Short Corona-Guide for participants and visitors

What you should know and what is dear to our hearts…

Dear participants, dear visitors, dear Sangha,

It is safe to say that all our lives have changed dramatically on many levels since the pandemic started. In order to protect our teachers, participants and team members we had to cancel all onsite courses at Kamalashila Institute since March.

We are very excited that we finally can offer courses and seminars again here at the institute. The onsite courses at Kamalashila are an important core activity of the teaching assignment and vision of the institute. We also missed dearly the direct personal exchange with all of you, the communication and the feeling of connectedness during courses.

It is great to have you back!

Solidarity

We don‘t know how the last weeks have been for you living through this extraordinary and dynamic situation under the Corona pandemic and rules. We have been frequently thinking about you – as many of you have been thinking about us, as shown by the many information requests and comments we have received through social media and by the many donations we received lately. Your support is very important to us and we wholeheartedly thank you for that.

Restarting onsite courses

We have used the crisis also as a chance to develop online courses – our growing number of online teachings and courses have already reached many people and we will continue to offer programs online. However, as convenient as online programs are, they can never replace courses at the institute itself nor the personal communication, direct exchange between participants, teachers and our team members.

End of August we will restart the onsite programs with smaller groups: the number of participants will be limited, so we can implement all required measures and rules under the corona protection and sanitation regulations for courses and stays at Kamalashila.

We have used the time without onsite courses to develop our extensive protection concept based on the legally binding laws and regulations from the health department of the Rhineland-Palatinate government.

We are carefully observing the further development of the pandemic. If changes happen in the laws and regulations that affect courses, stays and visits at Kamalashila we will update our protection concepts accordingly. As this may happen on short notice, we kindly ask you to check our website frequently as our website will always provide the most current information, like the latest version of this Kamalshila Corona-Guide. Unfortunately it is possible that we will need to make short notice changes to already announced or booked onsite programs. In that case we already thank you for your understanding and support.

You and our safety have the highest priority

We kindly ask you to adhere to the following precautionary measures:

• Participants that show flu-like, cold-like or Covid-19-like symptoms are not allowed to attend onsite programs or visit the institute.
• Please follow the sanitation rules and protective measures already while travelling to Kamalashila, especially when you are using public transport – g. frequent hand sanitation and mandatory mask wearing.
• If a person develops any of the above mentioned symptoms during a stay at Kamalashila, he/she is obligated to inform a member of our staff immediately. According to current pandemic protections laws anybody with symptoms can no longer stay or participate in programs at the institute.
• Upon arrival each participant is obligated to register at our guest office and leave his/her personal contact data.
• The number of participants for onsite programs is limited to small groups. All guest rooms at the institute are now single occupancy only (except if persons of the same household would stay together).
• During your stay any direct contact, such as shaking hands and hugging, is not permitted. When coughing or sneezing, stay as far away as possible from others and/or sneeze into the crook of your arm.
• Generally, the social distancing rule of at least 1.5 m in between persons is strictly to be followed. This also applies for waiting in line at entrances and exits of common areas and
• Signposted one-way regulations must be observed in hallways, entrances and common areas.
• Please wash and/or disinfect your hands often and thoroughly, especially before entering public buildings and common areas.
• Participants are required to wear masks in all shared rooms, common areas, and in the corridors and hallways. Masks may be taken off only at your dedicated seat.
• In the dining hall participants will have designated seats that are assigned to them for the duration of a course and must not be changed. After sitting down at your designated seat you may take off your mask. Self-service at the buffet is prohibited; all meals will be served.
• Similar rules apply when entering the shrine room or class room. Mask needs to be worn until you reach your dedicated seat. You may take off the mask after sitting down. Changing seats during program is not allowed.
• Showers (for those having rooms with shared showers/bathrooms) can only be used after booking a time slot by signing in on the shower list provided to you.
• Participants and guests who do not abide by one or more of these rules and despite being requested to do so by our staff and who continue to disobey the rules are breaking the laws and regulations set by the laws for infection prevention of the Rhineland-Palatine. These participants are endangering the life and health of those around them! They will be banned from further participating in the program and must leave immediately without reimbursement of the course fees. The same applies if a guest refuses to register upon arrival.

The above listed protections measures and sanitation rules apply of course to our staff and team members as well. Our team is always available if you have any questions and will provide disinfectants and disposable towels at the appropriate locations and will put up clear signage at the corresponding locations throughout the institute. We will also ensure regular and adequate ventilation of the common areas.

Further information about visiting Kamalashila and our online programs

Visitors

We are always happy if you would like to visit Kamalashila outside of courses. In that case, please register in advance with our office at office@kamalashila.de or by calling 02655-939040.

Our Dharma Shop is open to visitors in compliance with the above-mentioned hygiene rules. Yet reservations for your visit of the shop need to be done prior to your arrival. To make a reservation at the Dharma Shop please call directly the following mobile phone number: +49 174-1034186.

Kamalashila Online

The current success and feedback resulting from our newly developed online courses and events have shown us how important it is to continue to offer online programs in addition to our onsite programs. Hence we will continue to develop programs and events for both – onsite and online participation. There will be regular online live teachings by our resident Lamas and guest teachers. The program is updated continuously and you can find the current online program schedule on www.kamalashila.de/online.

Kamalashila YouTube

Many of the previous online offerings on a variety of topics can be found on our new YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/c/KamalashilaInstitut. Enjoy the teachings at a time of your choosing and feel free to share them with your friends!

Data Protection

According to current regulations under the infection protection laws we are legally obligated to take your address and contact information upon arrival. This data needs to be stored for a month after visiting Kamalashila or participating at a course and will only be made available to the health authorities in case of the need to retrace infection chains. The storage of the data takes place under the strict security provisions of the general data protection regulations. After the legal obligation expired to store your contact and address, we will delete/erase these data.

What is dear to our hearts

Unfortunately it looks like that the pandemic will be around and affect our lives for a longer period to come. Your participation and stay at Kamalshila will hence be only possible by following the above stated rules and measures for the time being. We are very aware that this will be a different feeling during your visits compared to your prior experiences before the pandemic started. As much as we would like to be together without restriction, without distance rules, seating plans and mask requirements, we can only offer courses during the pandemic in an environment that is safe for everyone if you (and all our employees and teachers of course) comply with these rules.

With patience and tolerance with one another and compassion for one another, we will also master these times together and, despite the virus, enjoy an inspiring, relaxed and restful togetherness.

We thank you in advance for your kind support and are looking forward to your participation and visit at Kamalashila.

The most important for us is that you stay healthy!