BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//wp-events-plugin.com//7.4//EN TZID:Europe/London X-WR-TIMEZONE:Europe/London BEGIN:VEVENT UID:1792@anukampaproject.org DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20261113T153000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20261120T130000 DTSTAMP:20260708T144522Z URL:https://anukampaproject.org/events/ajahn-brahm-ajahn-canda-8-day-resid ential-retreat-the-bliss-of-enlightenment/ SUMMARY:Ajahn Brahm & Ajahn Candā: 8-Day Residential Retreat "The Bliss of Enlightenment" DESCRIPTION:\nAbout the Retreat\nImmerse yourself in the early Buddhist tea chings and experience the Noble Eightfold Path as a perfectly complete\, h olistic training ~ something to be explored\, enjoyed and allowed to unfol d in its own time. Rather than striving\, the emphasis will be on cultivat ing the conditions in which insight arises naturally\, giving rise to inne r joy and ever-deepening bliss.\n\nAt the heart of the retreat is the prac tice of letting go (vossagga) and the gradual refinement of happiness (suk ha) described in the Suttas. Grounded on virtue and as this process mature s\, such wholesome happiness becomes increasingly independent of external conditions ~ stable\, trustworthy and conducive to the ultimate happiness of Nibbana\, where all craving and suffering ceases.\n\nYou will be in saf e hands with our deeply compassionate and approachable teachers\, who brin g over seventy years (!) of combined monastic experience. Through storytel ling\, humour and wisdom\, they create a warm and loving environment that supports deep yet relaxed meditation practice.\n\nSet in the beautiful cou ntryside of rural Dorset\, the extensive grounds of Gaunts House allow for plenty of space to meditate\, relax and surround yourself with nature and views of the huge lake. This retreat also includes inspiring teachings an d guidance from both of our vastly experienced teachers\, including teachi ngs from the Early Buddhist Texts\, silent and guided meditations\, Dhamma talks and Q&\;A sessions. The schedule will be flexible and you will h ave use of two main halls\, a large sitting room\, library\, dining room a nd grounds.\n\nWe are excited to be able to hold a retreat of such a lengt h for the first time since 2018 and for the first time at this venue.\n\n \nLocation &\; Venue\nGaunts House is a large country house "from anoth er era\," set in the beautiful Dorset countryside. The quiet environment i s very conducive to peaceful meditation practice. If you bring walking boo ts you can go on lovely walks and explore the forested areas and lake (wit hout getting too muddy!). We will have sole use of the centre\, which will allow you to meditate with minimum distraction.\n\nThe venue is comprised of multiple buildings\, three of which we will be using. The accommodatio n and dining room are in the Main House\, additional accommodation is in t he Stable Block and the meditation hall is in the Barn Theatre. The Barn T heatre is located just outside the main building and it is a short walk fr om the Stable Block. Please see the map below so you are confident that yo u understand the layout.\n\nIMPORTANT INFORMATION! \n\n Please be aware that Gaunts House has limited accessibility\, as most rooms and toilets ar e on the first\, second or third floors. The nearest toilets to our medita tion hall (the Barn Theatre) are located in the Main House on the first\, second and top floors. This means you need to be fit enough to walk up and down stairs (there is no lift!) several times a day and between meditatio n sessions to go to the toilet!\n Gaunts House has a "Mobile-Free" policy . You must give your phone to our retreat manager for safe-keeping until t he final day of the retreat.\n\n\nAccommodation &\; Facilities\n1. Bedr ooms &\; Bathrooms\nShared rooms are allocated at our discretion on a s ame-sex basis\, with consideration given to health and age. In order to su pport stillness and investigation of one’s own inner world\, family memb ers\, friends and couples will not be able to share a room. Most shared ro oms have two or three beds with plently of clean shared bathrooms in the m ain corridor.\n\nIf you require an accessible room\, please state that in your application. There are a limited number of single and shared rooms wi th en-suite bathrooms. Those with a genuine medical need will be given pri ority.\n\nRooms in the Main House look out to a view of either the lake or beautiful big trees\, giving the feeling of truly being with nature.\n\nI f you need to use the toilet between sessions\, you will either need to go to your room or to the common toilets\, mostly located on the first and s econd floor in the main building\, so please consider your physical abilit y.\n\n[gallery link="none" size="full" columns="2" ids="13166\,13165\,1316 3\,13164"]\n2. Meditation Hall\nThe meditation hall is located in the Barn Theatre. It is a spacious\, peaceful building surrounded by trees and is just outside the Main House.