A few weeks ago, I was lucky to enjoy my first visit to a Buddhist monastery. I spent a weekend at Blue Cliff Monastery in upstate New York. The monastery is part of the Plum Village Tradition of Thich Nhat Hanh.
Background to the Monastery Visit
Although it was my first time visiting a Buddhist monastery, it wasn’t my first time interacting with monastics from Blue Cliff. As I have previously shared on the blog, Sisters and Brothers from Blue Cliff came to my university and ran a two-day retreat in the fall of 2025. It was amazing!
The director of my university’s mindfulness center–Michael, a wonderful human being–organized the trip for folks at my university.
I traveled up there with a group of students, other faculty members, and staff. The bus ride up and back was very social–a lovely way to travel and bond as a group.
Structure of the Days
This visit to the Buddhist monastery was such a gift. The structure, practices, and beautiful energy nourished me. The typical schedule shared on the Blue Cliff website, shown below, is the one I participated in.
05:00 am – wake up
06:00 am – sitting meditation
07:00 am – exercise (stick exercise or personal practice)
08:00 am – breakfast
09:30 am – Dharma talk or working meditation
11:30 am – walking meditation
12:30 pm – lunch
03:00 pm – working meditation or activity
05:00 pm – sitting meditation & chanting
06:00 pm – dinner
07:30 pm – activity or personal practice time
09:30 pm – noble silence
I loved all of it. I particularly appreciated that all of this community and supportive structure took place in the natural beauty of the Catskills area.
Noble Silence at the Monastery
I’ll pause to mention the practice of noble silence. This practice particularly resonated with me. It involved not talking from 9:30 pm until after breakfast the next day. I’ve done mindful eating with others in noble silence before, but never on a scale like during my first visit to this Buddhist monastery. We were not talking while dorming, walking, meditating, and eating with others.
Noble silence was incredibly powerful. It had more effect on me than I could have imagined. Practicing and being together without talking brought a kind of peace and a heighted a sense of unity of purpose. In effect, it meant we weren’t multitasking–not ever–during this time. It’s was a powerful way to touch the present moment more deeply.
Tea Memories from Blue Cliff
I have some special tea memories from my visit to the Buddhist monastery.
One morning, I took my steaming cup of tea outside to a bench protected from the elements. I had been in noble silence since the night before and was feeling very relaxed and tender-hearted after the morning meditation. The weather was misty and it was raining lightly. Fog veiled the surrounding woods. I watched the nearby birds and drank my tea in companionable silence next to another visitor also drinking tea. I was such a beautiful moment.
Another highlight of the trip was leading a tea meditation in the Big Hall for our group before we had our first dharma share. The intimacy of our small circle of chairs and meditation cushions in the huge hall was striking. It also felt great to serve the lovely group I traveled with. I love Thich Nhat Hanh’s gatha on drinking tea, so I used that, preceded by some other gathas I added on the fly, realizing our tea cups weren’t cool enough to hold yet.
Since the Visit to the Monastery
Since returning from Blue Cliff Monastery, I have being practicing longer sitting meditations. I’ve also started using the mindfulness bells on the Plum Village app. I was inspired to do this because I absolutely loved the mindfulness bells at the monastery–the quarter hour reminder to stop and reengage with your body, breath, and spirit. I’ve also been practicing mindful eating more often since returning.
It’s not a contest to practice or do more. I want to underscore that. This is what I feel called to do and find very supportive right now.
My phone was put away most of my visit to the Buddhist monastery. Otherwise, I would be able to share more photos–including the morning mist in the woods, the delightful mossy paths by the creeks, and the beautiful folks that I traveled with and the monastics who welcomed us with such a generous spirit. Those photos are only in my heart.