Monastic Academy Launches Mobile Monastery Tour for U.S. Mindfulness Workshops

The Monastic Academy for the Preservation of Life on Earth, known as MAPLE, has launched the Mobile Monastery, a traveling series designed to carry contemplative training and "modern monasticism" directly into local communities. The initiative kicked off with a cluster of March 2026 events spanning Boston, Shutesbury, and Lowell, Vermont, with Montreal, Quebec also listed among upcoming stops despite the tour being framed primarily as a U.S. undertaking.

The Mobile Monastery is staffed by what MAPLE describes as a small, dedicated team of practitioners, also referred to in the academy's materials as "modern trainees." Their workshops cover five areas: meditation, leadership development, mindful movement, nature connection, and relational practices. The through-line across all of them is cultivating, in MAPLE's own words, "capacities for presence, honest expression, and compassion amidst daily life."

"The Mobile Monastery is a wonderful opportunity to bring attention to the revolutionary work being done within our community," said Maitri Huffaker, a representative of the Monastic Academy. "By taking our offerings on the road, we hope to meet people where they are and offer practices that can help bring more clarity, connection, and love into their lives."

MAPLE, headquartered in Lowell, Vermont, describes itself as a modern monastic training center and a community devoted to cultivating a "wise and loving collective that can resolve the crises of the digital age." That framing places the Mobile Monastery squarely in the tradition of engaged, community-facing practice rather than retreat-only contemplative work.

The tour draws its structural inspiration from the traveling Chautauqua movement, the 19th- and early 20th-century circuit that brought lectures, arts, and education to towns across North America. MAPLE's revival of that model swaps the lecture tent for sitting cushions and relational practice sessions, threading together threads of dharma and community-building that practitioners in the mindfulness world will recognize immediately.

The full tour schedule, including specific venues and event times, is available at chautauqua.tours.