To attend this retreat you will need to have been regularly meditating for at least two years and regularly attend retreats, a centre or a group within the context of the Triratna Buddhist Community. You must also be comfortable with extended periods of sitting meditation, Buddhist devotional practice and spending most of the retreat in silence.
‘The uncarved block’ is a central image in the Taoist tradition. It represents a way of being that has limitless potential and creativity. It also suggest that there is a way of experiencing that goes beyond, or perhaps below, our conditioned sense of self, free from manipulation and the need to seek a sense of control and dominance of other and the world. It is perhaps also something of a remembering of our natural state, unshaped by craving and fear. We will together on the retreat create the conditions that can support such an experience through meditation and ritual, periods of silence and living in solidarity with one another.
Paramananda has been teaching meditation and leading retreats around the world for over 30 years and is also a poet and author of four books on meditation: Change Your Mind, A Deeper Beauty, The Body and The Myth of Meditation.
Mandarava regularly leads retreats at Rivendell and is an artist, puppet maker and story teller, who has a particular gift for creating meaningful and engaging rituals within the context of retreats.
Prices for this event are: £360 - £330 (Conc)