Vandika

Can we practice the Dharma in a way that deepens our sense of aliveness and connection with the living earth?

On this retreat we will go back to practices taught by the Buddha, whose teaching reflects the animistic culture of ancient India, such as meditating on the six elements and the six sense spheres, to overcome the modern separation of the ego from nature, and to rediscover the background hum of life in every moment of experience in our bodies and out in the world.

Early Buddhism emerged from the animistic culture of iron-age India, shaking off the chains of superstition and belief in magic. But have we come too far from those sensitive resonant connections with nature into a disenchanted world?  On this retreat we will engage with themes from the early Buddhist tradition, through study, reflection, meditation, and ritual, rediscovering our place in the unfolding interconnectedness of all life.  And engage with the question of whether a more animistic approach to life may help us not only live more meaningfully, but help us build a better world.

The Buddha’s teaching of conditionality or dependent arising is a way to understand how experience works in terms of causes and conditions, but also a teaching about the way of life that leads to liberation. This retreat will combine study of the Buddha’s teachings on dependent arising with discussion and meditation to make it all real.

For more information read the retreat information sheet.