BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//wp-events-plugin.com//7.4.0.1//EN TZID:Europe/London X-WR-TIMEZONE:Europe/London BEGIN:VEVENT UID:1763@anukampaproject.org DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20250621T083000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20250626T203000 DTSTAMP:20250612T111245Z URL:https://anukampaproject.org/events/ajahn-brahm-ven-canda-finding-freed om-a-6-day-online-retreat/ SUMMARY:Ajahn Brahm & Ven Canda: “Finding Freedom” ~ A 6-Day Online Ret reat DESCRIPTION:What Others Are Saying:\n\nI feel really moved meditating under your guidance in this retreat. Tears streamed down my face during the tal k. Feeling\, not just intellectually knowing\, that there is a way to free dom\, there is a way to end suffering. And I feel like I really live a goo d life\, but that feeling of liberation\, that I sense coming from you is so profound and all pervasive\, that no joy or peace I have ever experienc ed gets near it. I want to make full use of my time with you. Let go and s urrender to the truth\, even though it is hard at times. \n~ Susanne\, a p articipant in Ajahn Brahm &\; Ven Canda's "Wisdom of Silence" online re treat\, June 2024\n \;\nAbout The Retreat\n \;\n\nJoin Ajahn Brahm and Ven Canda for an inspiring online retreat this summer! Over six trans formative days\, the teachers will guide you through profound teachings an d meditation practices\, helping you discover inner peace and true freedom —all from the comfort of your own home (or a lovely place of your choice ).\n\nAjahn Brahm &\; Ven Canda are renowned for creating safe and lovi ng spaces for learning the Dhamma and their complimentary styles present a rich offering that combines story-telling\, compassion and wisdom. Practi cal insights for overcoming life’s challenges and finding joy in the mom ent are given through the use of examples from their many decades of Buddh ist practice and meditation. Through engaging talks\, guided meditations a nd opportunities for Q&\;A\, you will learn how to navigate the challen ges of life with a calm and open heart\, finding freedom from the burdens of stress\, worry and afflictive emotions.\n\n"Finding Freedom" is an invi tation to uncover the peace and joy that reside within you. The teachers w ill share insights on how to let go of attachments\, embrace impermanence and cultivate a mind that is free from suffering. Their teachings will ins pire you to live with greater awareness\, kindness and resilience\, no mat ter what is happening in your life.\n\nWhether you are new to meditation o r have years of experience\, the teachers' gentle\, encouraging approach w ill ensure that everyone\, of every gender\, background and skill level\, can benefit from this retreat. Don't miss this opportunity to transform yo ur life and discover the true essence of freedom!\n\nFull attendance is id eal to make the most of your retreat. Please be sure to give yourself the very best opportunity for developing inner freedom!\n\n \;\n\nAs this is an online home-retreat\, you may choose whether you wish to observe the Eight Precepts or the Five Precepts.\n\n \;\n\n\nThe Ethical Precepts  \n \;\n\nVenerable Ānanda once asked the Buddha:\n\n“Venerable\, what is the purpose and benefit of skillful ethics (sila)?” The Buddha a nswered\, "So\, Ānanda\, the purpose and benefit of skillful ethics is no t having regrets (avippati). The purpose and benefit of not having regrets is joy (pamojja). The purpose and benefit of joy is bliss (piti). The pur pose and benefit of bliss is tranquillity (passaddhi). The purpose and ben efit of tranquillity is happiness (sukha). The purpose and benefit of happ iness is stillness (samadhi). The purpose and benefit of stillness is seei ng things as they truly are. The purpose and benefit of seeing things as t hey truly are is revulsion (nibbida). The purpose and benefit of revulsion is dispassion or fading away (viraga). The purpose and benefit of dispass ion is knowledge and vision of liberation (vimuttinyanadassana). So\, Āna nda\, skillful ethics progressively leads up to the highest.” (Anguttara Nikaya 11.1) \n\n \;\n\nThis profound and beautiful teaching shows u s how practicing ethical precepts creates the happiness that becomes an es sential foundation for deep meditation. We therefore warmly encourage you to take the precepts – and you may choose whether you wish to observe th e five or the eight precepts\, during the retreat.\n\n\nThe Five Precepts – Pañcasīla\n\n \nI undertake the training-precept to abstain from ki lling living beings.\nPāṇātipātā veramaṇī sikkhāpadaṃ samādiy āmi.\n \nI undertake the training-precept to abstain from taking what is not given.\nAdinnādānā veramaṇī sikkhāpadaṃ samādiyāmi.\n \nI undertake the training-precept to abstain from sexual misconduct.\nKāmes u micchācārā veramaṇī sikkhāpadaṃ samādiyāmi.\n \nI undertake the training-precept to abstain from false speech.\nMusāvādā veramaṇ ī sikkhāpadaṃ samādiyāmi.\n \nI undertake the training-precept to a bstain from alcoholic drink or drugs that cloud the mind and cause heedles sness.