Led by: Amaragita, Rosie, Sanghasiha, Cait and Shantigarbha.
Location: Bowerwood, Nr. Broadhembury, E. Devon
Deposit amount: £75
Experience level: All levels
Age group: Adults
Total suggested cost (including deposit): standard:£350, supported:£250, donation tier (helping others to come on retreat):£575
See our FAQ for an explanation of the deposit/ dana/ donation tier system. Please do read this is you think that you will not be able to afford the retreat or you are not sure about the deposit/dana/ donation tier system in any way. We have suggested donation amounts to guide you and they relate to what it costs us to run a retreat. However you are free to give as little or as much as befits your circumstances.
This camping retreat is designed to build resilience for those engaged in community, social projects or groups. We welcome anyone who is involved in or wanting to be involved in roles that require an outward facing attention. For example, activists, community groups, community workers, caregivers, and social engagement projects. Please get in touch with rose@buddhafield.com if you want to check this out.
We are living in pivotal times, with challenges which are socio-political, cultural and spiritual in nature. Our ability to collaborate and work effectively together is vital now, and in the years to come. How we engage with each other as humans is indicative of how we engage with the more - than - human. Finding practices that support the opening of our awareness can resource us to act with a deeper knowing of ourselves as ecological beings.
Buddhism offers us a view of the world that positions us as connected and integrated into the complexity of life. This view offers a route away from individualism, scarcity and separation, towards connection, abundance and solidarity.
This retreat aims to:
* Reveal and strengthen our sense of ourselves within a wider web through ecology - based practice
* Recognise and express our solidarity with, and longing for community
* Build resilience in how we organise and collaborate as groups
* Offer practices which can transform our actions, emotions and mental state so we can be of benefit to ourselves and others in ever more effective ways
This retreat will follow a programme of meditation, group sessions, solo time, reflection, simple land based connection, and ritual. There will be an opportunity to stocktake your levels of resilience and reflect on what needs to be transformed to balance out what is depleted. There will be periods of silence to support our deepening into the landscape and into the community we build together. All levels of experience (and none) of buddhism and for meditation are welcome.
This event draws on the themes of the Green Earth Awakening Camp; Buddhafield’s 500 person gathering. It is an opportunity to go deeper, in the context of an intimate camping retreat of 30 people, on a beautiful and wild piece of land in East Devon.
Amaragita
My background is in community development and working with young people at risk and the professionals that support them. I worked for various social change movements and I have been a trainer facilitator and coach for 35 years. My passions are meditation and creating spaces for deep inquiry and celebration of the human condition. I have been leading intergenerational retreats and retreats for mothers for many years. I have engaged in actions with Extinction Rebellion and am keen to strengthen and deepen my Eco-sattva spirit. Currently, I am chair of Buddhafield and have been a member of the Triratna Buddhist Order and Community for 21 years.
Rosie
I am a Processwork psychotherapist in training and conflict facilitator, and have been coordinator of the Green Earth Awakening Camp since its formation. I care deeply about supporting people to collaborate effectively, by addressing power and practices that perpetuate harm. I am passionate about the relationship between personal and systemic transformation. I am training for Ordination with Triratna Buddhist Community.
Sanghasiha
I’ve been leading Buddhism & Deep Ecology Days and Retreats for the London Buddhist Centre for over ten years whilst teaching meditation and secular mindfulness in a variety of settings for the past fourteen years. I got involved with Extinction Rebellion fairly early on and have mainly concentrated my efforts in the areas of regeneration and well-being. I’m very interested in sound meditation and ‘Deep Listening’ and its role in connecting us with the natural world more deeply both through field recordings, compositions and individual exploration.
Cait
I’m a conflict mediator and passionate about transforming systemic violence inside us, in our groups, institutions and at societal level. For the past eleven years I’ve worked for radical education organisation English for Action, alongside freelance transformative justice work with co-ops, faith and activist groups. I’m a practising Buddhist training for Ordination with Buddhafield as my primary context.
Shantigarbha
Shantigarbha is a Buddhist activist, mediator, and lover of life. He's author of The Burning House: A Buddhist Response to the Climate and Ecological Emergency from Windhorse Publications, and a co-founder of the Triratna Earth Sangha. He is a member of the Triratna International Council, a Regional Order Convenor, a member of the Restorative Coordinating Group, Nonviolent Communication (NVC) trainer and partner to Gesine. They live in Bristol. For more information about their NVC events, visit Seed of Peace CIC.
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