Ekãyano is located just across the border in France. Dharma-Lotus has established a retreat center with the beautiful name Ekãyano in the French Ardennes for anyone looking for peace and contemplation.

Ekãyano is located in the middle of forests and meadows. A rest home where you can work on your own personal growth under the guidance of the experienced teachers of Dharma-Lotus.

Here we givemulti-day activitiesand they all have a theme, from simple to very extensive, so that everyone can make a choice. If you have a keen interest in Buddhist philosophy, especially Kum-nye, we would like to welcome you.

Ekãyano is located in a completely renovated farmhouse from 1819. There are several spacious bedrooms for 2 or 3 people. There is a study room where you can retreat and quietly enjoy the available literature. In the large garden there are benches in various places in separate corners where you can talk to each other quietly or not and where you can relax in peace and quiet.

There are 2 large verandas where you can sit and where we often give courses, but this is also possible in the garden and there is always the Med, the large meditation hall.

All meals are provided according to tantric nutrition and are vegetarian.

Ekãyano is located near the picturesque village of Viel-Saint-Remy, a 3.5-hour drive from Breda and Eindhoven. Here are houses and farms built from oak beams and loam, almost everyone has a vegetable garden and the chickens roam freely on the road. This is the "Grand Est" and Ekãyano is located exactly on the border area of the French Ardennes and Champagne.

It is a nature reserve with mainly livestock farming and everywhere you see cows, horses, sheep and geese grazing in the meadows. The entire area is hilly and large forest areas are home to deer, boars and other game.

Ekãyano itself is located on a side road of a small road and if you do not like peace and quiet you should not be here.

'Ekãyano maggo' is Pali and a term that occurs within theVipassana meditation method. Sayadaw U Silananda described it very nicely in "The Four Foundations of Mindfulness":

Ekãyano stands for "the direct way" and has 5 conditions:

- a road that leads directly to its destination

- a path where you have to do it yourself without rituals

- a path taught from Dharma

- a path that can only be found in Buddhism

- a road that has only one goal.

We try to provide courses and training without pretentiousness. We do this as best we can and it is up to the participant to do something with it. We do not promise enlightenment, angelic singing, or growing spiritual gifts. We only give you the opportunity to work on yourself and you are the one who will ultimately have to do that yourself.

Everything we offer are ultimately 'Tools' to create awareness. With meditation, the goal is not the meditation itself, but the awareness you create with it. This can also be done through yoga or mindfulness or other tools.

Ekãyano is not a monastery and it is not a spiritual holiday home either. We usually have fixed programs in which participants participate and which have a certain structure. The Vipassana retreat has the same structure as Gautama the Buddha developed it 2,500 years ago and has proven its effectiveness for centuries. Although a retreat can and may always be fun and enjoyable, it is always primarily about awareness.

If you give yourself a short or longer period of time to relax and look at your own sources of unrest, then Ekãyano is a good place for you.

In addition to all group activities with a fixed theme, you can also do an individual retreat at Ekãyano. You come alone or as a couple and you get your own room and your own program.

You can put together this program yourself or let us do it for you. We make the planning in advance and you will receive 3 meals a day. How long you stay is completely up to you, as well as how much rest you take.