January Retreat - The Four Noble Truths

Please note - registration is via Google forms so once you have completed and submitted the form you have registered but this event will not appear in your list of registered courses on the website.

“Because of not truly seeing the four noble truths, we have transmigrated for a long time from one rebirth to the next.

But now that these truths have been seen, the conduit to rebirth is eradicated. The root of suffering is cut off, now there’ll be no more future lives.” 

The Buddha At the Village of Koṭi SN56:21

The Buddha then turned the wheel of the dharma, expounding the four noble truths: pain, the origin of pain, the goal, and the path. All this was inspired by his discovery that there is tremendous space in which the universality of inspiration is happening. There is pain, but there is also the environment around the origin of pain. The whole thing becomes more expansive, more open.

Trungpa Rinpoche

This January, Katie and Younten are inviting you to join them in a month-long retreat focusing on the Four Noble Truths. This core doctrine sets our path in motion and underlies all other Buddhist teachings. We are delighted that Lama Dashon has agreed to give us some teachings during the month (and we might also have some teachings from Lama Shenpen in discussion with him). In addition we will be encouraging everyone to make an individual commitment to practising either the Shakyamuni Sadhana and / or formless meditation during the retreat.

This is a student-led retreat with a flexible format so that you may join in with whatever level of participation feels right for you. We will provide opportunities for collective listening, contemplating and meditating.  Lama Shenpen’s teachings on the sadhana will be available for study. We are planning to leave the mornings free for individual study and practice and to come together in the afternoons and evenings for a variety of activities that promote reflection, including study, story-telling, movement, music, art and more.

While every individual part of the retreat is entirely optional, we do encourage you to think about what would really deepen your practice during the month of January and commit to that.

If you have any questions please email Younten - [email protected]pooc.poocenohp@riahpets - she is currently in retreat and will be in touch after 23rd November.

Below is a draft schedule to give you an idea of what we are planning to offer 

(The Shakyamuni Sadhana will take place twice a day to accommodate people joining from different time zones or after work in the evenings).

Daily sessions happening most days:

7.00 - 8.00am  - Morning Puja

9.00 - 10.00 - Shakyamuni Sadhana / Formless Meditation

4.00 - 4.15pm - Host a Dance

5.30 - 6.30 - Shakyamuni Sadhana / Formless Meditation (starting at 6.30pm on Saturdays/Sundays and including storytelling on Fridays)

7.30 - 8.30 - Evening Puja

With additional sessions on these days:

Tuesdays - 7.00 - 8.30pm - Discussion Group

Wednesdays - 2.00 - 4.00pm -  Playing with the Intangible with Katie

Thursdays - 4.15 - 5.30pm - Turning Towards with Younten

Fridays - 5.30 - 6.30pm - Formless Meditation and Story-telling

Saturdays - 4.15 - 5.30pm - Reflection Session with Katie

Sundays - 4.00 - 5.30pm - Talk by Lama Dashon