Birken Forest Buddhist Monastery

The resident community then finished work on the main building, and has since been continually enhancing it in addition to adding cabins and improving road access.

His encounter with Buddhist wisdom as a young man initiated a spiritual journey that led him to become a lay hermit in the Coast Mountain region of BC for several years.

Soṇa further trained for over three years at monasteries following Ajahn Chah in northeast Thailand, especially Wat Pah Nanachat.

Birken monks follow the Thai Forest Tradition, which is strictly disciplined and prohibits touching money.

Birken also depends heavily on resident lay stewards, who volunteer their services and live at the monastery full-time.

Since then, it has become more well known, and many Canadians give freely to help support the Thai Forest Tradition in North America.

[3] About 40 km south of Kamloops by road, the property is shared with moose, deer, the occasional black bear, range cattle, geese and owls.

of living space, including a spectacular meditation hall overlooking the surrounding forest and bird sanctuary.

This main building has a walking meditation hall as well as a library and eating area in the basement, a large kitchen, guest rooms, and 4 shared bathrooms.

Birken is entirely off-the-grid, with 16 solar panels supplying enough power for most of the year; on cloudy days, especially during the winter months, a backup diesel generator is activated as necessary.

Each year Birken has a three-month Winter Retreat - during this time (roughly January through March), limited reservations are taken as the resident community dedicates itself to silent practice.