All these retreats are suitable for those who have already learnt meditation and are familiar with Buddhist devotional practice and ritual, (Puja) within the context of the Triratna Buddhist Community.
You will need to have been regularly meditating for at least one year within the Triratna Buddhist Community and attend a centre or group. You must also be comfortable with extended periods of sitting meditation and silence.
2011
Ordinary Beauty - Wabi Sabi Week
With VajradarshiniOctober 21-28 | £310/270
“Awareness is revolutionary” - Sangharakshita
A meditation and reflection retreat based around the tradition of 'Wabi Sabi'. This is an aesthetic, or way of looking at the world, which finds beauty and truth in our simple, ordinary experience. Buddhism also teaches us that if we look with fresh eyes the world can show us profound truths in every moment. What we once habitually thought of as ordinary and mundane can become filled with beauty, magic and mystery. With teachings on Wabi Sabi, the Dharma and meditation. Bought to life through poetry, film and taking the time to really see. More details: www.vajradarshini.com
Turning towards - Intensive Meditation Retreat
With ParamanandaNovember 11-18 | £310/270
The retreat will focus on being in touch with the whole of our experience through our bodies and emotions. Learning to listen to the intuition of the body that can be heard when the chatter of our every day minds begins to quieten. Retreatants will also be encouraged to let go into the collective aspect of practice. Both giving and receiving subtle support to one another through collectively sitting in meditation and being on retreat together.
Paramananda has been teaching meditation and leading retreats for over 25 years and is author of three books on meditation: Change Your Mind, A Deeper Beauty and The Body.
This retreat will create the conditions for you to take meditation practice much deeper. You must also be comfortable with extended periods of sitting meditation and spending several days in silence.
2012
Ordinary Beauty- Wabi Sabi
With VajradarshiniApril 13-20 | £325/295
“Awareness is revolutionary” - Sangharakshita
A meditation and reflection retreat based around the tradition of 'Wabi Sabi'. This is an aesthetic, or way of looking at the world, which finds beauty and truth in our simple, ordinary experience. Buddhism also teaches us that if we look with fresh eyes the world can show us profound truths in every moment. What we once habitually thought of as ordinary and mundane can become filled with beauty, magic and mystery. With teachings on Wabi Sabi, the Dharma and meditation. Bought to life through poetry, film and taking the time to really see. More details: www.vajradarshini.com
One Moment at a Time - Mid-Week Retreat
with Maitrimala, Maitridarshin & Helen BroughtonMay 20-25 (Five nights, Sunday to Friday) | £225/200
“Your old life was a frantic running from silence, Wake up like someone suddenly born into colour.” - Rumi
For the first time we are able to offer this popular retreat in the beautiful surroundings of Rivendell. We will focus on how the Buddha's teaching on mindfulness can be applied to the modern world, and explore practical ways to be more aware in daily life, allowing us to wake up to the beauty and truth of the moment. Although the retreat draws on the principles of the “Breathworks” mindfulness programme, (www.breathworks-mindfulness.co.uk), the teachings and practices are helpful to anyone. With meditation, sessions of mindful movement and Buddhist ritual.
Please note: this retreat runs from Sunday pm to Friday noon
Meditation and Awareness of the Body
A meditation retreat with optional yoga sessions
With Tejananda & Kieran Barry
April 20-27 | £325/295
Our body is fundamental to our existence and experience. There are many ways of exploring body experience with the object of realising directly what and who we really are. Tejananda will introduce explorations of meditation practice from the perspective of body awareness while Kieran Barry will offer a daily led yoga session as an integral part of this exploration. A largely silent meditation retreat in which participants may enter the mystery of the body from these two interlinked points of view - though the yoga sessions are optional. The yoga sessions will accommodate those with no previous experience who'd like to explore this approach to body awareness.
Tejananda currently lives and teaches at Vajraloka Buddhist Meditation Centre and is the author of The Buddhist Path to Awakening
Connecting, Deepening and Sustaining the Practice - Meditation Week
With KamalashilaSeptember 14-21 | £325/295
This retreat is for anyone with a regular meditation practice who wishes to reconnect with their sources of inspiration and confidence. The conditions of the retreat will provide the opportunity to take your practice to a deeper level and will give you the tools to sustain your meditation practice long after the retreat is over. With four days of silence as well as ongoing teaching, discussion, meditation and ritual. Personal meditation interviews with Kamalashila will also be available. (This retreat is precedes the Green Tara Sadhana Retreat for Dharmacharis, also led by Kamalashila)
Kamalashila has been meditating for nearly 40 years, he helped establish Vajraloka Buddhist Meditation Centre and is the author of Meditation - The Buddhist Way to Tranquillity and Insight.
The Path of Purification
With Atula11-19 October (Eight nights, Thursday to Friday) | £415/385
Atula returns to skilfully guide a group of individuals into a congruent relationship with both themselves and one another. This intensive retreat involves group work in which with honesty and sensitivity we explore our patterns of communicating and relating. Through this retreat you will develop a deeper awareness of how your inner experience is impacting and affecting your interactions, and how to come into a deeper relationship with yourself and others. All this takes place within a ritual context of meditation, devotional Vajrasattva practice and periods of silence. You will need to have been regularly practicing within the Triratna Buddhist community for at least two years before attending this retreat.
Atula has been ordained for over thirty five years and practicing as a psychotherapist for twenty years.
Please note: This retreat starts on Thursday evening and lasts 8 nights
Intensive Meditation Retreats with Paramananda
All these retreats are suitable for those who have already learnt meditation and are familiar with Buddhist devotional practice and ritual within the context of the Triratna Buddhist Community.
These week long retreats create the conditions for you to take meditation practice much deeper. You will need to have been regularly meditating for at least a year within the Triratna Buddhist Community before attending. You must also be comfortable with extended periods of sitting meditation, Buddhist devotional practice and spending several days in silence.
Paramananda has been teaching meditation and leading retreats for over 25 years and is author of three books on meditation: Change Your Mind, A Deeper Beauty and The Body.
Touching Earth - Meditation week
March 23-30 | £325/295This meditation retreat will explore the relationship between being embodied and finding our place and feeling at home in the world. In particular, we will take a fresh look at the meditation practices which we are familiar with and see how they can support us to find our way through the world with creativity and love. In addition to our normal sitting meditation we will employ chanting and walking meditation to enliven the body and awaken us to our capacity to delight in life. There will be periods of silence and an emphasis of living in community.
Entering the Crucible - 9 day intensive meditation retreat
July 6-15 | £415/385An opportunity for more experienced meditators to participate in a longer, more intensive, retreat with Paramananda. Held almost entirely in silence, this retreat will have extended periods of sitting and walking practice. Individual meditation interviews with Paramananda will also be available. You will need to have been meditating regularly for at least three years and be comfortable with up to 8 hours of formal practice per day.
Please note: this retreat runs Friday pm to Sunday pm and lasts 9 days.
Taking Heart - Meditation week
October 19-26 | £325/295“We have not come into this exquisite world to hold ourselves hostage from love” - Hafiz
The emphasis of this meditation retreat will be developing our capacity for love and compassion grounded in a sense of intimacy with ourselves and others. Retreats offer us a unique opportunity to experience ourselves in a new way, in particular, we can challenge the barriers between ourselves and others. We will use the experience of collective practice, just sitting together in kindness, as a basis for establishing a feeling of mutual support within community. Through the practice of kind awareness we will explore the possibility of allowing ourselves to be supported by the conditions of being on retreat; opening to our capacity for love and compassion.
See also the Weekends page for the details of the long meditation weekend with Paramamanda, 25-28 May.
