Nayaka came to Dhanakosa in 1996 after learning to meditate with the Newcastle Buddhist Centre. Drawn by the mountains, he quickly felt at home here and became increasingly involved in the running of the centre. He became part of the management team in 1999, was ordained into the Western Buddhist Order in 2001 and became Centre Director in 2006. He has a background in earth and life sciences, a long standing interest in natural history and a love of the wilderness. He lives at Dhanakosa with Dharmavasini and their 2 children.

Jayachitta has been a Buddhist since 1981 and has lived and worked with other Buddhists for a lot of that time. She has a deep love of performance and the infinity of human expression. 2002-4 she trained in physical theatre at Kiklos Scuola in Italy.

Since then she trained in Improvisation with Andrew Morrish, John Britton, Kate Hilder and others. Improvisation, movement and exploring the clown are very important to her as additional approaches to the spiritual life, as they are based in physical expression and play.

She sees them as an interactive way of entering and exploring the space that one discovers in meditation. It's in that spirit of play that we can discover who we are and can be. Please check out her website The Play of Now

Open to all, these retreats are suitable for both beginners and those with more experience, but no previous experience is assumed. All these retreats include introductory meditation teaching and periods of silence.