[raj]

Just wanted to add a few more points to the above comment.
The students get an ideal environment to follow the five and eight precepts.
Just being silent and not talking for 9 days prevents one from idle talk and the agitation of the mind.
The students don’t make any eye contact and one gets to silently contemplate with no sound whatsoever, other than the sound of nature, which is almost impossible in the modern world for most people.