1. The practice at home
2. Peace, step by step
3. Contributing a brick to a wall
4. 15-day retreat in Winterberg
5. Facebook page
6. No VAT on donations
7. Annual Accounts and Activity Report
8. Calendar
At the end of a retreat, people often ask for advice on how to continue at home. “How can I bring this joy, this calm, into the outside world?”
The first advice I give is to create a beautiful space at home: a shrine (or altar). Perhaps a Buddha statue, candles, flowers, a photo of a teacher, of parents, of loved ones, of deceased family members and friends. A comfortable meditation mat and meditation cushion. And a spot for walking meditation: in the room or perhaps in the garden.
I often recommend combining meditation with a physical activity. My own choices in this regard—for over twenty years now—are chi running and yoga.
Chi running helps me cultivate determination, equanimity, self-respect, muscle strength, healing capacity, immunity and breathing, lung capacity. Yoga serves as a good counterbalance, helping to stretch muscles that become shortened from running. I am now 73 and am increasingly drawn to yin yoga, which is more static than dynamic.
In Newsletter 2025 – 3 (November 25, 2025), I asked readers to share what they do at home.
Here you can read two responses: one from Tara about Taiji Qigong and another from Aneta about Wing Chun.
The Walk for Peace, which we wrote about in the previous newsletter (2026-1), has come to an end.
The leader of the caravan was 44-year-old monk Paññakara. Born in Vietnam in 1981, he emigrated to the United States in 1997. After completing technical training, he worked as an engineer for ten years. In 2010, he joined the monastic order. Here is an interview with him.
Arun Kumar from India describes on his Facebook page Bhikkhu Paññakara’s meeting with his teacher after returning home on February 15 as follows.
The monks are still walking. But aren’t we all doing the same? On Facebook, many seem to be inspired. Just last week, two new Walks for Peace have begun. One on April 19, from Amsterdam to the North Cape, and one on April 21 in Sri Lanka. Can we feel connected to this peace with every step we take?
3. Contributing a small part to a wall
This photo is from the new website of Panditarama Lumbini in Nepal.
The center, which was established in 1999, has been surrounded by a wall from the very beginning. Due to changes to the road, the wall has largely lost its protective function.
Swiss yogi Michael Meyer has taken the initiative to raise the existing wall surrounding the meditation center by 1.2 meters over a length of 250 meters. The cost of this is € 14,000: that is € 56 per linear meter. Donations can be made via Amt für Aufbau and are tax-deductible. The entire project is described in the document below:
This retreat offers an in-depth exploration of the sutta on the Abodes of the Noble Ones (Anguttara Nikaya, Book of Tens, suttas 19 and 20, pp. 1359–1361), combined with the foundational practices of Satipatthana meditation.
These “abodes” are (ways of dealing with): 1. The five hindrances. 2. The six sense faculties. 3. Mindfulness as the single guard. 4. Using, enduring, avoiding, or dispelling things. 5. Dispelling personal truths. 6. Having renounced seeking. 7. Having purified intentions. 8. Equanimity that tranquilized physical activities. 9. The liberation of the mind. 10. Liberation by wisdom.
In Sayadaw U Vivekananda’s own words: “Participants learn how to develop mindfulness and insight, enabling them to live in a safe, secure, and protected way. The retreat is suitable for both beginners and experienced practitioners and offers a supportive environment for everyone.”
There is room for thirty participants. A few spots are still available.
Since July 1, 2025, the Mahasi Sayadaw Foundation has been subject to VAT. We filed an objection to the 21% VAT charge on donations. A legally trained yogi drafted this objection on our behalf.
The Tax Authority has accepted our objection. We are not required to pay VAT on either general donations or donations given after a retreat. All VAT paid unjustly (over € 3,000) has since been refunded to our account by the Tax Authority.
7. Annual Accounts and Activity Report
At the end of February, the Mahasi Sayadaw Foundation’s Annual Accounts and Activity Report for 2025 were finalized and published on the website.
The financial figures are stable. There was a positive result of € 27,589.
8. Upcoming English spoken retreats – see the CALENDAR for international dates
