Cittaviveka (Chithurst Buddhist Monastery) is a Theravada Buddhist monastery in Chithurst, West Sussex, United Kingdom, ordered around the daily life of monastic sangha and the practice of vipassana within the forest tradition. It was established in 1979. Original UK Thai Forest monastery, founded 1979 by Ajahn Sumedho with the support of Ajahn Chah. Home to several senior Western forest monastics. The monastery operates on the vinaya, the monastic code laid down by the Buddha. Resident monks (and in some lineages nuns) hold eight or ten precepts, eat one main meal a day before noon, and live on alms or offerings from lay supporters. Lay guests who come to practice are asked to take eight precepts for the duration of their stay, including the precept to refrain from eating after midday. Practice here is shaped by the lineage rather than by a fixed retreat schedule. There are no for-purchase courses. Lay practitioners apply to stay, are accepted at the discretion of the senior monks, and join the monastery's daily form. Mornings begin before dawn with chanting and meditation. The single meal is taken in silence after the monastic almsround or after offerings are received. Afternoons and evenings hold further practice periods, with a dharma talk or sutta study some evenings depending on the monastery's rhythm. The atmosphere is quiet, modest, and disciplined. Visitors who come expecting curated retreat programming may find the form spare. Those who come willing to live by the schedule of the resident sangha often describe the experience as the closest contemporary access to the Buddha's original training community. Capacity is roughly 30. Languages: English. What lay practitioners often discover is that the form itself is the teaching. The schedule, the precepts, the posture of the resident sangha, the way food is offered and received, the chanting at dawn: these are not preliminaries to a formal teaching that happens later, they are the teaching. Asian forest monasteries have preserved this orientation for centuries; Western branches in the Ajahn Chah lineage carry it forward in English-speaking contexts. Stays here are typically open-ended within limits set by the senior monks. A first stay might be a week or two; established lay supporters of the community may stay months at a time, or return regularly for set periods. The form is not a retreat package; it is a way of life that lay practitioners step into and out of.
The schedule follows monastic time. Wake-up is around 4am for chanting and group sitting in the main hall. The community then disperses for individual practice (sitting, walking, sutta reading) until the morning meal preparation. The single meal of the day is taken in silence, mindfully, before noon. Afternoon and evening hold more sitting and walking, often with a period of work practice, followed by an evening puja and group meditation. Some evenings include a dharma talk or sutta reading by a senior monk; other evenings are silent. Lay guests are not given personal interviews on a retreat-center model. Questions are addressed informally during work periods or after the meal. The teaching method is the form itself: living the daily schedule alongside ordained practitioners in the lineage. Sutta study is part of the rhythm. Senior monks often read passages from the Pali canon during evening sessions, with brief commentary, and lay guests are welcome to join. The practice posture is mostly seated meditation on a cushion, but the form respects the body: walking, standing, and lying-down meditation are all part of the four postures recognized by the Buddha as appropriate for mindfulness.
The Theravada Forest tradition traces its modern revival to Ajahn Mun Bhuridatta (1870-1949) in Thailand and to the monastic teachers of the Burmese vipassana revival, including Mahasi Sayadaw and Pa-Auk Sayadaw. Cittaviveka (Chithurst Buddhist Monastery) stands in one branch of this stream. Resident teachers are fully ordained bhikkhus (and in some communities bhikkhunis or siladhara) trained within the lineage and authorized by their preceptors. The dharma taught here remains close to the suttas of the Pali canon.
Lay meditators who want to live the monastic form for days, weeks, or months rather than attend a course.
Those drawn to the Buddha's original training rules and wanting to experience life within the eight or ten precepts.
Practitioners considering ordination who want to live in a forest sangha to test the form before committing.
Arrival typically requires written application in advance. On arrival, lay guests receive a guesthouse room or kuti (small forest hut), are introduced to the eight precepts they will hold during their stay, and join the next scheduled period. There are no schedules tailored to lay retreatants. You wake when the bell wakes the monastery, eat what is offered, sit and walk on the monastery's rhythm, and help with daily work. Phones are usually surrendered or not used. Stays often range from a few days to several months, depending on the community and the practitioner. Departure is simple: you take your leave, offer dana if you wish, and return to lay life carrying the form with you.
Accommodations are monastic: single guest rooms, shared dorms, or solitary forest kutis depending on the property. Bathrooms are typically shared. The single daily meal is vegetarian or includes whatever is offered by lay supporters that morning. With capacity around 30, the monastery is small and quiet. Walking paths through the forest are reserved for practice. The grounds are kept simply, often with a main meditation hall, a kitchen and dining area, monastic quarters, and lay guest housing arranged so that the daily form can be observed without intrusion.
There is no fee. Cittaviveka (Chithurst Buddhist Monastery) operates on dana, the offerings of lay supporters. Lay guests are welcome to give freely if they wish, but no price is set, and many practitioners stay without giving anything. The monastery's financial life depends on a small lay community of regular supporters who provide food, robes, medicines, and basic operating costs. The model preserves the original Buddhist economy of mendicancy.
Cittaviveka (Chithurst Buddhist Monastery) preserves the form of the Buddha's original sangha: alms, single meal, vinaya, forest practice, and dana.
No. Most forest monasteries require written application, and many ask for a letter from a teacher or community vouching for you. The monastery's senior monks decide who can stay and for how long. Plan to apply weeks or months in advance.
No formal religious affiliation is required, but lay guests are expected to hold eight precepts during their stay, including refraining from eating after noon, and to participate in the monastery's chanting and meditation. The form is Buddhist; willingness to follow it matters more than identification.
It varies. Some monasteries set a maximum first stay of one or two weeks for new lay guests, with longer stays available after a relationship is established. Others allow open-ended stays at the discretion of the senior monks.
Phones are typically surrendered or strongly discouraged. Some monasteries permit a brief weekly call. The form depends on a clear break with everyday distraction, and the community protects that boundary.
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