Gaia House is a silent meditation retreat centre, a sanctuary of contemplative calm set amongst the gentle hills and quiet woodlands of South Devon.
Founded in 1983, we are a registered charity committed to preserving, protecting and enhancing emotional, psychological, physical, and spiritual health through meditation.
Through our year-round programme of weekend and week-long group retreats we offer meditation instruction and teachings drawn from a wide variety of Buddhist traditions. Additionally, we cater for long-term solitary meditators and work retreatants.
We warmly welcome all people of every age, ethnicity, cultural heritage and religious background, socio-economic group, sexual orientation and gender identity, and we are actively working to investigate and remove barriers to inclusion.
What is the purpose of coming on meditation retreat?
Buddhist meditation retreats are an opportunity to explore and develop serenity, wisdom and compassion through meditation and mindfulness practice in a supportive environment.
All retreats at Gaia House share the common aim of Buddhist contemplative traditions: to free the mind and heart from confusion, self-centredness and anguish. This opportunity allows us to cultivate moment-to-moment awareness that nurtures inner stillness and peace, insight into the nature of our experience and the fostering of emotional resources with which to respond more fully to suffering.
What sort of meditation is taught at Gaia House?
Our retreats are predominantly based in the Buddhist practices of Insight (Vipassana), Loving-kindness (Metta) and Zen meditation. Despite the varieties of meditation practice, all of our Dharma teachers share an aspiration to encourage a continuity of self-awareness and experiential learning.
The teachings and practices offered at Gaia House are founded in the spiritual teachings of the Buddha, who lived 2,500 years ago. Through his own deep interest in life and commitment to discovering freedom he came to a profound realisation of the understanding and practices that ennoble and liberate a human being. What is offered during retreats is the opportunity to experience this ennobling wisdom for ourselves.