Vessantara

The Vision

As well as leading retreats at some of our established retreat venues, I also run small seminars and retreats in Cambridge with Vijayamala, keeping numbers down to around six people apart from us. These small numbers give us the opportunity to explore themes and practise together in a way tailored to your needs and interests, and to get to know you in more depth than is possible on a larger retreat.

Below is our programme of these small retreats for 2013. Whether you’re a group or individual wanting to book or just to find out more, please feel free to contact us via vandvretreats@gmail.com.

 

PROGRAMME FOR 2013

Most of these retreats are for Order members; a couple are open to anyone within Triratna who has a solid base of experience with meditation. (We will be leading other retreats at Triratna retreat centres in 2013, which will be open to non-Order members, so these two events aren’t your only opportunity to study and practise with one of us. For details of my full teaching schedule see here)

Stop Press: All these retreats are now almost  fully booked. There is just one space left for a man on the Bodhicitta retreat. However, if you’re interested in coming on one of them, it is definitely worth contacting us to put your name on the waiting list, as most of the waiting lists are quite short, and there are often cancellations.

5th – 12th April

Emotional Intelligence in Practice

On our long retreat we were given some very practical teaching on how to work with the kleshas. During this week we shall explore five different levels: 1) strengthening our motivation to abandon them; 2) subduing them; 3) transforming them; 4) seeing their true nature and 5) taking them as the path. Exploring these can give us some very practical tools for making headway in our emotional life.

Open to Order Members and other experienced meditators.  This retreat is now  waiting list only. 

 

19th – 26th April

Just Sitting for Meditation Teachers   

Just Sitting is a central practice in Triratna’s system, yet it has largely dropped off the teaching agenda at some of our centres. This retreat is specially designed for Order members who teach meditation. The aims will be to give you tools to help you to teach Just Sitting to people of different levels of experience, and to give you fresh inspiration for your own Just Sitting practice.

For Order members.  This retreat is now waiting list only.

 

26th April – 3rd May

Spiritual Death     

Sangharakshita is encouraging Order members to include a ‘strong dose of spiritual death’ in our daily meditation practice. What exactly is ‘spiritual death’, and how are we to approach it? In this week we aim to clarify these issues in theory and practice.  We hope that by the end each participant will have found an approach to spiritual death and rebirth that really works for them.

For Order members. This retreat  is now  waiting list only. 

 

26th July – Aug 2nd

Training the Mind in Bodhicitta    

The Tibetan Lo Jong (‘Mind Training’) tradition provides practical advice, guidance and precepts to enable you to develop and deepen both the wisdom and compassion aspects of bodhicitta. During this week we shall study and put into practice the ‘Seven Point’ version of the Mind Training that stems from Atisha, using both traditional and modern commentaries.

For Order Members. This retreat has one space left for a man, and  is waiting list only for women. 

 

2nd – 7th August (5 day)

The Unexamined Self

The sense of a fixed ‘me’ at the centre of experience is always present but rarely clearly seen. This all-pervasive tendency to live life with reference to a fixed self causes endless suffering and tension.  During this retreat we shall look at and question this deeply-held view of ourselves, and in this way draw closer to the mystery and magic of everyday experience.

For Order members. This retreat is now  waiting list only. 

 

6^th – 13^th December

Imagining Awakening

The Buddha’s experience of Awakening or Enlightenment by the banks of the river Neranjara is the central event of the whole Buddhist tradition. On this retreat we shall focus on using imagination to live out the many facets of what happened. Through doing so, we shall bring to life our feeling for the Buddha’s experience and our own capacity for freeing ourselves from suffering.  We shall also develop our capacity to enter the magic theatre of the mind. Through imagining Awakening we can also awaken our imagination, as well as our spiritual intuition.

Open to Order Members and other experienced meditators. This retreat is now  waiting list only. 

 

Booking and Other Practicalities

These weeks will be held in Cambridge with accommodation for 6 people in double rooms. Vijayamala has taken on mortgage costs in order to have enough space to run the seminars so there will need to be a charge of ₤180 per week (£130 for a 5-day retreat) for the use of the facilities and food, but the teaching will be given on a dana (donation) basis.  There may also be a non-residential option for locals or those who can find somewhere to stay locally, provided we have filled enough residential slots to cover the costs.

Some retreats are listed as ‘for experienced meditators’. If you’re interested but not sure if you have the right experience, then please contact us.

To book, or for further information, please email vandvretreats@gmail.com . You will then be sent details about how to make a deposit (minimum £50) to secure your place.

It would be very helpful if you could also let us know of any dietary requirements when you book.  Unfortunately we don’t currently have any disabled facilities.