\n\nMats and basic chairs will be provided for sitting\, but please bring your own cushions\, as we cannot provide them for this retreat.\n\nYou are welcome to practice walking meditation in a s eparate room called The Ballroom\, or on one of the many forest paths or t he grass lawns around the buildings.\n\n[gallery size="full" link="none" i ds="13168\,13167\,13169"]\n3. Dining Room\n The Dining Room is located on the ground floor of the Main House. It's an elegant\, spacious room with a view of the grounds on one side\, where you can enjoy a relaxed meal.\n\n Hot water\, tea and milk will be provided in the Tea Station by the Garden Door. You are advised to bring a thermos or takeaway cup if you think you may like to have tea in between meals.\n4. Food and drinks\nFood will be  simple vegetarian with a vegan option. Tea and coffee is available aroun d the clock. During this retreat we will abstain from eating in the evenin g\, to support the deepening of meditation practice. Please therefore note that only breakfast and lunch will be provided. \n\nIf you require food in the evening for medical purposes\, please ensure that you bring along s imple snacks such as flapjacks or nuts\, that can be disreetly kept in you r room.\nWhat Will I Need to Bring?\n• Meditation cushion(s) (we cannot provide cushions for this retreat\, only mats)\n• Flask (for hot water/t ea) and water bottle\n• Torch/flashlight\n• Comfortable\, warm clothes and a shawl\n• Warm jacket &\; a raincoat/umbrella\n• Outdoor boot s &\; indoor slippers\n• Toiletries (soap\, shampoo\, toothpaste\, et c.)\n• Hair dryer\n• Any snacks for medical purposes only\nTentative R etreat Schedule\nFriday 13th November:\n15:30 – 17:00 Arrival &\; set tling in\n18:00 – 19:00 Light dinner or own snacks\n19:30 – 20:00 Orie ntation talk (silence begins!)\n20:00 – 21:00 Dhamma talk &\; guided meditation (Ajahn Brahm)\n\nSaturday 14th - Thursday 19th November:\n06:00 – 07:00 Meditation\n07:00 – 08:30 Breakfast\n08:30 – 10:00 Teaching &\; guided meditation (Ajahn Brahm)\n10:30 – 11:30 Personal practice / group interview (one per retreatant from Sun 15th - Thurs 19th)\n11:30 – 12:30 Lunch\n12:30 – 14:00 Rest\n14:00 – 15:00 Personal practice\n 15:00 – 15:45 Guided meditation (Ajahn Canda or Ajahn Brahm\, alternatel y)\n16:00 – 17:00 Word of the Buddha Class (Ajahn Brahm or Ajahn Canda a lternately)\n17:00 – 18:00 Personal practice\n18:00 – 19:00 Tea break\ n19:00 – 19:45 Group Meditation\n20:00 – 21:00 Q&\;A\n\nFriday 20th November:\n06:00 – 07:00 Meditation\n07:00 – 09:00 Breakfast &\; p ack up personal belongings\n09:00 – 10:15 Closing talk &\; metta medi tation\n10:15 – 11:15 Anukampa discussion &\; dana talk\n11:30 – 12 :30 Lunch\nDepartures by 14:00\n\nRetreatants must pack up on the last day of the retreat at 09:00 and leave promptly by 14:00.\nGetting There\nThe site’s remoteness is part of what it makes it so special\, but it does m ean that some planning is required if arriving by public transport.\n\nBy Air: London Heathrow or Gatwick\, Bristol\, Exeter\, Southampton or Bourne mouth.\n\nBy Coach: From All Airports there is a Coach service to Poole ht tps://www.nationalexpress.com/en/offers/cheap-coach-tickets Then continue by taxi from your last stop to reach Gaunts House. See "Local Taxi" sectio n below.\n\nBy Train: London Waterloo\, Bristol Temple Meads to Bournemout h or Poole. Then by Coach: London Victoria and Hammersmith and most cities to Bournemouth or Poole. By Bus: 13 from Bournemouth or 3 from Poole to W imborne. Then continue by taxi from your last stop to reach Gaunts House. See "Local Taxi" section below.\n\nBy Train: Our closest rail station is P oole but there are also travel options from Southampton and Salisbury. The n continue by taxi from your last stop to reach Gaunts House. See "Local T axi" section below.\n\nBy Bus Travelling Via Salisbury: BUS 20 SALISBURY-B LANDFORD FORUM: Ask the driver to drop you at the Handley Cross roundabout . The bus leaves Salisbury (Endless Street\, stop D) at: 08:40\, 13:10\, 1 6:10\, 17:50. Monday to Saturday\, 25 minute journey\, no service Sundays. Timetable here https://bustimes.org/services/20-blandford-forum-salisbury Then continue by taxi from your last stop to reach Gaunts House. See "Loca l Taxi" section below.\n\nVia Poole: BUS NUMBER 4\, STAND E POOLE – WIMB ORNE. Bus Number 4 leaving from stand E in Poole bus station and run’s e very 30 minutes to Wimborne. https://bustimes.org/services/4-poole-broadst one-merley-wimborne Then continue by taxi from your last stop to reach Gau nts House. See "Local Taxi" section below.\n\nLocal Taxi: 01202 888888/884 444 (approx. £25 from Bournemouth\, £22.50 from Poole and £8 from Wimbo rne)\n\nCar Share: Life’s a journey – share it! We ask you all to cons ider your environment and the effect your travel has on it. We will provid e a ride-share spreadsheet so you can arrange to offer a lift or share a t axi with fellow retreatants.