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May 2022
Death & Impermanence day retreat
Death & Impermanence In Great Beyond Sorrow Sutra Buddha says: ‘When many different animals have been in the field and have left their footprints, we see it is the elephant who leaves the deepest footprint. In a similar way, when we have practiced many different meditations we shall experience their effects; but it is the meditation on ... Read more
Find out more »August 2022
How to Become a Friend of the World
Many people have the compassionate wish to benefit others, but few understand how to accomplish this successfully in daily life. A Bodhisattva is a friend of the world who, motivated by compassion, seeks enlightenment to benefit all living beings. Bodhisattvas have such strong compassion that they are able to transform all their daily activities ... Read more
Find out more »September 2022
Prajnaparamita Empowerment and Day Retreat
With Resident Teacher, Kadam Mick Marcon An empowerment is a beautiful guided meditation through which we receive the blessings of a particular enlightened being. Great Mother Prajnaparamita is a female Buddha who is the manifestation of Buddha’s perfection of wisdom. By relying upon her, she will help us to overcome outer and inner obstacles, and will ... 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
