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Smritiratna

Smritiratna first took up Buddhist practice in 1977 at the age of 21 while studying Developmental Psychology at Sussex University. At 27, he began training in earnest with the FWBO and entered the Western Buddhist Order in 1991.

In 1996, he came to Scotland, joined the Dhanakosa project and spent five years on-site, teaching and house-keeping. In 2001, he gave up house-keeping to concentrate on study, contemplation and teaching. He now lives in a forest hut near Dhanakosa. He still leads Dhanakosa retreats and continues to delight in introducing meditation to newcomers.

mindfulness path to freedom

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Retreat Type:
Introductory

On this retreat we will be exploring some of the core principles of Buddhism and meditation. In particular, how the Buddha’s clarity on the human condition can bring more meaning, richness and purpose to our lives. The teaching will seek to keep things simple and direct, so practical and relevant to the challenges of modern life in the west.

Over the course of the retreat you will learn two main meditation practices – the mindfulness of breathing and the metta bhavana (loving kindness). These practices help us develop calm, positive and alert states of mind. You will also learn some practical tools, to help cope with states of anxiety, fear and stress.

Central to the Buddha’s teachings is the importance of developing body awareness. During the retreat, we will be practising ways of becoming more embodied, both on the meditation cushion and in our everyday lives.

Time on retreat gives an ideal space to experience ourselves differently and bring new fresh perspectives to our lives. With more awareness of our bodies, we can be more aware of our inner and outer experience. From this basis we will look at one or two famous teachings from the Buddhist tradition – and practice them - feeling what they are pointing towards in our own direct experience.

For more information read the retreat information sheet.

Booking Fee:

£100

Booking Availability:
Spaces

Men's Winter

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Led by:
Retreat Type:
Regulars - Meditation

We begin this retreat at the time of the Winter Solstice. Folk have been marking this special time since the deep past. For us, the coming of the light signifies faith in awareness prevailing over ignorance, humanity prevailing over inhumanity. This retreat is an opportunity to gather and re-affirm that faith through ritual, shared communication and restorative meditations.

This retreat has a rich history of being a men-only space. We are open to bookings from a wider range of gender identities, in keeping with the tradition of this men-centred retreat. If you are unsure if this retreat is a good fit for you please get in touch.

For more information read the retreat information sheet.

Booking Fee:

£100

Booking Availability:
Spaces

Mindfulness and the path to freedom

-
Retreat Type:
Introductory

For this retreat we will be exploring some of the core principles of Buddhism and meditation. In particular, how the Buddha’s clarity on the human condition can bring more meaning, richness and purpose to our lives. The teaching will seek to keep things simple and direct, so practical and relevant to the challenges of modern life in the west. 

Over the course of the retreat you will learn two main meditation practices – the mindfulness of breathing and the metta bhavana (loving kindness). These practices help us develop calm, positive and alert states of mind. You will also learn some practical tools, to help cope with states of anxiety, fear and stress. Central to the Buddha’s teachings is the importance of developing body awareness. During the retreat, we will be practising ways of becoming more embodied, both on the meditation cushion and in our everyday lives. Each day we will engage in some light body work or movement activity. 

Time on retreat gives an ideal space to experience ourselves differently and bring new fresh perspectives to our lives. With more awareness of our bodies we can be more aware of our inner and outer experience. From this basis we will look at one or two famous teachings from the Buddhist tradition – and practice them - feeling what they are pointing towards in our own direct experience.

For more information, read the retreat information sheet

Booking Fee:

£100

Booking Availability:
Spaces

Active Hope

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Retreat Type:
Introductory

Seeing the dangers confronting humankind these days, we can feel depressed, demoralised and helpless to avert disaster - or even to talk about such feelings. This retreat provides a space not only to talk but to explore an extraordinary sequence of reflections and communal practices that can rekindle an ‘active hope’ and vision for humanity. 

The retreat takes its title from a book called Active Hope co-authored by Joanna Macy and Chris Johnston. Having studied Buddhism, Joanna went on to develop this sequence of exercises and reflections to help us move from despair into an ‘active hope’. Such hope is far more than something vague and passive ... more like a vision for humanity, a future to which we can contribute and actively help to bring about.

The retreat will be focused around Joanna Macy's workshop exercises 'the spiral of the work that reconnects'. Each day will include meditation and movement to help us assimilate and process what is stirred by the workshops. There will also be periods of silence overnight. No prior experience will be assumed and all necessary tuition will be provided. 

For more information, including detail of the workshops and daily programme, see the retreat information sheet

Booking Fee:

£100

Booking Availability:
Spaces

kindness, compassion, rejoicing, serenity

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Retreat Type:
Regulars - Meditation

This meditation retreat explores the mandala of Buddhist heart practices, the four Brahma Viharas - metta, karuna, mudita and upekkha. Each of these has a meditation practice, and after a weekend grounding ourselves with mindfulness, we will spend a day with each of these practices and qualities.  

Mettā bhāvanā is for loving kindness, karunā bhāvanā is for compassion, muditā bhāvanā is for sympathetic joy. Finally upekkhā bhāvanā is for serenity, that all-embracing insightful love. Along the way, we learn to distinguish between selfish love and pure metta, between sentimental pity and true compassion, between sympathetic joy and mere merriment, between cold indifference and the spacious loving serenity of upekkhā bhāvanā. 

Practicing these meditations can help us to work skillfully with our emotional states, to move beyond fear into courage, beyond hatred into compassion, beyond habitual old views into insightful new perspectives.

The retreat is suitable for people who have been on retreat before and have a regular meditation practice. These retreat will be conducted mostly in silence, and will normally have between 5 and 7 hours a day of sitting meditation. For more information, read the retreat information sheet

Booking Fee:

£100

Booking Availability:
Spaces

men's winter

-
Led by:
Retreat Type:
Regulars - Meditation

We begin this retreat at the time of the Winter Solstice. Folk have been marking this special time since the deep past. For us, the coming of the light signifies faith in awareness prevailing over ignorance, humanity prevailing over inhumanity. This retreat is an opportunity to gather and re-affirm that faith through ritual, shared communication and restorative meditations.

This retreat has a rich history of being a men-only space. We are open to bookings from a wider range of gender identities, in keeping with the tradition of this men-centred retreat. If you are unsure if this retreat is a good fit for you please get in touch.

For more information read the retreat information sheet.

Booking Fee:

£100

Booking Availability:
Spaces