“Thoughts are the play of pure awareness.
They arise within it and dissolve back into it.”
- Dilgo Khyentse

Group Retreats 2024

Medicine Buddha Retreat & Empowerment

  • The retreat begins on Friday 7pm and finishes on Sunday 5pm.

    The empowerment will be on Saturday 2pm

    SCHEDULE FOR THE WEEKEND

    FRIDAY
    7pm-8pm Medicine Buddha Puja

    SATURDAY
    6am-7.30am Personal Practice
    7.30am-8am Break
    8am - 9am White Tara Puja
    9am-10am Break
    10am-12pm Medicine Buddha Puja & teachings
    12-2pm Lunch break
    2-3pm Medicine Buddha Empowerment
    3pm-3.30pm Tea break
    3.30pm-4.30pm Medicine Buddha Puja
    4.30pm-5pm Break
    5pm-6pm Medicine Buddha Puja
    6.30pm Dinner

    SUNDAY
    6am-7.30am Personal Practice
    7.30am-8am Break
    8am - 9am White Tara Puja
    9am-10am Break
    10am-12pm Medicine Buddha Puja & teachings
    12-2pm Lunch break
    2-3pm Medicine Buddha Empowerment
    3pm-3.30pm Tea break
    3.30pm-4.30pm Medicine Buddha Puja
    4.30pm-5pm Dedications

    RETREAT ENDS

  • You can attend this retreat if you wish to learn and practice Medicine Buddha sadhana. If you want to take part in the empowerment, you would have already need to have taken refuge, or at least would want to take refuge during the weekend, as refuge & bodhisattva vows are a part of the empowerment.

  • This retreat includes short teachings of sadhana of Medicine Buddha, as well as sessions of Medicine Buddha puja. There will also be a reading transmission and empowerment given for the practice. Empowerment will be held on Saturday afternoon. You can also attend only the empowerment, but please let us know.

  • RESIDENTIAL OPTION

    All rooms are single occupancy.

    The donation covers full board & lodging (Fri dinner - Sunday lunch)

    £90
    £80 (monthly supporters / low income)

    DAY RETREATANT
    £45     (day retreatant, incl. 2 lunches, no accommodation)
    £40 (day retreatant, incl. 2 lunches, no accommodation) (Monthly supporter / low income)

    ONLINE RETREATANT
    £40
    £30     (Monthly supporter / low income)

    A donation to the teacher for the Dharma teaching is optional, and is given separately at the end.

    EMPOWERMENT ONLY

    There is no charge for the empowerment, but usually as a sign of gratitude people wish to give an offering to the Vajra master who is giving the empowerment.

  • Choje Lama Rabsang

  • “Empowerment or granting an empowerment refers to the Vajrayana ritual which awakens the special capacity for primordial wisdom (Tib. yeshe) to arise in the mind of the disciple. It is called 'empowerment' because when we receive it, we are empowered to follow a particular spiritual practice, and so come to master its realization. It is said: In the Secret Mantra Vehicle, there can be no accomplishment without empowerment, For that would be like a boatman without oars.

    Empowerments can only be granted by qualified vajra masters and requires for the students receiving them to maintain the specific vajrayana precepts (Skt. samaya), on the basis of the refuge and bodhisattva vows. “

    “Empowerment is to ripen or mature our buddha nature. Even though all beings possess the buddha nature, without receiving empowerment it is not possible to receive blessings and accomplishments through a particular practice, just as it will never be possible to get oil by pressing sand.”

    MORE ABOUT EMPOWERMENTS:

    https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Empowerment

Discovering the Buddha Within - Retreat

  • Schedule for the retreat
    (You can arrive already on Friday)

    Saturday

    10-11am Teachings

    11-12pm Meditation

    12-2pm Break

    2pm-3pm Teachings

    3.30-4.30 Meditation

    5-6pm Meditation

    Sunday

    7-8am Meditation

    8-9am White Tara puja (optional)

    10-11am Teachings

    11-12pm Meditation

    12-2pm Break

    2pm-3pm Teachings

    3.30-4.30 Meditation & Dedication

  • To attend this retreat you will need to have attended Level 1 teachings, anywhere in the world.

  • This retreat is focusing on the meditation practices that have been learned during the Level 1: Inner Peace teaching sessions 5-9. During the retreat there will be short teaching sessions and meditation sessions. 

  • Suggested Donations:

    (covers Fri - Sun night accommodation & meals Sat breakfast - Sun lunch):

    Single room (4 rooms)

    £90 (incl. meals & accommodation for 2 days)

    £80 (incl. meals & accommodation for 2 days) (Monthly supporter / low income)

    Twin room (4 rooms)

    £75 (incl. meals & accommodation for 2 days)

    £65 (incl. meals & accommodation for 2 days) (Monthly supporter / low income)

    Dormitory (max 6 people)

    £60 (incl. meals & accommodation for 2 days)

    £50 (incl. meals & accommodation for 2 days) (Monthly supporter / low income)

    Day retreatant

    £40 (day retreatant, incl. 2 lunches, no accommodation)

    £35 (day retreatant, incl. 2 lunches, no accommodation) (Monthly supporter / low income)

    A donation for the teachings is given separately to Lama Rabsang and it is optional.

