Your presence in Montchardon implies that you strictly respect sanitary measures in all circumstances.

We are now used to these measures:

1. Wear a protective mask in the temple during the whole teaching or practice period, in the refectory until you start eating, and in all situations where it is difficult to maintain a 1m distance with others.
2. Hand wash with hydro-alcoholic gel when entering and leaving the temple and refectory, whenever accessing the self-service area and on all occasions when touching a collective object.
3. Maintain a distance of 1m around yourself, in the temple, in the refectory and when moving around in the Centre.

Access to the temple will be limited to 70/80 people to respect sanitary distances.

For accommodation, the rooms that accommodate several people will become individual rooms, except for couples or families. The number of places in the dormitory will be reduced to space out the beds. This will allow us to accommodate about 80 people.

The campsite area will be open, and the layout of the tents should follow the same guidelines. Disinfectant will be available in all places where necessary.

These rules must be maintained in Montchardon at all times.

Indeed:

– We have a moral obligation to protect ourselves and others from disease, especially as we live in collective premises.

– It is important to continue to protect Lama Teunsang, whose immunity is greatly diminished, even though he has been vaccinated.

For these reasons, we are asking all those who come this summer to commit to respecting sanitary measures. This commitment will take the official form of a box to be ticked on the registration form, which will allow everyone to come to the Centre with complete peace of mind.

If you cannot or do not wish to follow these guidelines, we ask you not to come to the Centre while these rules are in effect.

The same applies, of course, if you are ill or have symptoms of the virus.

When you leave, if you need to have a PCR test, this can be done in the cities in the area. However, it will be up to you to organise (making an appointment, travelling to and from the test site), because the Centre cannot manage these procedures.

The programme will take place this summer under special circumstances, as the Centre can only resume its activities provided that health regulations are strictly observed.

The conditions of participation imply strict compliance with the preventive measures below, whether for practices or teaching sessions.

For places of worship such as Montchardon, here are the French government regulations:

• At the time of arrival at the Centre, you shall not be ill or show symptoms of the virus.
• Each person is compelled to maintain a safety distance of 1m, in the temple, in the refectory and when walking around the Centre,
• Mandatory protective mask from the entrance of the temple till people have sat down, in the refectory until eating begins and in all other situations when it is difficult to maintain distance from others,
• Hand washing with hydro-alcoholic gel coming in and going out of the temple and refectory, every time you access the self-service area, and on all occasions when you have to touch a collective object.
• An identifiable member of the Centre administration will be responsible for ensuring that rules are respected as people enter or leave the prayer area.

Access to the temple will be limited to 70/80 people to respect sanitary distances. Rooms with several people will become individual lodgings, except for couples or families. The number of dormitory places will be reduced to ensure there is enough space between beds. We will thus be able to accommodate about 80 people. The campsite will be open, the installation of the tents will have to follow the same instructions. We will provide disinfectant in all the places where it is necessary.

We all know these sanitary measures for several months. Nevertheless, we tend to relax as the pandemic is receding. In Montchardon, preventive measures will have to be maintained throughout the summer.

• First because failure to respect the rules could lead to the closure of the Centre and legal proceedings,
• then because we have a moral obligation to protect ourselves and others from a potentially dangerous disease, especially as we live in collective premises.
• Finally, it is essential to protect Lama Teunsang, whose immunity is compromised, making him extremely vulnerable to infection, as well as the people of the centre are in daily contact with him to bring him his meals and for the treatments.. This also means that it is not appropriate to spontaneously enter Lama Teunsang’s home to greet him. For the compelling reasons cited above, only those who care for his health can currently visit him.

For all these reasons, we ask all people who will come this summer to commit to respecting the sanitary rules. This official commitment will take of a tick box in the registration form. This new formality is a legal precaution that the Centre takes in case of potential problems in which legal responsibility would have to be assumed, because reopening the Centre for summer activities is legally our responsibility. Moreover, if everyone commits to respect the sanitary measures, we can all come to the Centre in a peaceful state of mind.

If you cannot or do not wish to follow these guidelines, we ask you not to come to the Centre while these regulations stand. The same applies, of course, if you are ill or have symptoms of the virus.

As Buddhist practitioners, having to wear a face mask, respecting social distances and hand washing frequently can be integrated into our practice, as a means to constantly train vigilance and attention to our daily actions. It is also a great opportunity to practice the awakened mind, the altruistic attitude: « I commit myself to making this effort, thinking more about the well-being and health of others than about my own inconvenience ». These are the skillful means of Dharma called « integrating unpleasantness into the path ».

