Upcoming Events › Retreats

‘Serenity and Insight – a Journey without Destination” is a day-long retreat exploring some Buddhist principles and practices for being present in everyday life. This retreat will be a day of talks, sitting practice and (weather permitting) walking practice devoted to cultivating ‘serenity and insight’ even in the midst of the difficult. We will practice some silent meditation; and some ‘Heart’ practices. Information about coming on retreat at Sunyata can be found here. Further details about the day can be seen…

 “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…

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…

"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,…

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…