by Ajahn Canda
This November tour traversed new terrain. A week before Ajahn’s arrival we had the news that our trusty video volunteer Matthias was unable to join us for personal family reasons ~ to my delight (and honestly, relief), not one but three people volunteered to cover for him, at their own effort and expense! Such a spirit of service really inspired me and enabled hundreds of people to join in virtually via livestream, contributing to an amazing sense of community.
Our on-the-ground volunteer teams served with seemingly effortless harmony and coordination ~ ensuring participants were comfortably seated, carrying donation buckets, providing endless cups of tea (to the “tea”-chers, groan) and generally being awesome.
After an intriguing talk on perception at the Thames Buddhist Vihara, our core team travelled north where Ajahn would give talks in Sheffield and Birmingham respectively. My parents generously hosted three of us overnight and five for a delicious meal. Ajahn Brahm is generally a quiet person who prefers solitude over talking and so I was awed to see him spending long hours chirpily chatting away with my parents and sister, and sharing his easy-going kindness with my sixteen and fourteen year-old nephew and niece. The Buddha taught that guiding our parents toward the Dhamma is a meaningful way to repay the immense debt of gratitude we owe them. I feel truly blessed to chip away at that debt by introducing a Teacher they can trust with ease, thanks in large to the kindness and support he bestows on me, their daughter.
Back in Oxford, Ajahn gave a talk on rejoicing in goodness. Intentionally bringing to mind what is good and noble in the world ~ and in ourselves ~ is a skilful way to balance perceptions of everything going wrong! Because the talk was local, many of our friends and supporters were present, which created an especially intimate, warm atmosphere. It was powerful to experience how simply listening to words on gratitude, beauty and virtue generated increasing joy in the room ~ a perfect prelude to our samaneri ordination (see article above).
Our dear Samaneri Upacala’s first significant experience then, in her “organic carrot-coloured” robes, was serving on our six-day DIY Scouts retreat. In the early mornings, Samaneri Upacala and Anagarika Chie would meditate with the retreatants and chant the words on loving kindness in English, before Ajahn Brahm and I would teach the morning session. Camille and a rostered team of retreatants cooked delicious vegetarian lunches. Throughout the retreat there was always plenty (phew!), thanks to months of meticulous menu-planning and scouting reliable wholesale food suppliers. Our retreat manager Elena did a terrific job of tackling leaking taps and pacifying fears of forest ghosts ~ by bringing in the maintenance team ~ and the teachers!
With never a dull moment when leading a retreat, it can be difficult for me to gauge (at the time), whether people are being deeply touched by the Dhamma ~ we are so busy making sure everything runs smoothly that all we notice is a growing sense of calm. It is at the end of a retreat, when the feedback comes in ~ be it through words or radiant smiles ~ that it becomes possible to recognise the profound transformation experienced by many. And at that time I feel awed by the extraordinary power of the Dhamma, all over again. This is probably the biggest gift of serving a retreat, for me. Here is some of the feedback:
“Dear Ajahn Canda and the team,
Thank you so much for a deeply profound and beautiful retreat, it was my first one and some of the most important days of my life. I’ve been listening to dharma talks for a good while and over the years have tried all manner of things to try and quiet down my overactive brain and traumas…some wholesome and others not so much – I never managed to meditate with regularity and go so deep with it previously. The peace and stillness that I felt on the retreat was unbelievable, and of course all the teachings really ‘click’ when actually meditating deeply.
I’ve had an amazing week and have been practicing first thing and throughout the day when I can. It has already improved so many things in my life and I feel so much more relaxed and kinder with myself. I really hope I can keep it going over the coming weeks and months”.
All the best, Kevin
“Dear everyone at Anukampa,
I would like to express my gratitude for the retreat last week at the Scouts centre, to everyone involved in the planning, organising, cooking and for all the teaching. I found the centre appropriate and perfect to get to know myself and my current feelings better. I was able to work on a big topic, which I had been ignoring so well that I thought I was over it 🙂 Whoops, that was incorrect!
For me, my topic was being in the Iraq war back in 2003. Sleeping in my army-issued sleeping bag and hearing military helicopters and airplanes flying overhead each day really brought back some deep fears. Spending so much time basking in love, compassion and understanding radiating from Ven Candā, Ajahn Brahm, and everyone else present afforded me the opportunity to allow the fears to find some room. After the fears had some room, and the “love and compassion shower” continued throughout the week, I was able to let the fears slowly fade away. Friday morning, while meditating and hearing the helicopters, I was overjoyed to feel nothing – absolutely nothing. It was a great relief for me. Thank you everyone for creating such a loving and caring atmosphere last week, to allow me to leave some nasty baggage behind me.“
Jeff
The weekend retreat at the Mercure Hotel with around 110 retreatants has become a favourite finale. This year it followed right after the Scouts retreat. With the wonderful support of friends from Argentina, Switzerland, Germany and Oxford, the whole event flowed beautifully ~ microphone glitch aside ~ filled with engaging teachings, abundant laughter and sandwiches galore!
One of the most beautiful things about the tour for me overall, was the opportunity to give teachings in the presence of my revered teacher and see him gently smile with joy, as he relaxed and listened to the Dhamma from a student he’d invested so much in, yet without expectation. Rather than feel daunted as I may have in the past, I felt encouraged and delighted to make him happy by sharing my love of the Dhamma. On the subject of paying off debts again, may the next step (for us all) be Nibbana!
A step (or more) closer to Nibbana! Mercure Hawkwell House, Oxford 30.11.25