Daily life at Pardesa
Daily life at Pardesa is based on simplicity, contact with nature and its rhythms, and balance between stimulus, activity, learning and stillness.
Pardesa’s daily rhythm includes formal meditation, walking meditation in nature, teaching and communal life. In addition to periods of silence and personal practice, working in regenerative agriculture is also time for cultivating our inner garden.
Ethics
During our stay at Pardesa, all participants are asked to follow a few rules of behaviour:
- In order to cultivate a mind of appreciation and respect for life, we train in becoming more in touch with life inside and around us. The vegan cuisine we grow and serve is also a concrete expression of love towards living beings and the Earth.
- We respect each other’s property, and so doing strengthen our feeling of satisfaction with what we already have and who we already are.
- In order to respect ourselves and others in the sphere of relationships, we honour our and others’ commitments as couples and families. So that everyone may enjoy a safe place and experience a deeper form of freedom, we refrain from investing energy in the search for romantic or sexual relations.
- In order to enjoy a sense of dignity and to create an atmosphere of trust, we speak truthfully and practice the art of non-violent communication.
- In order to respect body and mind, and to encourage health and lucidity, we abstain from using inebriating and psychotropic substances.
For a more in-depth discussion of this ethical commitment, see For a Future to be Possible by Thich Nhat Hanh.
Digital detox
Screens and gadgets have become the masters of our time and our life experience. At Pardesa we give ourselves the possibility of disconnecting from the digital world and rediscovering contact and relationship: with our selves, with each other and with the Earth. For this reason we don’t use telephones and smartphones in the public areas and limit telephone conversations to a designated area, and in any case not during the period of noble silence.
Daily schedule
The activity schedule varies, depending on the event and the season. For courses that last longer than one day, an example of a schedule is:
6.00 Wake up
6.45 Morning meditation
7.30 Breakfast
8.15 Presenting the day
8.30 Mindful permaculture/construction
10.30 Break
11.00 Mindful permaculture/construction
12.30 Lunch
15.00 Instruction on theme of the course/retreat
17.00 Walking in nature / sharing circle
19.00 Dinner
20.30 Evening meditation
Noble silence
Noble silence
From the end of the evening practice until the beginning of the morning circle the following day, we support the energy of collectedness by reducing our speech. Doing so, we allow all the stimuli we received during the day to settle, are free to enjoy a quiet walk outdoors and create space for messages from the heart to emerge. We discover that it’s possible to enjoy our mutual presence and to communicate on a non-verbal level.
The bell of mindfulness
In addition to the it’s contribution to our formal activities, the bell sounds fifteen minutes before each activity. Upon hearing the bell, we take three relaxed breaths to come back to the present moment and then prepare ourselves in order to arrive at the meeting place with ease and a few minutes early.
Living conditions
Activities take place as much as possible in nature, enjoying simplicity in our way of living. We learn to flow with the ever-changing the natural and meteorological conditions, as well as the changing conditions within ourselves.
Accommodations are in rooms of 2-3 and 4-6, as well as in the dedicated camping area.
