 minute sit or for a three minute walking meditation on your lunch break. The experience was wonderful!

I now have to keep up the practice of meditation whenever I can. The return to daily life pushes against the desire to take a few minutes to meditate. Maybe a week...

This place is quite weird. Reminded me other emotional group trainings I went through and the same approach used there. I understand that monks are not perfect people but their ego just above and beyond. Incan literally feel it. On the other side place for monastery is very quiet and energetically very much pacified. When exiting from highway you can hear loud silence which is great sign. On donations aspect old lady is doing aggressive work by squeezing them with massive energy flow ie to submit and obey. I understand that many people do not feel those things but be careful when you are entering those places with your energy like that. Keep it safe and don’t take what is not yours. Just believe that what is yours is yours and what is not gonna bounce...