Discover Your True Self: An Exclusive 7-Day Meditation Retreat in South Korea

Rest Your Heart with Nature

While staying at Main Center in Nonsan, South Korea, you can participate in 7 day or longer intensive meditation retreat. It is a precious opportunity for you to take a break from your daily life, live in nature, and reflect on yourself. Coming to Main Center is the best gift you can give yourself after working so hard and feeling exhausted.

• Address: 749-23 Sangwol-ro, Sangwol-myun, Nonsan-si, Choongnam Province
• Meditation Type: Intensive meditation with room and board

Recommended For People Who Want:

• a real vacation that includes Meditation
• to reflect on the past and start life anew
• to resolve questions about life, worries, and mind
• to deeply reflect on their inner selves

How to Participate

Facilities for Students from Abroad

As this meditation rises in popularity abroad, more students from abroad are visiting Main Center in South Korea. For the convenience of students from abroad, consultation rooms, interpretation rooms, and other facilities are in operation.

Preparation and Prices

Reservations and Check-in

If you are not already a member, you can contact your local center (find your center at http://guidedmeditationtips.com/find-meditation-center/) or email israelmeditation@gmail.com for more information on how to make arrangements.
If you are already a member at a local center, please talk with your helpers at your local center to make arrangements.
There could be difficulties securing a room during the peak vacation seasons (summer and winter), so please make reservations early.
Reservations should be made no later than 1 month prior to your arrival at Main Center.

Things to Prepare

Comfortable clothes for meditating, outerwear, toiletries, towels, hair dryer, slippers, first aid medications, umbrella, water bottle, other personal items

Meditation Program

Action Meditation (Young-Nong) Program

Best Health Dance

KOREAN CULTURE

The Main Center is located in Korea; the majority of the meditators are Koreans. Apart from a few technical differences that are explained throughout, there are cultural differences that you may experience during your stay at the Main Center. This section is to help international students get a better understanding of Korean culture and adjust more easily, which will help you focus on meditation without distractions.

Community-Oriented: Korea is tight-knit and has a strong sense of community. The group always comes first before the individual personal needs. It is common in Korea to try not to stand out, do as others do, and do when others do.

Respect Our Elders: Seniors receive priority. Koreans have huge respect for their elders, and age is a very important hierarchy factor in Korean society. It comes from the idea of respecting the wisdom that elders have acquired experiencing life first. There are more formal manners in addressing the elders. The gesture of bowing is an expression of respectful greeting and also used to express ‘Excuse me,’ and ‘Thank you’.

Close Quarters: Since Koreans live in such densely populated areas, all space is used efficiently. People generally maintain less personal space. While younger generations may be more conscientious, please be more understanding for the elderly. It is common that people push their way through or bump. People don’t really take it as an offense.

Fast Paced Life Style: Koreans are generally fast paced, and try to work very hard. In this tight environment, competitiveness is encouraged. Students are ranked starting from elementary/prep school all the way through college. (Ranked by classroom, your school, city, district, and by the whole nation) The average school hours for a high school student are from 8 am in the morning to 10 pm at night. The working atmosphere is similar as well.

Inquisitive Nature: Some questions may feel direct regarding age, weight, marriage, profession, etc. These are common everyday life questions how Koreans get to know each other. No offense is intended or should be taken. However, you do not have to feel obligated to answer.

Conservative Relationships: It is rare to see public displays of personal affection. Koreans are quite conservative. What could be thought of as a friendly gesture can easily be mistaken as flirting and make someone feel uncomfortable. The majority of Koreans will not express their concern because of their polite nature. On the other hand, same sex holding hands or hugging are innocent gestures among Koreans.

Clothing: Even during hot summers, people are conservative in the way they dress. Especially in older generations, clothes that reveal body shape or a lot of skin is considered offensive. Tops that show cleavage/bra straps, short shorts, miniskirts, leggings or tights without covering the hips can be taken as offensive. Use best judgments in the type of tops you choose to wear during the summer. Men should also not be topless.

INTERPRETATION

How it works: All lectures and meditations at the Main Center are guided in Korean. All international students will participate by listening to them through interpretation. All lecture rooms are equipped with an interpretation system. There are slots where you can plug in alongside the wall of the lecture rooms, connected to the interpretation booths at the back. When the interpreter speaks from inside the booth through the microphone, you will be listening to it by plugging your own earphones into the slots.

What to prepare: Assume you will be using your headphones all the time. They will be your lifeline, so we recommend that you bring comfortable earphones or headphones that will not cause headache or pain to your ears.

