Details:

Date: Tuesday 12th to Sunday 24th August

Requirements: Everyone is welcome

Cost: Generosity Model – Donation only (By clicking the ‘Donate Here’ button below)

Format: This retreat will be onsite at Land of Joy

Start and Finish times: The retreat will start with supper on the first day and finish with lunch on the last day.

Accommodation: Land of Joy wishes for everyone who visits the centre to feel welcome, accepted, safe and secure. Our accommodation options are very limited, with mostly single-sex shared accommodation with two-four people sharing rooms and only one single room (which is sometimes needed by volunteers). This means single accommodation can only be offered to those who need it the most, but still won’t always be available. Camping can be an option at certain times of year if you have your own tent, but space is very limited. Please read the relevant sections of the booking form carefully.

About the Retreat

Many students have the commitment to complete the nine Ngöndro, or preliminary practices, associated with Vajrayana practice or have been given some or all of them to complete by their teacher. Among these is the practice of offering 111,000 water bowls.

Water bowl offerings, as with the other eight preliminary practices (prostrations, Vajrasattva, refuge, mandala offerings, guru yoga, Dorje Khadro, tsa-tsas and Samayavajra), are an extraordinary way to accumulate merit and to purify negative actions in order to quickly generate realisations on the path. Offering them helps to generate a mind of generosity and is also a specific antidote to miserliness.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche gave special permission for this practice to be completed by groups of people who, in performing the practice, can each accumulate the full count of offerings made during a retreat. Land of Joy is happy to be able to offer this precious opportunity for people to complete this essential practice.

If the full 111,000 offerings is not reached during the retreat, retreatants may keep the total accumulated and complete the full number at a later date There is no need to maintain the practice in between.

The practice will be demonstrated and explained by experienced practitioners, so those new to the practice can take part. An extensive offering practice will be completed at the end of each round of offering in accordance with Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s advice.

Read more about Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s advice on this practice here.

A Way to Say Thank You

To Land of Joy…

Our generosity model means we do not charge for any teachings, accommodation or food. We are therefore 100% dependant on donations to help us cover our £90,000 a year running costs.

You are therefore invited to give what you can as a thank you for the organisation and hosting of the retreat, including the food and accommodation provided if you stayed onsite.

You may also like to make a regular contribution to the centre by becoming a Branch of Joy. This kind of support gifts us a steady and ongoing income, which in turn provides the confidence and means for us to continue to flourish for many years to come.

Everything given will ensure Land of Joy continues to be offered as a precious place for retreat.

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To The Volunteers…

Our retreats are supported by our wonderful team of volunteers, some of whom you will meet during your time at the centre. Those who live onsite offer their time, expertise and dedication in return for food and accommodation. They do not receive a wage or stipend. Unfortunately, we are only able to accept offerings for them in cash, so if you would like to thank them for their service, please do so by bringing cash with you to the centre and placing it in the volunteer collection pot.