\nSurā meraya majja pamādaṭṭhānā veramaṇī sikkhāpadaṃ samādiyāmi.\n\n \;\n\n \;\n\n\nThe Eight Precepts – Aṭṭha ṅgasīla\n\n \nI undertake the training-precept to abstain from killing living beings.\nPāṇātipātā veramaṇī sikkhāpadaṃ samādiyāmi. \n \nI undertake the training-precept to abstain from taking what is not given.\nAdinnādānā veramaṇī sikkhāpadaṃ samādiyāmi.\n \nI unde rtake the training-precept to abstain from all sexual conduct.\nAbrahmacar iyā veramaṇī sikkhāpadaṃ samādiyāmi.\n \nI undertake the trainin g-precept to abstain from false speech.\nMusāvādā veramaṇī sikkhāpa daṃ samādiyāmi.\n \nI undertake the training-precept to abstain from alcoholic drink or drugs that cloud the mind and cause heedlessness.\nSur ā meraya majja pamādaṭṭhānā veramaṇī sikkhāpadaṃ samādiyām i.\n \nI undertake the training-precept to abstain from eating at the wro ng time (after solar noon).\nVikāla bhojanā veramaṇī sikkhāpadaṃ s amādiyāmi.\n \nI undertake the training-precept to abstain from dancing \, singing\, music\, going to see entertainments\, wearing jewellery\, usi ng perfumes\, and beautifying the body with cosmetics.\nNacca gīta vādit a visūkadassanā mālā gandha vilepana dhārana maṇḍana vibhūsana ṭṭhānā veramaṇī sikkhāpadaṃ samādiyāmi.\n \nI undertake the training-precept to abstain from using high or luxurious beds and seats.\ nUccāsayana mahāsayanā veramaṇī sikkhāpadaṃ samādiyāmi.\n\n&nbs p\;\n\n \;\nTentative Retreat Schedule \n(8:30 on 21st Jun ~ 17:00 on 26th Jun\, UK time ~ BST)\n \;\n\nThe retreat starts at 8:30 on Saturd ay 21st June\, and finishes at 17:00 on Thursday 26th June. On the last da y\, there will be an opportunity to share your experience with other retre atants and ends with a blessing. The schedule is deliberately designed to be spacious and allow for plenty of personal practice time and rest\, so t hat you can take a break from the screen and find a supportive rhythm and pace. You will be guided as to how best to make use of your personal pract ice time and given instructions in walking meditation.\n\n \;\n\n*Plea se note that the bold-type indicates online group sessions.\n\n \;\n\n Sat 21st June:\n\n08:30 - 10:30 Dhamma talk\, guided meditation (Ajahn Bra hm)\n10:30 - 12:30 Cooking and lunchtime for those on 8 precepts offline\n 12:30 - 15:00 Rest and personal practice offline\n15:00 - 15:45 Guided Med itation with (alternate days) Ajahn Brahm or Ven Canda\n16:00 - 17:00 Sutt a teachings and discussion with (alternate days) Ajahn Brahm or Ven Canda\ n17:00 - 18:30 Personal practice offline \n18:30 - 19:20 Metta chanting a nd silent group meditation\n19:30 - 20:30 Q&\;A with Ajahn Brahm and/or Ven Canda\n\n \;\n\nSun 22nd - Wed 25th June:\n\n06:00 - 07:00 Recom mended morning meditation\, offline\n08:30 - 10:30 Dhamma talk\, guided me ditation (Ajahn Brahm)\n10:30 - 12:30 Cooking and lunchtime for those on 8 precepts offline\n12:30 - 15:00 Rest and personal practice offline\n15:00 - 15:45 Guided Meditation with (alternate days) Ajahn Brahm or Ven Canda\ n16:00 - 17:00 Sutta teachings and discussion with (alternate days) Ajahn Brahm or Ven Canda\n17:00 - 18:30 Personal practice offline \n18:30 - 19: 20 Metta chanting and silent group meditation\n19:30 - 20:30 Q&\;A with Ajahn Brahm and/or Ven Canda\n\n \;\n\nThu 26th June:\n\n06:00 - 07:0 0 Recommended morning meditation\, offline\n08:30 - 10:30 Dhamma talk\, g uided meditation (Ajahn Brahm)\n10:30 - 12:30 Cooking and lunchtime for th ose on 8 precepts offline\n12:30 - 14:30 Rest and personal practice offlin e\n14:30 - 15:15 Closing Dhamma Talk (Ajahn Brahm)\n15:30 - 17:00 Small gr oup meetings\, Q&\;A (both) and final blessing (Ven Canda)\n\n \;\n \n*Full time attendance – including the personal practice period – is advisable for this retreat\, so you can experience the full potential of t he practice and participate in creating a conducive community space. Due t o the time zone\, it will therefore work best for people in the UK and Eur ope (or the east coast of the US if you are willing to adopt forest monast ery time and rise early!) If most of the online schedule will not work for you\, we kindly ask that you leave the space for someone else and instead watch the recordings once we upload them to our YouTube channel.\n\nPleas e check the retreat schedule against your time zone here.\n\n \;\nHow To Have A Home Retreat\n \;\n\nPracticing in an online retreat can be a very rewarding experience. Unlike simply watching online teachings on yo ur own\, you become part of a mutually supportive spiritual community. An online retreat also differs from an in-person retreat\, by giving you the opportunity to carve out a tailor-made space for yourself\, (at home or in a place of your choice)\, where you can dedicate yourself to silent pract ice without the usual distractions and disturbances\, and gain confidence in your ability to practice wherever you are.\n\nTo support yourself in th is process\, Noble Silence is encouraged throughout the retreat. This mean s remaining in silence as much as possible and abstaining from the use of electronic devices\, especially mobile phones!  