Sunnataram Forest Monastery : Thai Forest Monastery Bundanoon, offering a Meditation Retreats program
225 Teudts Road, Bundanoon NSW 2578
02 4884 4262
Exclusive Screening of A Documentary
Welcome visitors back for Sunday meditation and Dhamma teaching in 2023.
Numbers will be restricte. Bookings only, by email: [email protected]
Please check our website or instagram for update.
Thank you very much for your kind cooperation.
You are welcome to form a group of friends or work colleagues who are interested in Buddhist teachings and meditation to spend one Sunday between 10 AM- 2 PM at the monastery. Please contact us in advance.
For more enquiries, please contact us by email.
To follow up our current activities, please visit Instagram @kimmcsweeney52 or #sunnataramforestmonastery.
Helping the monks
Every Sunday is a working bee. Please email us if you would like to help the monks working in the garden or cleaning. Thank you very much.
Buddhist talk and a short meditation session for people who are interested to learn Buddhism between 10 AM -2 PM
Booking is essential. Thank you very much.
After experiencing teaching Buddhism in many high schools, we have decided to include a section in our website to help those students studying Buddhism in HSC. Read more in 'Dhamma Teachings/Buddhism for Students'
Sunnataram Forest Monastery now establishes a special training program: Teaching Monks: Further Training in Australia, to support international Buddhist monks who want to learn how to teach Buddhism in Australia and the West.
We welcome any non-Thai monk who would like to undertake this program to experience teaching Dhamma and helping Dhamma work in Australian culture for 3 months. Please email us.
Thank you & Sadhu
We would like to thanks to all friends who kindly donate Bunning Gift cards and Mitre 10 Gift cards to the monks. We have been using them to purchase many building materials to maintain the monastery and to support our Dhamma teaching programs. May all happiness and wisdom be with all of us. Sadhu
Thanks to Mick Rattanapanyo for your kind help.
Activities in January 2023
Weekend Meditation Retreat
Fri 20th Jan start 6 PM- Sun 22nd Jan finish 2 PM
Activities in February 2023
Weekend Meditation Retreat
Fri 17th Feb start 6 PM- Sun 19th Feb. finish 2 PM
The Power of Love
Thanks to all volunteers and retreat participants for supporting and practise the Power of Love. We wish all of us to be happy and peaceful. Please click here to see more photos and a brief summary
Activities in March 2023
Every Sunday
10 AM A guided meditation and Dhamma talk
11 AM Vegetarian lunch for all, prepared by our volunteers. Please don't bring your food to offer the monks.
12.30 - 2 PM Viewing the monastery garden, exhibition or helping the monks to work around the monastery
Weekend Meditation Retreat
Fri 17th Mar start 6 PM- Sun 19th Mar finish 2 PM
Living a Balanced Life
Activities in April 2023
Every Sunday
10 AM A guided meditation and Dhamma talk
11 AM Vegetarian lunch for all, prepared by our volunteers. Please don't bring your food to offer the monks.
12.30 - 2 PM Viewing the monastery garden, exhibition or helping the monks to work around the monastery
Easter Long Weekend Meditation Retreat
Fri 7th Apr start 6 PM- Mon 10th Apr finish 2 PM
Activities in May 2023
Every Sunday
10 AM A guided meditation and Dhamma talk
11 AM Vegetarian lunch for all, prepared by our volunteers. Please don't bring your food to offer the monks.
12.30 - 2 PM Viewing the monastery garden, exhibition or helping the monks to work around the monastery
Weekend Meditation Retreat
Vesak 5th -7th May 2023
Unibuds Autumn Meditation Retreat
12th -14th May 2023
Fri 19 May 2023
Students from Chevalier college, Burradoo will come to the monastery to study Buddhism and take part in the native bush regeneration project. Planting 30+ Warratah in the bush fire damaged area in the monastery. Please click here to see more photos.
Synopsis:
This documentary is the result of a chain of events that started at Sunnataram Forest Monastery.
A Sunnataram vipassana practitioner ventures into the Australian Outback on a 10,000 kilometre road trip, retracing his late immigrant father’s footsteps and hoping to locate the descendants of those who travelled to Australia from the Croatian island of Korčula in the 1950s. His mission takes an unexpected turn in remote desert country, where he is introduced by a friend and fellow retreat participant to Warumungu artist Joseph Williams, whose unknown father was also a migrant. Through their growing friendship, they soon discover the living history of each other’s ancestry, reigniting connections along the way and discovering just how much First Nations and immigrant Australian communities have in common.
Countryman is a fascinating exploration of identity, environment and reconciliation.
The screening is supported by Julalikari Council Aboriginal Corporation and Nyinkka Nyunyu Art & Culture Centre
Link to the film trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdHDs5YERlA&t=2s
Activities in June 2023
Every Sunday
10 AM A guided meditation and Dhamma talk
11 AM Vegetarian lunch for all, prepared by our volunteers. Please don't bring your food to offer the monks.
12.30 - 2 PM Viewing the monastery garden, exhibition or helping the monks to work around the monastery
Long Weekend Meditation Retreat
Fri 9th Jun start 6 PM- Sun 12th Jun finish 2 PM
Life is like the big snow ball
Sorry the retreat is full. Please appy for the last retreat for this year in Dec 2023. Thank you.
