RETREATS
Mindfulness for Self and World: Satipatthana Sutta
When: 14- 23 July 2023
Where: Residential and Online
For: Members of the Triratna Buddhist Order Only
About: Led by Vidyamala, Dhammarati + Sona.
Discover the radical brilliance of the Satipatthana Sutta as a guide to Insight and freedom. We can experience this seminal text as a map of consciousness, a drama of awakening and a cosmic invitation.
On the retreat we will use Living with Awareness, Bhante’s exploration of the Satipatthana Sutta, as the basis for teaching, meditation, devotion and ritual.
We will explicitly explore the ‘internal’ and ‘external’ aspects of the Sutta to bring out the profound connection between self-awareness and altruism. Bhante speaks of this as the ‘self’ and ‘other’ dimensions of mindfulness and we will also draw on verses from the Mahayana mind training tradition.
There will be opportunities to discuss your meditation practice in individual or group meditation reviews.
Entering the Mandala: Mindfulness & Imagination 7-Day Retreat
When: 1-7 September 2023
Where: Online
About: Led by Vidyamala and Vishvapani
Seven days of meditation, creativity and ritual in a spirit of mindfulness and inquiry.
Awareness, or mindfulness, is an essential foundation for all spiritual growth. Through knowing experience directly we can transform difficulties and become happier, calmer and more fulfilled.
But awareness offers much more: it also provides a doorway to other dimensions in the large chamber of our experience. Awareness of the body, heart and mind can blossom into awareness of boundlessness, love and mystery, as Buddhist teachers have taught down the millennia.
Imagination is a key to this opening. When our minds are clear and we’re alive to what’s within us and around us, our imaginations wake up to new possibilities.
Vidyamala and Vishvapani invite you to join an exploration of mindfulness and imagination through talks, meditation, creative activities, discussion and shared ritual, particularly focused on the richly evocative symbol of the mandala.
This Home Retreat is an opportunity to live for a week with mindfulness, kindness, poetry and creativity, even in the midst of our daily lives.
Sub30s Meditation Intensive: The Direct Path of Awakening
When: 13- 22 October 2023
Where: Residential
For: Open to anyone under 30
About: Led by Vidyamala and Vajrashura
One of the most influential of the Buddha’s discourses, the Satipatthana Sutta shows us how insightful meditation on the four gateways to mindfulness – the body, sensations and feeling-tone, thoughts and emotions, and Reality – can bring about an awakening to our true nature and the complete cessation of suffering, stress and dissatisfaction.
Meditating on the Satipatthana Sutta over 10 days, with guidance from experienced teachers, we’ll explore this key teaching of the Buddha as a map of consciousness, a drama of awakening and a cosmic invitation.
With several days of silence, 1:1 meditation reviews, excellent teaching and the beautiful natural surroundings of Adhisthana – the Sub30s intensive offers a perfect opportunity to encounter your mind, deepen your experience and progress your practice of meditation.
In-Person Retreat: Balancing the Nervous System (Online Option)
When: 8th - 14th December 2023
Where: In-Person at Adhisthana or Online
About: Join Vidyamala and bodywork teacher Padmardarsini Cole for a special meditation and movement retreat.
You will have the opportunity to practise with our experienced teachers and the community in the serene natural setting of Adhisthana Retreat Centre in Herefordshire.
We are holding this retreat in a hybrid format, with an online ticket option for those who want to join for the comfort of their own home.
Both Vidyamala and Padmardarsini have had a long-time fascination with the body’s nervous system and the ability we have to balance it through integrative practices.
Across 7 days, you will practise calming and restorative meditation and movement exercises, complemented by theory to help you come to a closer understanding of your body and how it functions.