Cover photo by: Lucy Jones from the Isle of Man
‘Emptiness’ is the third of three Dharma Training retreats exploring the relevance of the Buddha’s teachings of the Three Doors of Liberation to our everyday life. This series of retreats is for those with an established mindfulness practice who wish to deepen their connection with other beings.
Thich Nhat Hanh wrote about Emptiness: ‘Wherever we go, we touch the nature of emptiness in everything we contact. We look deeply at the table, the blue sky, our friend, the mountain, the river, our anger, and our happiness and see that these are all empty of a separate self. When we touch these things deeply we see the interbeing and interpenetrating nature of all that is’.
Emptiness does not mean nonexistence. Understanding emptiness helps us to see that we are not alone, that we are profoundly connected to all beings in the past, the present and the future. Understanding emptiness can transform our consciousness, our ideas of happiness, and our lifestyle.
For those attending in person, the retreat will be held at Sidcot School on Thursday 21st October starting at 5.00pm , please arrive from 4pm onwards. The retreat will finish at 3.00 pm on Monday 25th October.
The retreat will also be available online using Zoom, from 5.00pm on Thursday, October 21st to 3.00pm on Monday, October 25th .
The retreat will be led by UK Dharma Teachers Angie Searle and Dene Donalds. During the retreat, we will also hold a Transmission of the Five Mindfulness Trainings, further details will follow for those interested.
What to expect
There will be opportunities on the retreat to build friendship and community with other practitioners and we will explore ways in which ‘emptiness’ can help us to connect more deeply with the world in which we live and to find greater meaning in our lives. The retreat will include:
– Opportunities to practice guided and silent sitting meditations, walking meditation, mindful eating and noble silence;
– Opportunities to learn from others through dharma sharing and exploration;
– Dharma teaching from UK Dharma Teachers. Set texts for reflection may be shared with you before the retreat.
– Those attending online via Zoom will be able to join meditation sessions, Dharma talks, dharma sharing and other activities and we encourage everyone to have had a look at chapter 1 of Thich Nhat Hanh’s book ‘The Art of Living’ in preparation for the retreat
Cost
Tickets are on sale now, some residential places are still available.
£310 Residential retreat (some options available)
£95 Online retreat via Zoom (guide price)
To book your place, click on the button below to the event listing in Eventbrite and select the relevant ticket by clicking on “Tickets” button.
For the residential tickets please note : We ask everyone coming on residential Dharma Training retreats to be a member of the Community of Interbeing ; you can easily do this via this link : Join us
If you prefer to book on the online retreat, scroll down to the end of the “Tickets” list, and choose ‘Donation’ ticket. We suggest a donation of £95 to help cover our costs. Any surplus will be donated to the Plum Village monastic centres .
In the checkout process you will be presented with a form which asks a few questions. One question is whether you would like to receive the Five Mindfulness Trainings; this option is offered to all those attending the retreat whether residential or online.