Headphones (The type that are large and cover your entire ear like ear muffs)

Pros: Easy on your ears, comfortable, durable, separates interpreter’s voice from lecturer’s voice, some are also equipped with an amplifier.

Cons: Expensive, large, less portable, heavy, padding makes ears hot, hard to carry around, volume can be lower than earbuds, recharging is a hassle (if equipped with built in amp).

Earphones/Earbuds (Type that are small like earplugs)

Pros: Inexpensive, small, light, portable, no sweaty ears

Cons: Hurts ear canal, falls out, sound quality, less durable

Also, if you observe the audio jack of your earphone, you will see a few black lines on it. Please bring the ones with 2 lines instead of 3 lines; those are more compatible with the system here.

Interpreter & Translator Helpers:

The Main Center interpreters are helpers who have finished all levels. They are volunteers with various academic backgrounds. They are not limited to only interpreting lectures and meditation. Your interpreters will be with you from the first day you walk in the Main Center until you leave. They will help you with the orientation, health needs, visa, counseling, and one-on-one meditation to name a few things.

The main language used for translation is English at all times. For other languages, please contact the interpreter team in advance and check for the availability of an interpreter.

ACCOMMODATIONS

Sleeping on the Floor: Depending on your level, rooms will be assigned varying in sizes and number of roommates. In Korea, it is customary to sleep on the floor rather than a bed. In your room, you will be given a mattress, a pillow, and a blanket. For people with back problems or have trouble sleeping on hard surface, we will provide extra mattresses.

Ondol (Floor Heating System): Ondol (Korean traditional floor heating system) is a special type of traditional heating system that Korea has. The basic principle is that we heat up the floors instead of having a heater or a radiator. The heat always rises, therefore if you heat the floor, the warm air near the floor will travel up and the cold air will come down, gets heated up by the floor, eventually warming up the entire room evenly. It is a very scientific and efficient heating system unique to Korea. So if you visit in winter, you will find the floors of your room quite warm.

Shoes Custom:

Shoes must be taken OFF in:

• lecture rooms

• offices of each level

• communal showers

• your room & bathroom (slippers available inside bathroom)

Shoes must be put ON in:

• hallways

• public restrooms

• outdoors In Korea, shoes are taken off for hygienic reasons

SHOWERS AND TOILETS

Wet type Bathroom: In the bathroom, you will find a toilet, a sink, and a shower nozzle attached to the sink. We have wet type bathrooms and all bathroom floors are equipped with a drain. There is no separation from the toilet & shower area. As a tip, we advise you to close the lid on the toilet while you take a shower to prevent seat from getting wet. When the bathroom is wet, please keep the door open to dry remaining moisture, especially during the summer to prevent mold.

Communal/Public Showers: Lower level rooms have their own individual bathrooms, but as you progress into the levels, you will be using the communal showers. The communal showers range from 4 to 6 showering stations without dividers. Showers are located on every floor. It includes the shower area, and an area where you can change your clothes, equipped with shelving for your towels & clothes while you take a shower.

In Korea, it is customary to dispose of the toilet tissue into a waste bin provided next to the toilet rather than into the toilet bowl. This is due to the frequent clogging of the toilet bowl. Sanitary pads and others are also to be disposed into the bin as well. The waste bins are emptied daily and the public toilet bowl is cleaned and sanitized on a daily basis.

FOOD

At the Main Center, breakfast/lunch/dinner is served at the cafeteria. It is provided in a Korean style, on a cafeteria tray, with only spoons and chopsticks provided as utensils. The basic Korean staple is rice, kimchi (traditional Korean style pickled/fermented vegetables), soup, and other side dishes. Rice mixed with various other ingredients is usually the case, but sometimes it is replaced by noodles. Kimchi also comes in a variety of types, ranging from cabbage, radish, green onions to cucumber. The soups are usually fish based (using anchovy or other fish broth as the base) or sometimes meat based, with other ingredients in them. Other side dishes come in a variety, usually consisting of vegetables, tofu, and seafood more than meat. Also, most of them are usually boiled, steamed, or stir-fried rather than deep-fried or grilled.

Spiciness: One other characteristic of Korean cuisine is that it tends to be spicy. We use a lot of red peppers, and people who are intolerant of spiciness find it challenging sometimes. However, there is a lot of non-spicy food as well so don’t worry too much.

Vegetarians: Although Korean cuisine does not consist of much meat, it does include some seafood. Past vegetarian students did not find difficulty adjusting, but vegan students do find it challenging. If you don’t want to bring your protein powder or other supplements because of the weight or lack of room in your bag, SBF (Self Balancing Food) can be purchased at the Main Center.