\n\nParking is available for those who are dri ving. For navigation\, please use Google Maps and enter "Gaunts House Retr eat\, Petersham Lane" instead of using the post code to bring you straight to the main building.\n\n\nCost\nThe total amount for the residential ret reat is between £680 - £890 per person depending on the room type:\n• Single en-suite room (£890 per person)\n• Single room with shared bathr oom (£800 per person)\n• Twin en-suite room (£760 per person)\n• Twi n or triple room with shared bathroom (£680 per person)\n\nPlease note th at the retreat cost is for the venue hire only\, which includes accommodat ion\, meals\, and use of the meditation hall\, other rooms and grounds. No fee is taken for the invaluable teachings! The retreat is organised entir ely by hard-working\, good-hearted Anukampa monastics and volunteers\, to keep costs as low as possible.\n\nAjahn Brahm is kindly coming all the way from Perth in Western Australia to England to support Anukampa Bhikkhuni Project’s charitable aims - of spreading the Dhamma and developing Anuka mpa Grove. As the first residence for bhikkhunis in the UK\, Anukampa Grov e gives women an opportunity to practice as bhikkhunis and provides a plac e for our warm-hearted and diverse community to practice and serve alongsi de spiritual friends. The volunteers who organise these retreats give thei r time freely\, helping us keep costs as low as possible.  At the end of the retreat\, there will be an opportunity to donate towards the running c osts of Anukampa Grove and requisites for the resident nuns.\n\nIf you wou ld like to contribute to sponsoring costs for Ajahn Brahm\, Ajahn Candā a nd Samanerī Upacālā please donate here\, reference: 'monastic costs.'\ n\nWe may be able to offer some financial assistance to those of limited m eans through our bursary fund\, collected entirely through the generosity of others.\n\nYou are welcome to donate to our bursary fund here.\nApplica tion Procedure\n1. Please ensure you read all the above information carefu lly first\, and then fill in the application form below. At this stage you will not be required to make a payment.\n\n2. After submitting your appli cation\, you should receive an acknowledgement email immediately. If you d o not see it\, please check your junk or spam folder. We recommend adding our email address (bookings@anukampaproject.org) to your contacts to ensur e our emails are not filtered as junk. If you do not receive the email\, p lease contact us.\n\n3. We aim to approve your application within two week s. If you are applying for waiting list\, we will only contact you if ther e is space available.\n\n4. Once your application is approved\, your regis tration fee is needed to secure your place. Upon receipt\, your ticket wil l be automatically emailed to you.\n\n We will allocate your room based on the room type you selected in this application form. When it comes to pay ment you must stick to the room type you originally chose in this applicat ion form\, because we have organised the room chart on the basis of your c hoice and cannot change it at the time of payment!\n\nIf the room type is no longer visible to you below\, it means the room is currently taken and you can apply to be on the waiting list. If you specifically need a single room\, please state your reason. If a single room becomes available in th e future\, we will contact you to let you know.\nCancellation Policy\nDue to the cancellation policy at Gaunts House\, the registration fee is refun dable minus £150 until 13th August 2026 only. \n\nAfter 13th August\, no refund will be given\, unless someone on our waiting list is able to take your place. If your ticket can be taken by someone else\, you will be refu nded minus £150. Whilst we will make every effort to offer your ticket on \, we are sorry that this cannot be guaranteed.\n\nHealth and community ca re: Please do not attend if you feel ill (e.g. if you have any symptoms of Covid or any other viral infections).\n\nAll ticket proceeds go toward co vering venue hire\, food and other arrangements. Any excess will go toward general running cost of Britain's first vihara (residence) for bhikkhunis \, "Anukampa Grove."\n\n~ IMPORTANT !! ~ To ensure you see our most up-to -date page and bookings availability\, YOU MUST REFRESH your browser by p ressing F5 OR click the ↺ reload sign on the address bar. ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://anukampaproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2 026/03/Gaunts-House.jpg CATEGORIES:2026 LOCATION:Gaunts House Retreat\, Petersham Lane\, Wimborne\, Dorset\, BH21 4 JQ\, United Kingdom X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=Petersham Lane\, Wimborne\, Dorset\, BH21 4JQ\, United Kingdom;X-APPLE-RADIUS=100;X-TITLE=Gaunts Hous e Retreat:geo:0,0 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:Europe/London X-LIC-LOCATION:Europe/London BEGIN:STANDARD DTSTART:20261025T010000 TZOFFSETFROM:+0100 TZOFFSETTO:+0000 TZNAME:GMT END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE END:VCALENDAR