To Serve as a Karma Yogi
Contribution to the Monastery
The modern Gut Saunstorf Monastery is a place of retreat and contemplation. A place to become still and listen to the heart.
It was founded by the wisdom teacher OM C. Parkin and is open to all people who seek silence and encounter with themselves. It is not bound to any religion.
In order to take care of the place and ensure its preservation, it needs a lot of nurturing and care. Thus, as a community that sustains it, we are also dependent on outside help by people who support us through their efforts.
Karma Yoga is also called the Yoga of action, where every action is considered an offering to God, to the all-encompassing whole, free of personal intentions, in the natural flow of give and take.
In this spirit, we offer people from home and abroad the opportunity to become involved in the monastery as a karma yogi, volunteer or monastic guest in various areas of activity.
There are three ways to participate at Gut Saunstorf:
Karma Yoga – Time for your Inner Growth
If you would like to spend at least 14 days at Gut Saunstorf, you are welcome to apply as a Karma Yogi.
You will be accommodated on site and you will act and eat together with other Karma Yogis and staff in the monastery. In your workflow you will be integrated into the stillness of this place and spend a conscious time of retreat.
We offer
- Three organic vegetarian meals per day
- Participation in the daily meditations
- Participation in the daily movement meditations
- Enriching experience of being part of a team
- Weekly Karma Yoga gathering
- Accommodation in a single or a double bedroom with shared bathroom in the Karma Yoga apartment at a weekly flat rate of € 60,- (you will pay this in full before you start your work as a karma Yogi. Please understand that we do not refund the amount in case you decide to leave earlier).
Minimum length of stay: 14 days.
Arrival day: Monday
We are looking forward to motivated and self-responsible people with a practical and flexible attitude towards supporting us 6 hours a day; depending on the length of your stay you will have 1-2 days off per week. We kindly ask you for an early registration for your stay.
Fields of Activity:
Determined by the seasons, there will be different areas of activity. If you want to support us, you can choose one of the seasons and its activities or just come and help where you are needed.
The following areas need assistance from April through October:
- Vegetable and fruit garden, from sowing to harvesting
- Park and other outdoor facilities, general maintenance, handicraft activities such as building fences, benches etc.
All year working areas:
- Cleaning and housekeeping
- Caring and cleaning of the rooms
- Assisting with kitchen work
- Caretaking support of the janitor for people with manual skills in various craftsmanships
- Special projects, such as research, technical support at events, etc.
Integration and Support:
As a Karma Yogi, you are obliged to participate in silent meditation once a day. Integration into the monastic daily routine supports the balance of contemplation and action.
There is a weekly gathering especially for karma yogis guided by professional therapists of Gut Saunstorf. During practical activities inner issues that are not always pleasant may arise. This is not uncommon. It is a natural part of the path and self-inquiry. It requires your loving and self-responsible attention and care. The weekly meetings are meant to support you in this inner process.
You can also book individual sessions with the local therapists if you want to deepen your process of self-inquiry.
You are free to participate in the open sangha, a regular community meeting that takes place once a month.
If Darshan with OM C. Parkin or other events of the OM Foundation Inner Science are scheduled during your stay, you are free to attend and thus meet the teacher.
Requirements for You Stay:
- A spiritual community of about 50 people lives here. They share a desire for realisation, a deep interest in the wisdom teachings as disciples of the wisdom teacher OM C. Parkin. You can make contacts and communicate with fellow karma yogis and community members but at the same time being alone with yourself is an essential part of your time in the monastery.
- We are looking for motivated and self-responsible helpers who have a serious interest in looking inward for self-inquiry and meditation. Your contribution is part of an inner process, There is no separation between meditation and activity, they both flow into what we call Karma Yoga.
- Language skills: German or basic English
- Good physical condition
Volunteering – for People Who Want to Stay Longer
If you want to stay longer than 5 weeks up to several months, you can become a Karma Yogi volunteer and be accommodated free of charge.
This is a conscious time out from your everyday life and your habitual duties. A time that is dedicated to your contemplation. Integrated into the daily activities of the monastery and perhaps consciously in an area of work unfamiliar to you, you will spend a time of being alone and being in community at the same time.
Equally, you will be accommodated on site sharing work and meals with fellow Karma Yogis and monastery staff.
The first four weeks of your volunteering will be considered a trial period. For this period you will be charged € 60,- for accommodation p/w. You will be asked to pay the total amount of € 240,- prior to starting your work. Please understand that we do not refund the amount in case you decide to leave earlier. From the 5th week on, you will change automatically to the volunteer program with accommodation free of charge.
Please contact us for a personal telephone conversation so we can get to know each other or send us your application directly by email.
Ora et labora – Helping as a Monastery Guest
In the spirit of the monastic tradition of “Ora et labora – pray and work”, you can support us in our daily tasks as a guest of the monastery. Ora et labora, the mutual penetration of inner gathering and work, creates harmony between inner retreat and engagement in daily responsibilities.
If you wish to take advantage of this opportunity to participate, you are invited to immerse into the flow of meditation, leisure and solitude, and a time of work.
For three hours a day you will help with the tasks that need to be done in the house and garden. In exchange, you will receive a reduction of € 27,- per day on full board or half board, per day ora et labora.
Minimum stay: 5 days (4 nights) at Gut Saunstorf.
“Serving is a lovesong to life”
OM. C. Parkin
Founder & spiritual director
„It is about putting our lives at the service of God and humanity. We offer ourselves as vessels, remembering our purpose, purified and emptied, trusting that the waters of life will flow through us to sustain life on this planet. We consecrate ourselves the moment we turn to God and say, I will.“
Reshad Feild
Contributing to Gut Saunstorf Monastery?
get in contact!
The possibility to actively participate at Gut Saunstorf is available upon request. Please get in touch with us!