    If you cannot afford the suggested donations, but want to attend the retreat, please contact the office.

  • Choje Lama Rabsang

Resting in Ease - Meditation Retreat

  • The retreat begins on Friday 7pm the 1st November and finishes on 10th at 3pm

  • This retreat is a practice retreat for those who have already received pointing out instructions from a qualified lineage holder.

    To attend the retreat one needs to commit for the whole retreat.

  • This retreat is a practice retreat for those who have already received pointing out instructions from a qualified lineage holder. It includes teaching sessions and personal meditation sessions helping us to deepen the understanding of meditation on the nature of mind.

  • All rooms are single occupancy.

    The donation covers full board & lodging, 3 meals / day, during this 9 day retreat.

    £405

    £360 (monthly supporters / low income)

    A donation to the teacher for the Dharma teaching is optional, and is given separately at the end.

  • Choje Lama Rabsang

Winter Retreat
2024-25

  • The winter retreat runs from 1st December to 31st January. The rooms can be booked from 1 week up to two months. We don’t take shorter than one week bookings.

  • During the retreat, you can do any practice of your own, but you are kindly requested to follow the daily schedule of 4 practice sessions and the set breaks (please see below). We also have some group practice sessions daily which you are welcome to join in.

    DAILY SCHEDULE FOR THE RETREAT

    6am-7.30am Personal practice 8am-9am Group practice: White Tara Puja
    9am-10am Breakfast/ shower break 10am-12pm Personal practice 12pm-2pm Lunch break
    2pm-4pm Personal practice
    4pm-4.30pm Tea Break
    4.30pm-6pm Personal practice
    6pm onward Dinner break. Resting / relaxing / practice etc
    10pm Silence

    Within each practice session you of course can have your own schedule, shorter sessions etc., but these general session times are to keep other activity and practice times in unison with each other.

  • The rooms are single rooms during the retreat and have a bed, small shrine table with a statue and offering bowls, a storage unit and a meditation box.

    In our retreat rooms there is a basic set up for the stay and practice, but you can bring your own shrine items. There are meditation cushions available at the Centre, but you may want to bring your own as you are more accustomed to it.

    We have rooms on the garden side and on the south facing valleys view. The garden side is often preferred by light sleepers.

  • We offer 3 plant-based meals / day for £10.

    You can also book them individually (breakfast £2 / lunch £5 / dinner £3), if you don't need all three. Gluten free option is available. The main meal of the day will be lunch, and the dinner is a light meal (soup etc.)

    The self-service breakfast includes teas / coffee, fruits, nuts, dried fruit, cereal / porridge, bread, etc. Please let us know if you require gluten free / vegan options for the breakfast.

    There is also a possibility for self-catering during the retreat, as the Centre has a separate kitchen for retreatants self-catering.

  • SILENCE AS A SUPPORT

    The retreat participants are requested to observe silence during the days until 6pm, and after that it is up to the personal preference if they wish to continue.

    GOING OUT

    It is fine to go out for walks or exercise during your retreat, but we request that other outside activities will be restricted only to what is necessary, like food shopping or health related appointments. Going out to movies or cafe’s is not deemed necessary and we request that such activities are not done during the retreat to respect the retreat space of everyone.

  • If you are planning to do longer than a one week retreat, please kindly provide a reference from your meditation teacher or similar and send it to: palpungukoffice@gmail.com with their contact details included.

    If you are known to us and have done retreats here already, no reference is needed.

  • Suggested donation: £15 / day

    Deposit: There is a deposit to confirm your retreat room booking. The deposit is half of the amount of your total stay. The deposit you have paid is used as a part of your payment for the stay, so you would pay the other half prior to your arrival.

    Deposit needs to be paid by 31st October to confirm your room booking.

    Cancellations: If you need to cancel due to Covid or other illness, we will issue a full refund. If you cancel for some other reason less than a week (7 days) before your retreat is about to start, and we are not able to get anyone to use the room for the time it was booked, we will keep the deposit.

    Methods of payment: PayPal or bank transfer

  • During the Winter Retreat we are like a little community keeping the Centre going all together alongside the main task – practice. When you arrive, you are asked to kindly choose a small task for the duration of your stay. You can see them when you arrive – the list is on the table with the other info. We will instruct in the details of the tasks.

    This practice is mindfulness in action and karma yoga, while helping also practically, its deeper meaning is accumulation of merit and purification of karma.