Date/Time
Date(s) - 01 Feb 2025
10:00 am - 5:00 pm
Location
Oxford Quakers Friends Meeting House
43 St Giles'
Oxford
OX1 3LW
United Kingdom
Love is like a butterfly, so pretty yet so fleeting. Or so they say. But what if love was less like a butterfly and more like an ocean? What if it was everywhere all the time and we just forgot to notice it?
Join Bhante Sujato on this contemplative day retreat as he dives into the enigmatic nature of unconditional love. Explore how our perceptions condition love, and how we can shape them to bring a lasting transformation in our lives and for those around us. Through meditation, reflection, and Q&A discover the currents that connect us all—the tides of compassion, kindness and boundless care.
Where will the retreat be held?
This retreat will be held at the Friends Meeting House, in Oxford. We will have the use of main hall and the kitchen, surrounded by a lovely secluded lawn, allowing for a safe and uninterrupted space for meditation.
Comfy meditation chairs are provided. In order to maximise the space available, we encourage you to use a chair. Please note that we are not able to provide mats and cushions.
Please bring your own packed lunch and flask for your ease. Hot water will be available and you are invited to bring along tea, milk and biscuits to share.
The retreat is suitable for both beginners and experienced meditators alike and will accommodate a maximum of 50 people. Please register early to be sure you don’t miss out!
N.B: The following day, on Sunday 2nd February, we are inviting a small number of people (up to 15) to join us for an afternoon of meditation with Bhante Sujato and Ven Canda at our beautiful monastery, Anukampa Grove, 5 miles from Oxford (on a donation basis). If you would like to be considered for this also, please apply separately, noting that we will confirm the latter in January.
Tentative Retreat Schedule
09:30 – 09:55 Arrivals
10:00 – 11:30 Introduction talk and guided meditation (silence begins!)
11:30 – 12:00 Walking meditation
12:00 – 13:15 Lunch and rest period
13:15 – 14:30 Dhamma talk and guided meditation
14:30 – 15:00 Walking meditation
15:00 – 15:30 Silent group meditation
15:30 – 15:45 Tea break
15:45 – 16:30 Q&A
16:30 – 17:00 Final metta meditation and closing words
Please aim to arrive at 9:30 am in order to register and settle in quietly.
Bhante Sujato is kindly coming all the way from Australia to England, to support Anukampa’s work and our new monastery, “Anukampa Grove,” where for the very first time in the UK, women can train towards full monastic ordination as bhikkhunis. There will be an opportunity to donate towards that aim at the retreat in person, or via our website here.
We are extremely fortunate to have three monastics attending this retreat: Bhante Sujato, Ven Canda and Ven Upekkha. If you would like to contribute to the costs for the Sangha’s travel expenses you can donate here, you can donate here, reference ‘monastic costs.’
We may be able to offer some financial assistance to those of limited means through our bursary fund.
You are welcome to donate to our bursary fund here.
Note:
1. After your registration, you will receive an email with your Ticket/Booking Confirmation almost immediately. Please check your junk mail box if you do not receive it. You can also add our email address bookings@anukampaproject.org as a contact to prevent emails from us going into the junk folder.
2. If you do not receive your ticket within an hour, please contact us at bookings@anukampaproject.org. Please be aware that emails that we send to non-Gmail, Hotmail or Outlook email account outside the UK (e.g. .pl; .gmx etc), are often rejected as ‘undelivered’ for unknown reasons. Please therefore contact us from a Gmail, Hotmail or Outlook email account where at all possible, to save disappointment.
Covid safety: Please do not attend if you feel ill, are infectious or have any symptoms of Covid.
We kindly ask that you do not contact the venue.
PLEASE NOTE THIS BOOKING IS NOT REFUNDABLE.
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All ticket proceeds go towards covering venue hire and travel for the Sangha. Any excess will go towards the general running costs of Britain’s first monastery for bhikkhunis, “Anukampa Grove Bhikkhuni Monastery.”