Retreats are a way of stepping away from our busy, daily life and reducing our distractions so that we can focus on our meditations. This can just be for half a day, one day, a weekend, or longer if you have the time.
On meditation retreat we stop all forms of business and extraneous activities in order to emphasize a particular spiritual practice.
Our meditation retreats are presented in three categories, depending on experience and necessary experience.
Please Note: Retreats are in-person only.
Guru Yoga & Mandala Offerings Retreat
Sat 25th Oct, 10am-4:30pm
(followed by Offering to the Spiritual Guide puja 5-7pm)
Guru Yoga and Mandala Offering retreat combines two of the four great preliminary guides that we need to practice if we want to gain Mahamudra realisations – the quick path to Enlightenment.
We all wish for spiritual realisations, but these depend upon creating certain inner conditions such as purifying negativity, accumulating merit, and receiving blessings.
In this retreat we focus on the preliminary practices of accumulating merit and receiving blessings. Making mandala offerings is the gateway to accumulating the collection of merit and attaining an enlightened Pure Land and Guru Yoga is the gateway to receiving powerful blessings of all the Buddhas of the ten directions through our Spiritual Guide.
There will be three sessions on the day and the practice is accomplished within the sadhana Offering to the Spiritual Guide – and as October 25th is the day we celebrate Je Tsongkhapa Day, we will conclude the day with a full Offering to the Spiritual Guide puja with tsog offering.
We recommend that you prepare for this retreat by familiarising yourself beforehand with the instructions on making mandala offerings found in The New Guide to Dakini Land (pp.97-102) and The Oral Instructions of the Mahamudra (pp.19-21).
To prepare for the practice of Guru Yoga we recommend you read Joyful Path of Good Fortune (pp. 113-142) ) and The Oral Instructions of the Mahamudra (pp.21-27).
Retreat sessions will not be guided so is not generally recommended for beginners. However, there will be a brief instruction on making mandala offerings 9-9:30am for those unfamiliar with this special practice.
Timetable:
Saturday 25th October – Celebration of Je Tsongkhapa Day
9 – 9:30am Brief instruction on how to make mandala offerings
10 – 11:30am Retreat Session One
12noon – 1:30pm Retreat Session Two
3 – 4:30pm Retreat Session Three
5 – 7pm Offering to the Spiritual Guide puja (free – everybody welcome)
£5 per session or £12 per day
Free for Monthly Members
Please email us at info@meditationindarlington.org if you would like to attend this retreat.