The Peace of Concentration: weekend live-streamed guided retreat

Special 3-day Guided Retreat live-streamed into your home!
Friday 24 – Sunday 26 April
Being stuck at home, keeping to social distancing or self-isolating can be a pain – or an opportunity!  Come join us for a virtual weekend retreat from the comfort of your own home, led by Buddhist nun and experienced meditation teacher Kelsang Rak-ma.
Through a mix of guided meditations and short explanatory talks, you can discover your own inner potential for lasting peace and happiness.
By improving your concentration, you can engage more deeply in meditation and come to experience increasing levels of inner peace.
For this weekend, we will take as our meditation object the blissful nature of our own mind.
Taking the mind itself as our object of meditation makes it easier to achieve deep levels of concentration, to overcome external distractions and to make authentic spiritual progress.
To help you get the most out of your retreat experience, we are offering:
• a welcome document detailing preparations you can make before the weekend starts to create the best environment for effective and enjoyable retreat. This will emailed to you before the retreat and you may wish to print this off for reference during the weekend.
• an introductory talk on the Friday evening giving practical advice and full instructions for the weekend
• a full day of guided retreat sessions on the Saturday
• optional Zoom meet-ups to chat and discuss with fellow retreat attendees
• a morning of guided retreat sessions on the Sunday, finishing in time for lunch
• ideas for continuing your meditation practice once the weekend has concluded
• sessions suitable for all levels of experience, from complete beginners upwards

Retreat Fees

£50 per person

Booking is required for this retreat.

This special retreat is not included in Centre Membership

We do offer a concessionary rate. Please contact us at info@drolmacentre.org.uk

In line with the revised Eventbrite Policy, you will now receive a refund less the Eventbrite booking fee if you need to cancel.

Booking will be open until 2 hours before the start of the retreat

BOOK RETREAT HERE

Retreat Timetable

Friday 24 April

6.45pm: Optional virtual meet up with fellow retreat attendees

7.30 – 8.30pm: Introduction with Kelsang Rak-ma – explanation of the retreat
structure, what will happen in each session and some simple guided meditation to get us started.

Saturday 25 April

10.00 – 11.00am: Retreat session 1

12.00 – 1.00pm: Retreat session 2

2.00 – 2.45pm: Optional discussion with fellow retreat attendees – bring a cuppa!

3.00 – 4.00pm: Retreat session 3

5.00 – 6.00pm: Retreat session 4

Sunday 26 April

10.00 – 11.00am: Retreat session 5

12.00 – 1.00pm: Retreat session 6

You are welcome to come to as many sessions you wish, however the effectiveness of your retreat depends on building familiarity with the meditation – so the more sessions you can come to, the more effective your retreat will be.

To ensure a peaceful environment for all participants, the retreat sessions will be closed to new arrivals shortly after the advertised start time.

TECHNICAL ADVICE

Please make sure you have a set-up that works to connect to live streaming video.

Our recommendations are:

Use a computer/laptop if possible. Some webinar features may not be available to you if you are using a tablet or mobile.

If you are using a computer/laptop, close all other windows and apps.

Use a good and stable wi-fi connection, preferably wired.

It is also recommended that you reduce the amount of people streaming or gaming in your household for the duration of the class.

If using your phone, try to use wi-fi so that you don’t run out of data in your plan (video consumes a lot of data)

Spiritual Advice

Please find a comfortable and quiet place that you consider special in your home or room.

Prepare yourself before the retreat begins by turning off your phone, avoiding distractions, making sure you can focus on the retreat for its duration.

Have a notebook to write down some of the key points of the retreat that you want to remember and integrate in your life.

Enjoy!

Retreat Teacher

This special weekend retreat will be guided by Resident Teacher Kelsang Rak-ma

How to join the retreat

Confirmation Email

You will receive a confirmation email when you complete your booking. You will also receive a reminder 1 hour before the retreat starts each day. The confirmation email will contain 3 separate links clearly marked for Friday, Saturday or Sunday.

Accessing Zoom

The link includes free access to ZOOM which streams the class.  Please note that you do not need to download Zoom to watch the link. You can select the ‘view from my browser’ option that will be displayed on the screen when the link opens. However, if you wish to download the app you can do so here ZOOM app .

We understand that Zoom is constantly updating their service and that changes they make can affect the way the link will open so please follow the onscreen information.

Getting Help

We will be available 10 minutes before the sessions to contact us by email at info@drolmacentre.org.uk.

Joining the Retreat

Please click on the link 10 minutes before the session is due to start and you will be taken to the live streamed session. This is to enable us to help you with any connection issues you may have in time for the start of the retreat.

You will see a window saying you are in a waiting room. You will then be admitted to the session.

During the Retreat

Each day’s link can be used as many times as you wish to re-join the sessions after breaks.

If you need to leave during a session, please use the link to re-join and wait to be admitted.

If you have any difficulties or questions once you are in the session you may contact us using the CHAT box.

Retreat Format

Each session will comprise:

Short Prayer to Buddha Shakyamuni

Simple breathing meditation to deeply relax body and mind

Short explanatory talk with practical tips for successful meditation

Guided meditation on the blissful nature of the mind

Resources

During the class we will be using The Liberating Prayer. Printed copies can be purchased at THARPA UK where you can also find many other resources such as books, CDs, images and downloads to help you in your meditation practice.