• Shrine
• Office
• Multi-purpose hall
• Dining hall
• Meditation halls set in forested areas
• Guest lodges for miscellaneous activities
• Numerous walking paths and outdoor meditation platforms

Besides organizing its own group retreats conducted by SBS monks, SBS also hosts meditation retreats organized by external groups. Our facilities can be booked for meditation retreats, workshops, forums, camps, seminars, and any other activities that promote spiritual, mental and physical health.

• SBS runs on donation and does not charge for meals, lodging or other facilities provided.
• Lodging capacity is up to 70 retreatants, plus 2 private dwellings for teachers.
• Booking must be at least two weeks in advance with information on the dates and nature of activities.

For a list of retreats at SBS, please click here.

Retreatants will be guided by one of our team of meditation teachers, consisting of A. Ariyadhammika, Sis Liang Mei Ling, and Sis Mallika Wong (see their profiles below). While all our teachers speak English well, dependent on the teacher available at the time of your visit, additional languages/dialects in which meditation interviews can be conducted are: Mandarin, Hokkien, Cantonese, German, and Bahasa Malaysia.

1. All retreatants are expected to observe the 8 precepts
2. All retreatants are required to abide by SBSRC rules and regulations.
3. We are unable to accept people with serious health problems, such as clinical mental disorder, contagious diseases, degenerative diseases requiring special attention, etc., or, those who cannot negotiate the steep terrains of SBSRC.
4. Approval is subject to availability of space.

HOW TO APPLY: Fill out the Guided Retreat Application Form at least one week before the day you intend to start your retreat.

GUIDED RETREAT – MEDITATION TEACHERS

ĀYASMĀ ARIYADHAMMIKA
Deputy Spiritual Director of SBS

One of Bhante’s outstanding qualities is his vast familiarity with the meditation methods, customs, practices, and interpretations of the DhammaVinaya prevalent in the three main Theravāda countries, after having spent five years in Burma, three years in Thailand and three years in Sri Lanka. Currently, he particularly emphasizes meditation methods that are rooted in the Pāli suttas. His full bio is available here.

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LIANG MEI LING
Meditation teacher at SBS Retreat Centre

Sis Liang Mei Ling started practising meditation in a Mahāyāna Buddhist society in 2003. Later, she took up the study of the early teachings of Buddhism wherein she found most of the answers to the questions she was grappling with. She began her journey of learning the Dhamma and meditation in SBS in 2010 from Venerable Kumāra, and later from Venerable Aggacitta and Venerable Ariyadhammika.

She has attended various retreats conducted by different teachers with different meditation techniques:

• Ānāpānasati under Luang Por Viradhammo and Ajahn Sucitto
• Open Awareness under Syadaw U Tejaniya
• TWIM (Tranquil Wisdom Insight Meditation) under Ven Vimalaramsi and Ven Khanti Khema
• Ānāpānasati under Ven Dhammasāra and Sayalay Dīpaṅkarā;
• Karuṇā Meditation under Syadaw U Maṅgala    
• Insight Dialogue Meditation under Ven Sukhacitto and Sis Elizabeth Faria

Sis Liang Mei Ling is interested in sutta studies as she believes the words of the Buddha or his early disciples are the most beautiful, beneficial, trustworthy and helpful in guiding one to reach the goal of liberation. Hence, reading translations of the Nikāyas is part of her routine, clarifying any remaining doubts with Ven. Aggacitta or Ven. Ariyadhammika.

She also participated in the following sutta study with meditation workshops conducted by Ven Aggacitta:

• Satipatthana Sutta 2012
• Samatha and Vipassanā 2014
• How to Diminish the Effects of Bad Past Kamma 2016
• How to Die a Good Death 2019
• Saṅkhāra in Theory and Practice 2020
• Entering the Stream and Beyond 2023

Chinese Agama Sutta Study Course attended before:

• 阿含导读课程 [A Study On Za A Han 杂阿含 (Saṃyukta Āgama)] – 释昭慧法师指导 (Guided By Ven Bhikṣunī Shi Zhao Hui)

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MALLIKA WONG
Meditation teacher at SBS Retreat Centre

Sis Mallika Wong started her meditation practice in the Mahasi Sayadaw Vipassana method under the late Bhante Suvanno in 1990.  He was the abbot of Buddhist Hermitage Lunas then. She also practised under various Sayadaws who came from Myanmar as visiting meditation teachers to the centre.  In 2008, she learned the Anapanasati method during a retreat conducted by a visiting Sri Lankan monk; Ven. Polpitiye Kassapa. She further learned loving-kindness meditation and the four element meditation under him. In between, she has also practised under a Zen master, Ven Master Huimen from Taiwan and Luang Por Toon from Thailand.

She got to know of the Open Mindfulness (OM) method from a childhood friend.  In 2018, she attended her first OM retreat under Ayasma Aggacitta.  Thereafter she would sign up to practise under him whenever there is an opportunity.  She has been conducting a weekly Anapanasati meditation class for some friends since 2009, but after seeing the benefits, effectiveness and practicality of OM, she has since transitioned to the OM method.

Thank you for your interest in undertaking a self-retreat in Sāsanārakkha Buddhist Sanctuary Retreat Centre (SBSRC).

Your application will be considered, provided that you have sufficient personal meditation experience i.e. completed one or more meditation retreat(s) under the guidance of a competent Theravāda monk or lay meditation teacher, for an accumulated period of at least four weeks. 

Your application is also subject to two further conditions: (i) availability of facilities and (ii) terms of our current policy:

• Observance of the 8 precepts.
• The maximum duration for a self-retreat is two months. After that, you will have to either be away for at least two months, or stay on as a volunteer worker for at least one month, before you can have another self-retreat at SBSRC.

HOW TO APPLY: Fill out the Self-Retreat Application Form at least one week before the intended start of the retreat.

NOTE: As for those who don’t qualify for self-retreat, they may consider signing up for a guided retreat instead.

While the schedule for group retreats depends on the organiser, the schedule for guided retreats and self-retreats is as follows:

6.00am: Morning chanting followed by 1 hour of formal group practice

7.30am: Breakfast, followed by cleaning up of lodgings and communal areas e.g. MPH, Sala, adjoining washrooms and sinks

Before lunch: Individual practice

12.00pm: Lunch, followed by cleaning up of dining hall and dishwashing area

After lunch: Rest

3.00pm: Individual practice

7.30pm: Formal group practice

9.20 – 9.30pm: Evening chanting

10.00pm: Bedtime