Liberating and Compassionate Ways of Looking
Residential retreat
Friday, 11 October – Friday, 18 October (7 nights)
With Kirsten Kratz, Yahel Avigur and Juha Penttilä
Spaces available Experience required Single rooms are available to pre-bookIn this retreat we will attend to our heart-mind and body with sensitivity and curiosity. Cultivating the heart’s capacity for kindness and compassion, we will inquire into the Buddhist teachings as liberating ways of looking. Compassionate and transforming perspectives, when wholeheartedly engaged with, will reduce suffering and unveil the potential of the human heart.
We will discover how experience is shaped and co-created by our ways of relating to what is unfolding in our inner and outer life. Establishing and deepening this insight can open possibilities of seeing and understanding that will allow us to explore new, liberating ways of experiencing ourselves and the world. We may also recognize unexamined, habitual ways to perceive and interpret, along with their accompanying limiting narratives, dynamics and beliefs. By questioning and loosening these, we can sense what is possible for our heart-mind, its receptivity, intuitive intelligence and sense of wonder.
Important note: Yahel Avigur, co-teacher on this residential retreat, will be teaching remotely. His teaching will be projected via a livestream in the meditation hall and he will meet with retreatants via a livestream as well.
This retreat will be livestreamed.
What can I expect on a residential retreat that is livestreamed? Here is some practical information about how it works: All other teaching and tech support for the online retreatants is conducted away from the meditation hall.
Much care is taken to ensure that a livestreamed residential retreat remains a simplified, calm and well-held retreat space, like any other residential retreat.
Suitability
To attend this retreat you need to have at least one-week of previous silent retreat experience or participation in online retreats of the same length.
Teachers
KIRSTEN KRATZ has practised Buddhist meditation in Asia and the West since 1993. She started teaching in 2006 and since 2015 she has been ‘teacher in residence’ supporting those on personal retreat at Gaia House. Her love and understanding of Dharma has been strongly influenced by, among others, the teachings of her friend and teacher colleague, Rob Burbea.
One of her particular passions is exploring how wisdom teachings can foster appropriate responses to the challenges of our time, and Kirsten sees her involvement in activism as an important expression of her practice. Kirsten is co-initiator of the “Dharma Action Network for Climate Engagement” (DANCE) and supporting teacher of Freely Given Retreats. Listen to one of Kirsten Kratz's Talks given at Gaia House on 23.03.2013: Calm and Kindness (Duration 38:57)
YAHEL AVIGUR is a devoted meditator and Dharma teacher. In 2013, after practicing in Theravada and Insight Meditation traditions, he met the Dharma teacher Rob Burbea and became his student. He was encouraged by Rob to teach the complete path of Emptiness as he articulated it, as well as his particular approach to Jhana practice and to train in teaching Soulmaking Dharma. Yahel is also trained in the Hakomi approach of assisted self-study.
JUHA PENTTILÄ has been practicing meditation since 2002. He has spent extended periods of time on retreats and in monasteries in Asia and Europe and is one of the founding members of Nirodha, the Finnish Insight Meditation practice community. Juha completed his Insight Meditation teacher training in 2020. In addition to exploring meditation, Juha’s teaching is influenced by the current climate crisis and engaged perspectives into the Dharma.Rates
Please consider paying at the highest rate that you are able to. Your generosity is vital in supporting Gaia House to sustain its Dharma offerings for the benefit of all.We are committed to ensuring that our programme is available to everyone who wishes to participate. If our rates are too high for you, we invite you to apply for support from our Financial Assistance and Bursaries Fund (FAB Fund).
Accommodation
This retreat will be offered in a mixture of shared and single rooms. Some single rooms are available to book in advance for those that need them to come on retreat. If these are still available, you will be able to select this option. Some single rooms are also held for people to request, but these cannot be guaranteed. These will be allocated in the days leading up to each retreat so we cannot let you know in advance. Priority will be given to those with specific medical needs.
Extend your retreat
If you have previously been on a residential retreat of a weekend or longer at Gaia House, you are welcome to join us a day earlier than the retreat start date. All retreatants are welcome to stay an extra night at the end of the retreat. There is an additional cost of £73 per night.
Please note, retreat conditions will still apply from arrival:
- Observe silence
- Follow the daily schedule
- Practise meditation
Dana/generosity
None of your registration fee goes to the teacher. Gaia House teachers rely on the generosity of students for their livelihood. At the end of the retreat, there is an opportunity to make a dana offering to your teacher(s), the residential community team and Gaia House. We are deeply grateful for your generosity.Click here to read more about the practice of dana.
Gaia House and covid-19
We hope to make everyone's retreat at Gaia House as supportive as possible. Please click here for further information on how we are creating as supportive and safe a retreat environment.Arrival and departure times
- Arrive for registration between 2.00pm-4.45pm on the opening day.
- Depart after 12.30pm on the final day (or 1.30pm if staying for lunch).
Please note:
- We will need everyone to commit to the full duration of their retreat.
Cancellation terms & conditions
We have now updated our Booking Terms and Conditions which includes cancellation information, please click here. Please take time to review these before you book.Before booking
In support of your retreat, two weeks before you arrive, we will send a list of questions about your physical, mental health and dietary needs. This will help us to support you during your retreat. If you are unsure whether or not to book due to needing specialist support due to significant physical or mental health needs, including checking availability of our only ground floor bedroom (also wheelchair-accessible), please email retreatmanager@gaiahouse.co.uk.
For more information on our retreats please check our frequently asked questions page.
Well-being and silent retreats
This is a silent retreat: apart from during individual or group meetings with the teachers you will be invited into silence for the duration of the event.
Before you book, please read these guidelines about mental well-being and silent retreats:
Meditation retreats can be very nourishing; however, as they require sustained meditation practice, they also need some stability of psychological health. If you have recently (within the past year or so) experienced significant trauma or psychiatric illness, or if you are currently experiencing acute emotional distress such as serious depression or anxiety, it may not be the best time for you to participate in a retreat. The teachers might not be able to give you the kind of individual psychological care you need at this time. A setting with more opportunities for interpersonal engagement may be more appropriate.
- If you are currently under the care of a mental health professional, please discuss your attendance with them. You should be in a relatively stable period of mental well-being and have adequate psychological resilience.
- If you have any questions about this, please contact Laura using the email address, retreatmanager@gaiahouse.co.uk