Activities in July 2023
Every Sunday
10 AM A guided meditation and Dhamma talk
11 AM Vegetarian lunch for all, prepared by our volunteers. Please don't bring your food to offer the monks.
12.30 - 2 PM Viewing the monastery garden, exhibition or helping the monks to work around the monastery
Weekend Meditation Retreat
Fri 7th Jul start 6 PM- Sun 9th Jul finish 2 PM
The Enlightened Mind is like a water drop on lotus leaf
Sorry the retreat is full. Please apply for the last retreat of this year in Dec 2023.
Activities in August 2023
Every Sunday
10 AM A guided meditation and Dhamma talk
11 AM Vegetarian lunch for all, prepared by our volunteers. Please don't bring your food to offer the monks.
12.30 - 2 PM Viewing the monastery garden, exhibition or helping the monks to work around the monastery
Weekend Meditation Retreat
Fri 11th Aug start 6 PM- Sun 13th Aug finish 2 PM
The Powerful Mind
Sorry the retreat is full.Please apply for the last retreat of this year in Dec 2023. Thank you.
Activities in September 2023
Every Sunday
10 AM A guided meditation and Dhamma talk
11 AM Vegetarian lunch for all, prepared by our volunteers. Please don't bring your food to offer the monks.
12.30 - 2 PM Viewing the monastery garden, exhibition or helping the monks to work around the monastery
Weekend Meditation Retreat
Fri 1st Sept start 6 PM- Sun 3rd Sept finish 2 PM
The Factors of Enlightenment
Sorry the retreat is full.Please apply for the last retreat of this year in Dec 2023. Thank you.
Long Weekend Meditation Retreat
Fri 29th Sept start 6 PM- Mon 2nd Oct finish 11 AM
Reinvigorating MInd
Sorry the retreat is full. Please apply for the last retreat of this year in Dec 2023. Thank you.
Activities in October 2023
Every Sunday
10 AM A guided meditation and Dhamma talk
11 AM Vegetarian lunch for all, prepared by our volunteers. Please don't bring your food to offer the monks.
12.30 - 2 PM Viewing the monastery garden, exhibition or helping the monks to work around the monastery
Activities in November 2023
Every Sunday
10 AM A guided meditation and Dhamma talk
11 AM Vegetarian lunch for all, prepared by our volunteers. Please don't bring your food to offer the monks.
12.30 - 2 PM Viewing the monastery garden, exhibition or helping the monks to work around the monastery
Weekend Meditation Retreat
Fri 3rd Nov start 6 PM- Sun 5th Nov finish 2 PM
Heart Blossom
Sorry the retreat is full. Please apply the last retreat for this year, Dec 2023. Thank you.
Activities in December 2023
Every Sunday
10 AM A guided meditation and Dhamma talk
11 AM Vegetarian lunch for all, prepared by our volunteers. Please don't bring your food to offer the monks.
12.30 - 2 PM Viewing the monastery garden, exhibition or helping the monks to work around the monastery
Weekend Meditation Retreat
Fri 1st Dec start 6 PM- Sun 3rd Dec finish 2 PM
An Awakening Moment
Due to the 2020 bushfire damage, we have very limited accommodation. Before you book in for the retreat, please be sure that you can complete the whole retreat.
Please click here and email us your application form. Thank you.
10 Things You Probably Didn't Know About Sunnataram Foresst Monastery in The Southern Highlands
The Fold Southern Highlands by Jessica Raschke Jan 2022
Bush Fire 2020 Record
The monks are grateful and touched by all of your support and concerns. We have received many phone calls and emails from many monks and nuns, supporters and retreat friends. We wish everyone to be safe and peaceful. With gratitude from all at Sunnataram Forest Monastery, Bundanoon.
Please click on the photos to see records
Donation for Bush Fire
Account Name: Sunnataram Forest Monastery Incorporated
ANZ Bank, NSW, Australia
Swift code: ANZBAU3M
BSB: 012 547
Account No. 2370 37944
The monastery has been burnt twice by the Morton fire on 10 & 23 Jan 2020. We lost almost all Ladies' and Men's accommodation, 25 water tanks, water pumps, meditation bushland and a lot of building materials.
Thank you to everyone who has kindly made a donation to rebuild the monastery
Sadhu Anumodhana
Retreat Dates
For the Year 2023
Feb 17th – 19th Full
Mar 17th – 19th Full
April 7th – 10th Easter Full
May 5th – 7th Full
June 9th - 12th Long Weekend Full
July 7th - 9th Full
Aug 11th - 13th Full
Sept 1st - 3rd Full
Sept 29th - Oct 2nd Long Weekend Full
Nov 3rd - 5th Full
Dec 1st - 3rd Only a few places available.
Due to the 2020 Bushfire damage to the monastery, we have only limited accommodation. Please make sure to complete the whole retreat before your booking. All retreat is by suggested donation. Please email the monastery for inquiry. Thank you
Things We Need
Donation to rebuild meditation huts to resume our monthly meditation retreat.
Sunnataram Forest Monastery
ANZ Bank, NSW
Swift code: ANZBAU3M
BSB: 012 547
Acc No: 2370-37944
Thank you for your kind support. May the Blessings of the Buddha be with all of us, to be healthy, weathy and wise.
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