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January 2022
The Stillness Within meditation challenge
The Stillness Within meditation challenge In these uncertain times our mind is often anxious, stressed, distracted and disturbed. This can be exhausting and robs us of our mental space and clarity. During our new year’s Meditation Challenge Resident teacher, Kadam Mick Marcon will give a sequence of teachings and guide meditations through which we can ... Read more
Find out more »How to Tame the Monkey Mind half-day course
How to Tame the Monkey Mind half-day course Buddha called an uncontrolled mind a “monkey mind” precisely because it’s jumping all over the place from one object to the next. Our mind can only focus on one object at a time – so in multi-tasking the mind is simply moving rapidly from one object to ... Read more
Find out more »What Have You Done for Me Lately?
Saturday nite Dharma & a slice of cake | Sat 29 Jan | 7 – 8.30pm (cake & other goodies will be served from 8.30pm) Have you ever noticed the ‘playlist’ of thoughts in your mind? If we did, we would probably notice thoughts like ‘Poor me’, ‘I was here before them’, and ‘If I ... Read more
Find out more »February 2022
Freedom from Fear with Gen Rabten
FREEDOM FROM FEAR online event with Gen Rabten We have many fears-fear of death, fear of being separated from people we love, fear of losing control, fear of commitment, fear of failure, fear of rejection, fear of losing our job, the list is never-ending! On this half day course, Gen Kelsang Rabten will explain why ... Read more
Find out more »Day Courses
Take a day out to immerse yourself in meditation and Buddhist teachings. Explore a specific topic in more detail at one of our monthly one-day meditation courses at held at our Centre or various locations throughout Newcastle
Day courses offer practical solutions to everyday problems of modern living and are suitable for everyone!
Courses consist of teachings and guided meditations. Refreshments are served between sessions.
What is Retreat?
In our busy modern life we lack the calm and stillness conducive to maintaining a happy and peaceful state of mind. To regain a balance people are drawn to peaceful and quiet places where they can withdraw for a short time and renew their energy – in short, they go on retreat. On retreat we devote our time to meditation and contemplation – it is a time to acquaint our minds with positive and meaningful thoughts.
“On retreat we stop all forms of business and extraneous activities so as to emphasize a particular spiritual practice. There are three kinds of retreat: physical, verbal and mental. We engage in physical retreat when with a spiritual motivation we isolate ourself from other people, activities and noise, and disengage from extraneous and meaningless actions. We engage in verbal retreat when with a spiritual motivation we refrain from meaningless talk and periodically keep silence. We engage in mental retreat by preventing distractions and strong delusions such as attachment, anger, jealousy and strong self-grasping from arising, and by maintaining mindfulness and conscientiousness.
If we remain in physical and verbal retreat but fail to observe mental retreat, our retreat will have little power. Such a retreat may be relaxing, but if we do not prevent strong delusions from arising, our mind will not be at peace, even on retreat. However, keeping physical and verbal retreat will help us to keep mental retreat, and for this reason Shantideva, in Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life, praises the first two kinds of retreat.”
Excerpt From: The New Guide to Dakini Land – Geshe Kelsang Gyatso
