Bone Seed, Diamond Seed: Meditator as Mage (Sub35s)

Please note: although this is a young people's introductory event, there will be some Buddhist ritual and periods of silence during this retreat.

Buddhism's central teaching is that - despite appearances - nothing in life is fixed. What looks solid and stable is in reality fluid, malleable. The appearance of solidity and permanence is a product of our own minds.

The implications of this are profound. If the mind has the power to create a world of solidity, it also has the power to create an entirely different kind of world. If we are indeed living in an illusion, then it is an illusion of our own making. It's as if we are all magicians who have not yet awoken to our latent powers. What if we learned to cast a better kind of spell?

On this retreat, we'll be learning the skills we need to take hold of the mind's power to create its own reality. Drawing on ancient Tantric sources, we'll work with meditation, mantra and ritual, to discover how unleash the mage within each of us. Together, we'll find out how to reshape our world into a realm of magic, depth and significance. 

Viryadeva has been practising with Triratna since 2008, and works full time at the Croydon Buddhist Centre as Men's Mitra Convenor. He is also a contributing editor of the Western Buddhist Review, the scholarly journal of the Triratna Buddhist Community. In his meditation practice and teaching, he’s exploring practical ways to make the visionary, imaginal and mystical dimensions of the Dharma more readily available - both on and off the cushion.

Kit has been practicing with Triratna since 2017. He runs the Canterbury Buddhist group and works as the in-house designer at the Croydon Buddhist Centre. He is working on building a new Buddhist visual arts & crafts movement, integrating practice, design and ritual to imagine a world imbued with the dharma.

Covid-secure requirements

We are no longer asking each retreatant to take a lateral flow test before travelling to Rivendell, but we are asking that they bring a test with them in case they fall ill whilst here.

We want those that come to Rivendell to be confident that we are making their stay here as safe as possible.

Concession information

Rivendell has a concessionary rate available for most of its retreats. If you are in need of further financial assistance to help enable you to come on retreat here, please do consider writing to our office team via bookings@rivendellretreatcentre.com explaining your circumstances.

Cancellation policy

All deposits are non-refundable and non-transferable in all circumstances. If you wish to cancel your place on a retreat, we require a minimum notice of 4 calendar weeks before a retreat is due to take place, in order that a refund (not the deposit) will be possible. If you cancel and we can't replace you, you will be required to pay half the total cost of the retreat. Please let us know as soon as possible if you need to cancel, as there may be other people waiting for a place on the retreat to become available. Any refund will still be on the basis that we can the fill your space.