January 2020
True Emptiness, Wonderful Existence: A weekend of insight meditation with Pádraig Cotter
“True emptiness does not obstruct wonderful existence, Wonderful existence does not obstruct true emptiness.” Master Hua. Insight meditation involves attending to experience in ways that lead to peace of heart and mind, open the doors of perception to a sense of wonder and help us to take care of our lives and our world more deeply and freely. To that end, on this retreat, we will place particular emphasis on the Buddhist teachings of sunyata, usually translated…
Find out more »Women’s Day Retreat
A day of meditation for women including periods of guided sitting, lying and walking meditation. An opportunity to enter into our own inner silence. Absolute beginners totally welcome. The day will be held in Noble Silence as far as possible. Please bring lunch to share. To book a place please email [email protected]
Find out more »February 2020
Silent Day Retreat
A day of insight meditation practice for all those who would like to support their meditation practice in a group setting. If you have never meditated before it is recommended to attend a beginner's workshop first. Some brief meditation instruction will be given at the beginning of the day. Please bring own lunch. To reserve a place please email [email protected]
Find out more »Meditation for Children
This workshop is a child friendly and creative introduction to meditation for children. Children are encouraged to explore mindfulness, thoughts and emotions through stories, discussion, arts and crafts. The workshop is suitable for children aged 4 to 12 years and is held from 3 to 3.45 pm. It is led by Sonia Mulpeter, a long-time practitioner at Sunyata and certified creative mindfulness children's teacher. To book a place please email [email protected]
Find out more »Beginners’ Meditation Workshop
This monthly workshop offers instruction in the theory and practice of sitting and walking meditation, with plenty of opportunity for questions and discussion. It is offered on donation basis and there is no need to bring anything. Please email [email protected] to book a place.
Find out more »Meitheal – Community Work Day
The meitheal is an old Irish tradition whereby a community gathers to work together on a particular task. This would typically be the harvesting of a crop or the raising of a building frame. At Sunyata we have a monthly meitheal which everyone is welcome to join. Usually we work on a specific job in the forest or the gardens. Lunch and regular cups of tea are provided. We start around 9 o' clock but people are welcome to join…
Find out more »March 2020
10 day Retreat with Suvaco
On this retreat we will work on deepening our meditation practice, developing the skills for Samatha (serenity) and Jhana (absorption) states. Emphasis will be placed on creatively using the sound of silence (Shabd or Nada) as a focus for concentration. Once the feeling resonance of the ‘sound-current’ is activated through meditation, guided meditation in subtle energy circulation, Qi Gong practices and chanting, we will look at strategies to release the first three fetters on the path: sceptical doubt, self view and…
Find out more »Safe Ground, True Refuge -a weekend retreat of insight meditation with Heike Griffin
"Dukkha is like a constant squeeze and enlightenment the experience of enoughness" Ajahn Maha Boowa. In a world of instability and uncertainty how can we find safe ground? We will explore the Buddha's teachings to understand more fully how we create our world and our experiences and how we can use these teachings to bring a sense of peace into our daily lives. Training the mind can protect us from slipping into those dark states of delusion,…
Find out more »April 2020
Living with change: the working of the three marks of existence in our life -weekend retreat with Metta
On this retreat we want to take the time to look a little more inward. What moves us at the moment and how do we deal with the challenges of everyday life? Transience - Anicca is one of the three characteristics that holds life in itself. For many of us, this brings up feelings of insecurity, perhaps anxiety and worry. How do I deal with it? Are we trying to hold onto, adhere to and create so much suffering, problems…
Find out more »Weekend Retreat with Ajahn Dhammanando
We are delighted to welcome back Ajahn Dhammanando who has been teaching retreats annually at Sunyata for many years. Start and End Times: Registration for this retreat will be from 4pm on Friday the 17th of April with soup served at 6.15. The retreat will begin at 7pm with a short orientation talk and will end at lunchtime on Sunday the 19th. It is necessary to attend all of the retreat. It is possible to arrive a day or two…
Find out more »May 2020
13 day retreat with Ajahn Brahmavara
This retreat is an opportunity for experienced meditators to deepen their practice in an environment free from external distraction. The encouragement is to let go of devices, books, writing and speaking in order to enable a deep appreciation of peace and happiness within as well as that which obscures our natural state of well being. There will be brief meditation guidance from the Buddha's teachings, particularly Satipatthana Sutta and Anapanasati Sutta. Each evening there will be a talk exploring the…
Find out more »June 2020
10 day Retreat with Nick Scott, assisted by Heike Griffin
A ten day retreat is an opportunity to deepen one's meditation practice and leads to an understanding of what meditation and the spiritual journey is really about. The period is long enough that we can leave behind the stress caused by our daily interactions while having no need to plan the future. It thus becomes possible to explore the present and in the space and silence that opens up to process our buried memories, traits and other conditioning so that…
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