Day Visitors

Aranya Refuge Theravada Buddhist Monastery has rented Tugwell Cottage, near Sooke, BC, for two months in February/March 2026.

Monks from Metta Forest Monastery (Wat Metta) will be in residence throughout the program, with two monks present in February and two different monks present in March.

Tugwell Cottage is in rural Sooke, BC. Guests are welcome to meditate in the meditation hall and join the daily schedule of a Theravada Buddhist monastery. The location offers a large open yard with a creek running through the property. The house has a large wrap-around deck available for outdoor walking or sitting meditation. A forest and trails are nearby, offering a wilderness refuge suitable for forest monks in the Thai Forest tradition. The monks will stay in a separate house on an adjacent property.

Tugwell Cottage is approximately 15 minutes by car from downtown Sooke and 50 km from downtown Victoria.

We welcome Day Visitors from Sunday, February 2, through to Sunday, March 30, 2026.

No registration required — you are welcome to simply show up. If you are planning to stay for a full day, please email us beforehand at registrar@aranyarefuge.org.

If you are joining just for morning or evening meditation, please arrive at least 10 minutes before the start so you can get settled.

All visitors are asked to observe the Five Precepts during their time at the monastery. The Five Precepts are the basic training rules for practicing lay Buddhists, and are also observed by day visitors at Wat Metta, the home monastery of our visiting monks.

You can read them in full here.