It is also important to a ttend all or most of the online sessions so you can receive proper teacher guidance.\n\nTo help you decide whether this format would suit you\, we o ffer some thoughts about the benefits of an online retreat and consider so me of the potential challenges – as well as possible solutions – so yo u can make fruitful use of your time.\n\n \;\nBenefits:\n\n Continuit y of practice which helps you gain more benefit from meditation\n Safety\ , intimacy and support of an enclosed group\n Opportunity for personal gu idance through questions to the teachers\n Increased confidence in your a bility to practice wherever you are\n The food that suits your tummy ~ an d no one snoring in your dorm!\n\n\nChallenges and solutions:\nIf you are living alone you have a ready-made hermitage! Turn off your phone\, put on the vacation responder and do your weekly shop in advance. Use ear plugs if it is especially noisy and take a walk in a peaceful park at the quiete st times of day. This will help you immensely in observing Noble Silence a nd cultivating sense restraint\, which inclines the mind toward inner happ iness and facilitates quietening the mind.\n\nFor those who do not live al one\, home retreats may pose the challenge being around family members\, f riends or lodgers who are not on retreat! In this case\, you may need to p ut a few extra measures in place to enable you to observe Noble Silence an d maintain your inner focus. Perhaps consider asking them to support you o n retreat by keeping interactions to an absolute minimum and having a note system for any absolutely necessary communication. Maybe someone kind cou ld offer to cook your favourite food and leave your meals outside your doo r\, or you could arrange times to use the kitchen alone? If you have child ren or teens it might be difficult to keep the noise down\, so you could c onsider booking into a quiet hotel or apartment and tune in to the sessio ns from there.\n\n \;\n\n\n\nRegistration Fees\nThe registration fee e nsures your commitment to attending the retreat\, as we generally experien ce a 25% no-show rate to online events. Places are limited\, so when this happens others may lose a potentially life changing opportunity to practi ce.\n\nThe registration fee also helps cover the administrative costs of r unning our Charity and Monastery\, which includes IT\, electricity\, counc il tax\, and other expenses.  If you are unable to afford this\, please c ontact us. Alternatively\, you may choose to watch the recordings once we upload them to our YouTube channel.\n\nThe retreat teachings themselves ar e offered on a donation basis. Our volunteers have generously organised th is in their own free time\, and neither they nor the two teachers receive any remuneration. To help us continue spreading the Dhamma\, you will be i nvited to offer donations at the end of the retreat. Your donations help u s build the Bhikkhuni Sangha by providing monastic requisites and helping us develop and maintain Anukampa Grove Bhikkhuni Monastery ~ the physical hub of our community and training place for bhikkhunis in the UK ~ to help it become a haven of peace for more people. Please give with a heart of g enerosity and joy\, whilst respecting your own personal financial situatio n.\n\nPlease note that the registration fee is NON REFUNDABLE.\n\n \; \nApplication Procedure\n \;\n\n1. *Please ensure you have read all th e above information carefully before you fill the application form below!\ n\n \;\n\n2. After submitting your application form\, you should recei ve an email confirming that we have received it within a few minutes. Plea se check your junk mail inbox if you do not receive it. If it is not in y our junk folder please contact us\; you might have submitted a wrong email address! We advise you to add our email address\, bookings@anukampapro ject.org\, as a contact to prevent emails from us going into your junk fo lder.\n\n \;\n\n3. We aim to approve your application within a day or two. Once your application is approved\, your registration fee is needed to secure your place. Upon receipt\, your ticket will be automatically sen t to you.\n\n \;\n\n \;\nJoining from the same household\nIf more than one person from the same household wishes to join the retreat\, pleas e make separate bookings and log in from separate computers. This ensures our numbers are manageable for the Q&\;A sessions and enables you to pr actice as though alone.\n\n \;\n\n~ IMPORTANT !! ~ Before you fill in the application form YOU MUST REFRESH your browser by pressing F5 or click ing the ↺ reload sign. This will update the form to show the current num ber of spaces available.\n\n \; ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://anukampaproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2 025/01/20241205_140835-scaled.jpg CATEGORIES:2025 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:Europe/London X-LIC-LOCATION:Europe/London BEGIN:DAYLIGHT DTSTART:20250330T020000 TZOFFSETFROM:+0000 TZOFFSETTO:+0100 TZNAME:BST END:DAYLIGHT END:VTIMEZONE END:VCALENDAR