Snack Bar & Convenience Store: Other than the cafeteria, there is a snack bar where you can buy some other food. The menu includes dried seaweed rolls, pork cutlet, noodles, dumplings, etc. At the convenience store, you can buy cereals, peanut butter, jam, cheese, bread, chocolates, chips, including various beverages, Coffee, tea, smoothies, etc are also available at our Coffee shop

PAYMENT & CASH WITHDRAWAL

Cash Withdrawal- No International ATM: The Main Center does not have an international/global ATM. There is one banking machine available in Main Center but it does not accept foreign-issued cards. Therefore, in order to withdraw cash, you will have to ask the staff at the Main Office to withdraw the cash for you when they go out to the town. Not only is it inconvenient and takes time, it also takes transaction fees each time. Also, there are often limitations to the maximum amount of cash one can withdraw per day from overseas, usually 300,000 won. For these reasons, we highly recommend you exchange and bring with you a sufficient amount of cash to last you till the end of your stay here at the Main Center

Credit Card: All facilities at the Main Center accept Visa/Master credit cards, but cash is preferred due to high vendor transaction fees. Also your bank will charge overseas transaction fees, exchange rate fees and other numerous fees. Also, it may be convenient if you use cash for small purchases at the convenience store, snack bar, hair salon, book store, coffee house, etc. (Laundry facility is cash only.) Although Korean banks are global worldwide, there have been some problems withdrawing money due to bank security & card compatibility.

Wire Transfer: Transferring money directly to the Main Center bank account is available for foreigners. You have the advantage of not carrying a large amount of cash. You also have the convenience of not being charged each time you use the ATM/Debit/Credit card. However, keep in mind there will be high bank fees with each transfer.

ACTION MEDITATION “YOUNG-NONG“

Starting at level 4, the majority of the Meditation program consists of Action Meditation (young-nong). The students will be participate in young-nong outdoors during the day and meditating in lecture rooms in the evening. Young-nong aims to help students subtract deeply rooted habits & self-centered minds in the body, and also to help to incorporate meditation into everyday life. Main Center young-nong is mainly off campus agricultural related programs such as growing and harvesting blueberries, strawberries, sesame leaves, etc. A significant benefit of doing young-nong at the Main Center compared to a local center is that the young-nong sites are created specifically to eliminate all distractions, and students can get an extensive young-nong experience.

What to Bring / Checklist

Most of the items listed below are available at the Main Center convenience store if needed

Type of Clothes – Indoor wear, relaxed comfortable clothing for meditation is recommended. Outdoor wear for level 4 through 7 young-nong meditation is appropriate. During the winter, we recommend light goose down jackets and winters shoes/boots. Although the majority of your days will be spent indoors from level 1 thru 3, we recommend being prepared for the cold. For summer, prepare clothes considering the humidity and a lot of heat/sun. Light, long trousers and a hat to block sunlight are recommended for young-nong.

Toiletries

Hair dryer

Slippers (For indoors) – You will be taking your shoes on and off all the time, so bring flip-flops (summer) or slippers that are easy to slip in and out of.

Working Shoes – For young-nong – comfortable, sturdy shoes preferably with some grip on their soles.

Earphones – For interpretation

Medicine – If you have any medicine or supplements you are taking regularly, please make sure you bring enough to last during your stay.

Travel Adapter – Standard voltage in Korea is 220v and outlet has two round holes. So you will need a multi-voltage travel adapter. (There is a difference between a voltage adapter and a converter)

Phone charger

Blanket – Useful in winters. Even during summer, thin blankets may be handy because the lecture rooms are air conditioned.

Sunblock

Water bottle – A Thermos is good for the winter, regular water bottles for the summer.

Ear Plugs – If you are a light sleeper, earplugs will be useful.

Bug Repellant & Anti-Itch Cream – Due to the humidity, there are a lot of mosquitoes during summer along with other bugs. Prepare for them especially if you are going to do young-nong.

Cash – Exchange your money before coming to the Main Center.

Passport – Check the expiration date of your passport prior to departure. Your Passport must be valid for at least next 6 months or longer.

Contacts

Address –

Meditation Main Center Gyoyugwon (Level 1-4) Office 749-23 Sangwol-ro, Sangwol-myeon, Nonsan City, Chungnam 32906, SOUTH KOREA

충남 논산시 상월면 상월로 749-23 마음수련원 교육원 사무실 (우편번호 32906)

Telephone –

Gyoyugwon Office Tel: 82-41-731-1120~2

Gyoyugwon Office Fax: 82-41-731-1113

Interpreters’ Office (Uni Room): 82-41-731-1127