Since the epidemic is evolving favourably, the French government has authorized the reopening of places of worship, hotels and restaurants. Therefore, we will resume our activities this summer with special operating conditions (see below).

The programme that we partially announced in March will generally be followed.

From June 15th we will reopen to people from the area who wish to attend the daily practices, in the morning, at 5.45pm for Mahakala and 8pm for Chenrezig.
People who will come will have to strictly and constantly respect the protective measures (see here the rules).

We will open reservations for the first 3 weeks of July as of June 20th, and for all July and August  courses as of June 25th.

Shiné-Lhaktong – Lama Tsultrim  from Sat 04 to 09 July 
Lama Teunsang is not able to teach this summer and has asked Lama Tsultrim, who has been living in Montchardon for a year, to lead the three weeks of Shine-Lhaktong, with the usual help of Alain Duhayon during the 2nd and 3rd week.

Méditation dans la vie quotidienne – Lama Deundam from Sat 18 to 23 July
Lama Deundam will develop the bases of a daily practice by addressing the different points of the Buddhist teaching.

4 Seals of Dharma – Lama Sangpo from Sat 25 to 29 July
Lodreu Rabsel Rinpoche is confined to his home in Nepal, where the health situation still seems very bleak, therefore he will not be able to come this summer. We have asked Lama Sangpo to replace him to teach the « 4 Seals of Dharma », a theme which HH the Karmapa Trinley Thaye Dorje has stressed as important in his regular messages about the world health situation. This fundamental teaching defines the Buddhist vision of reality.

Pratique de Qi Gong – Droupla Dorje Gyamsto (Pierre Paret) from Sat 25 to 27 July
The program will also include a new course, led by Pierre Paret, who has just come out of a three-year retreat and will teach Qi Gong for three days at the end of July.

Commentary of the Bodhicaryavatara: Patience – Khenpo Chochok from Sat 01 to 07 August
Khenpo Chochok will teach on the theme of patience, based on the commentary of the Bodhicharyavatara.  It is an extremely precise exposition of the paramita (perfection) of patience. When we suggest this theme to him, Khenpo was very enthusiastic saying, « this is really the teaching that people need in these difficult times that we are going through ».

Sangyé Menla, Medicine Buddha – Lama Teundroup from Sat 08 août to 11 August
The annual teaching and practice of Sangye Menla will be given this time by Lama Teundroup, who arrived at our centre last November.

Les quatre placements de l’attention – Trinlay Rinpoché from Sat 15 août to19 August
During the weekend of August 15th, Trinlay Rinpoche will lead a 5-day practice session of the meditations of calm-abiding (shamata) and insight (vipassana) according to the Kagyu tradition, alternating teaching, practice and question and answer sessions.

Chöd retreat – Lama Tsultrim from Sat 22 to 26 August
During these days, Lama Tsultrim will focus on the practice of Chöd Ludjing, the short practice of Chöd. He will give the instructions of this practice which will be performed several times during these days.

Se relier à une divinité de méditation – Droupla Yeshé Tcheudreun (Fabienne Dupuy)
from Sat 22 août to 24 August
Droupla Fabienne will give three days of teaching on how to relate to a meditative deity, focussing as an example on the practice of Chenrezig. This is part of a new cycle of teachings designed to support the practice, which we wish to offer on a regular basis.

Grand rituel de Tcheu – Lamas des différents Centres Kagyu from Friday 28 août to Sunday 30 August
The summer will end with the practice of Tcheu during 3 days of ritual with lamas from different centres.

The programme for autumn courses will be published during the summer.
For visitors to the Centre, Sunday visits will resume at the beginning of August.

Bookings

We will open reservations for the first 3 weeks of July as of June 20th, and for all July and August  courses as of June 25th. Due to covid constraints, it is necessary to limit the number of visits to the reception desk, which implies that instead of paying only the deposit you will have to pay the total amount of the stay upon registration, so that you will not have to pay on arrival.

Booking will therefore be a 3 steps-process:

1. you send the usual booking form to the reception desk,
2. the reception desk replies by e-mail with the price of your stay (or by phone if you book by regular mail)
3. you authorize the withdrawal and we send you a final confirmation e-mail.

In the event of a change of stay, price adjustments will be made preferably by e-mail, or by stopping by the reception desk if necessary, during your stay. In case of cancellation, the deposit will be refunded according to the usual conditions, and the rest of the amount will be refunded or credited for a future stay.

We remind you that the participation to the courses is subject to the respect of the rules requested by the Centre that you can read on the page  » The organisation of Montchardon this summer « .