As well as the chores, ten volunteers will be needed to make a morning reading each day at 4:30am.

These vary in length from a few minutes, with the longest one being less than 10 minutes.

Some readings talk about ways of approaching meditation, and others talk more generally about life. The same readings seem to be used on the same day on each retreat.

A good speaker can be a delight to listen to. A speaker who struggles can either be a source of yearning for the end of the reading, or the object of your compassion for doing something that you might not have the courage to do yourself. It depends on your point of view.