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CCN Annual 6 Day Retreat

Lampeter, Wales | 6 - 12 August 2023

CCN Annual 6 Day Retreat - Immersing Ourselves in Loving Kindness

Meditation on loving kindness (Pali: mettā, Sanskrit: maitrī) is one of the key practices of the Buddhist contemplative system, equally important in the Pali and Sanskrit textual traditions. In the second half of the 20th century this practice also became largely popular within the context of secular mindfulness methods, and is now widely used for its calming effect, its ability to help us in cultivating prosocial skills, and its health benefits (established through medical research).

In gradually mastering this method, practitioners are learning to cultivate stable and intelligent benevolence towards themselves, others, and, eventually, all beings. This meditation style is traditionally used both to cultivate concentration and to change emotional and perceptual patterns.

           I am delighted to learn that Lobsang Tenpa has offered to lead a 6-day meditation retreat on the cultivation of the Four Immeasurables. These sublime virtues of the heart are the foundation of the development of bodhicitta, so it is wonderful to see them be the focus on this retreat, which is bound to be deeply beneficial to all those who participate – Lama Alan Wallace

About our retreat

Our loving kindness retreat is suitable for anyone interested in meditation, either secular or Buddhist. Over the course of 6 days practitioners will gradually be learning several different versions of loving kindness practice, combined with such additional techniques as walking meditation, loving kindness somatic exercises, and contemplative recitation (of both Pali and Sanskrit sources, including “The Discourse on Loving Kindness”, or Mettā-sutta).

There will also be an opportunity to become familiar with the three other “immeasurable states” strongly related to loving kindness: equanimity, empathetic joy, and compassion, thus establishing a stable basis of kindness practices.

The retreat will be strongly practice-oriented; all explanations and Q&A opportunities will be focused on the practical application and integration of loving kindness teachings into our life. Some explanations will be provided on to the role of maitrī practice within the context of śamatha (attention-training practices), insight meditation, Buddhist tantra, and Dzogchen/Mahamudra. We will also discuss how loving kindness practice can be viewed as the red thread running through the entirety of the contemplative path.

Potential benefits of the retreat:

Preliminary schedule for the main days of the retreat (subject to minor changes)

6:00am – 7:30am – Personal practice (optional)
7:30am – 9:00am – Breakfast
9:00am – 10:00am – Practice session (main method) *
10:00am – 10:45am – Walking meditation or somatic practice
10:45am – 11:30am – Break
11:30am – 12:30pm – Practice session (main method) *
12:30pm – 2:00pm – Lunch
2:00pm – 3:00pm – Practice session (main method) *
3:00pm – 3:45pm – Walking meditation or somatic practice
3:45pm – 4:30pm – Tea break
4:30pm – 5:30pm – Practice session (visual method) *
5:30pm – 6:30pm – Break for personal practice
6:30pm – 8:00pm – Dinner
8:00pm – 9:00pm – Evening practice session (contemplative recitation and dedicating the energy of the day)

* All practice sessions will include guidance and detailed instructions on the different facets of loving kindness meditation, along with an opportunity to ask questions.

Alternating different ways of practicing loving kindness (while seated, lying down, walking an so on) leaves the practitioners with enough time for both meditation and (if needed) for rest.

Participants can arrive on Saturday, 5th August or Sunday, 6th August, and depart on Sunday, 13th August. There will be an introductory session on the evening of Sunday, 6th August and the full six days of retreat are Monday 7th – Saturday 12th August. 

Suggested materials to explore before the retreat

Time & Location

Located in the small town of Lampeter in Wales and founded in 1822, the Lampeter Campus of University of Wales Trinity Saint David is a historic and picturesque university campus with a rich academic tradition, where higher education began in Wales. From magnificent mountains, to lush forests and wild rivers, it’s the perfect location for our annual retreat.

Travelling to Lampeter

About the teacher

Michael Lobsang Tenpa is a Tibetan Buddhist translator, meditation instructor, Cultivating Emotional Balance (CEB) teacher and student of EcoDharma. Born in Siberia, he earned BA and MA degrees in South Asian studies, worked in social media and eventually received ordination in Nepal, spending nine years as a Tibetan Buddhist monastic before switching to the path of a lay teacher/practitioner. In addition to years of Buddhist studies and translator work (including translating and interpreting for Lama Alan Wallace on many occasions), he also trained as a secular ethics and mindfulness instructor in the Netherlands, the UK and the US. In addition to being a teacher, he also serves as the communications and development officer.

About the CCN

CCN is an international network with charitable status dedicated to the development & practice of contemplative science – the bridge between the empirical study of consciousness & the subjective study of consciousness through contemplation.

“Loving-kindness is the essence and nature of the whole world and of every being. To see and experience this is to realise who we are”

Tulku Thondup Rinpoche

Application

Application is a two stage process

1. Register for the retreat with the CCN

The retreat fee of £250 covers the hire of the hall and the costs of setting up and running the retreat. Any surplus helps support our yearly programme and the CCN’s activities. There will be an opportunity for anyone who wishes to offer dana to Michael Lobsang Tenpa in gratitude for the teachings.

Please click here to register and pay the retreat fee. The ‘discount code’ box in the application form pertains to Bursaries. See below for more information on bursaries.

2. Book your accommodation

There are 2 options:
Standard £360 (Single standard room based on 1 person full board)
Ensuite £400 (Single en-suite room based on 1 person full board)

Please book your accommodation through the university by clicking here. Accommodation costs include full board with special dietary options. The rooms are simply furnished, light, airy and pleasant.

Bursary Fund: CCN can offer bursaries to help cover the cost of the retreat. We believe that it is important that no-one is excluded from the retreat because of low income. If you would like to support our vision of making these teaching as accessible as possible, please consider contributing to the bursary fund, details of which are in the registration form.

Ordained Sangha – We offer a full bursary to members of the ordained sangha, and cover the cost of accommodation for ordained sangha members who do not have the means to attend otherwise. Please use this form.

Others on low income may be offered a bursary to help with the retreat fee, but will have to cover the cost of accommodation themselves. To request the bursary, please use this form. We will send you a ‘discount code’ to enter on our registration form.

For any queries, please email David at [email protected]

Booking

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