Why do students prepare to pay to learn Dhamma?

[SarathW]

I some times wonder why some students prepared to pay so much money to attend a retreat while there are so many free retreats available.
Are there any special attractions in the paid retreats.


Some discussion related to this topic.
https://discourse.suttacentral.net/t/is ... mma/3860/8

[mikenz66]

Are there really a lot of free retreats that are easy for westerners to access? Goenka retreats are free and easy to access in the West. Other free retreats I am aware of are connected with monasteries, and I imagine would generally be difficult to commit to without some familiarity with the monastery.

There are certainly plenty of opportunities in SE Asia, but unless one is quite adventurous, or has some contacts already, it's not so straightforward to figure out.

Furthermore, I don't think these retreats are actually "free". Someone, either the participants or wealthy donors pays for the facilities and food via donations.


Mike

[CedarTree]

I some times wonder why some students prepared to pay so much money to attend a retreat while there are so many free retreats available.
Are there any special attractions in the paid retreats.


Some discussion related to this topic.
https://discourse.suttacentral.net/t/is ... mma/3860/8

They have the finances and want to help support the community so events, places of practice, and teachers continue and are well developed.

This is why giving is so important if possible.

[Caodemarte]

I some times wonder why some students prepared to pay so much money to attend a retreat while there are so many free retreats available.
Are there any special attractions in the paid retreats.


Some discussion related to this topic.
https://discourse.suttacentral.net/t/is ... mma/3860/8

They have the finances and want to help support the community so events, places of practice, and teachers continue and are well developed.

This is why giving is so important if possible.

Most retreats that I am aware of (or interested in ) use the money to pay expenses and cover those who cannot pay. So if you have the money it is good to pay, but no one is turned away for lack of funds if they really can't pay. There are are obviously fraudulent groups that charge a lot of money and implicitly promise enlightenment for cash. Avoid them.

[CedarTree]

I some times wonder why some students prepared to pay so much money to attend a retreat while there are so many free retreats available.
Are there any special attractions in the paid retreats.


Some discussion related to this topic.
https://discourse.suttacentral.net/t/is ... mma/3860/8

They have the finances and want to help support the community so events, places of practice, and teachers continue and are well developed.

This is why giving is so important if possible.

Most retreats that I am aware of (or interested in ) use the money to pay expenses and cover those who cannot pay. So if you have the money it is good to pay, but no one is turned away for lack of funds if they really can't pay. There are are obviously fraudulent groups that charge a lot of money and implicitly promise enlightenment for cash. Avoid them.

Well said Caodemarte, if the teacher is wearing a rolex, has rings with more jewels than you can count on them and drives a fancy car. Stay away!!!! Lol Good old "You will know them by their fruits"

[seeker242]

Are there any special attractions in the paid retreats.

Food, hot water, electricity.

The nearest free retreat that I know of is a Goenka center, about 500 miles away. Not exactly convenient!

You don't "pay to learn dhamma". You pay for food, hot water, electricity, etc, etc.

[Maitri]

I some times wonder why some students prepared to pay so much money to attend a retreat while there are so many free retreats available.
Are there any special attractions in the paid retreats.


Some discussion related to this topic.
https://discourse.suttacentral.net/t/is ... mma/3860/8

Nothing is free. Someone, somewhere is paying for it.

[ieee23]

Food, hot water, electricity.
.

The by donation retreats I have been on have monasteries and Goenka centers. Plenty of food, hot water, and electricity at all three.

The monastery is a long, but doable drive for me. The Goenka retreats were a plane ticket and a taxi bus ride away -----> as would other monasteries be.

The one time I was planning to go to a "pricey" ( strong emphasis on suggested donations all over the site, with high suggestions ) retreat it was for a teacher I was really into. A death in the family a month out forced me to cancel.

Unless there was a teacher who I felt had particularly useful and relevant guidance to give me beyond all others, there is no way I would go to a secular retreat center which vociferously asks for suggestion donations with high donations suggested.

I can do "book learning" on my own. Minus that, and unique guidance, sitting quietly in a mediation hall is about the same anywhere.

[seeker242]

I can do "book learning" on my own. Minus that, and unique guidance, sitting quietly in a mediation hall is about the same anywhere.

I agree. Which is why I do the local paid retreats instead of driving 500 miles or hopping on a plane just to do it for free. I don't understand the resistance of giving money to a Buddhist center/temple.

[ieee23]

The resistance is the aggressiveness about suggesting the "suggested donations", the high amounts of the "suggested donations", and people using the dhamma as a business/livelihood.

[binocular]

I don't understand the resistance of giving money to a Buddhist center/temple.

That resistance might have something to do with the person not really wanting to do the Buddhist practice, not being sure whether they want to be a Buddhist, being ambivalent about the teacher at the center/temple, not really wanting to do the practice at an advanced level, and possibly other similar concerns.

[seeker242]

The resistance is the aggressiveness about suggesting the "suggested donations", the high amounts of the "suggested donations", and people using the dhamma as a business/livelihood.

Alright, but simply because there is a fee to attend doesn't mean any of the above is true. The local retreats here have a fee but no one is aggressive, the amount is not high and nobody is making a living off it.

[BasementBuddhist]

Before I moved, my local temple often held retreats. These mostly had a small fee attached because the locations these retreats were held in cost money. Nothing is free. Not even the dhamma, really. Not when you stop to think about what you are giving up. Everything has a price.

[CedarTree]

This would be a good time to say: The Dhamma is priceless. Having a chance to do an extended stay/practice at an Ajahn Chah monastery or speak with Ajahn Thanissaro or practice mindfulness and noting as intensely as is done at Panditãrãma or sit Zen meditation in America at Gyobutsuji Zen Monastery and manifest the Unborn is literally life altering. It is not a small day to day thing. At minimum it can change how you think and approach everything that is and arises in ones life. In between powerful experiences that many never get the chance to have because of not knowing the Dhamma and practicing it.

The dhamma is not a thing amongst other things. This is important wisdom to always keep in mind so one orients ones life around truly meaningful and powerful things.

[binocular]

This would be a good time to say: The Dhamma is priceless. Having a chance to do an extended stay/practice at an Ajahn Chah monastery or speak with Ajahn Thanissaro or practice mindfulness and noting as intensely as is done at Panditãrãma or sit Zen meditation in America at Gyobutsuji Zen Monastery and manifest the Unborn is literally life altering. It is not a small day to day thing. At minimum it can change how you think and approach everything that is and arises in ones life. In between powerful experiences that many never get the chance to have because of not knowing the Dhamma and practicing it.

The dhamma is not a thing amongst other things. This is important wisdom to always keep in mind so one orients ones life around truly meaningful and powerful things.

But one has to believe this to begin with in order for the Dhamma to have such an effect, does one not?