Hosted By: Vishvapani and Vidyamala
Friday, September 1st at 5 am EDT to Thursday, September 7th, 2023 at 4 pm EDT
Online via Zoom - see session times below

Event Description:

“Imagine an enormous subterranean chamber all lit up from within. We are living in a tiny chamber next to – indeed, part of – the larger one. We can see nothing at all of what’s going on in the large chamber. In fact, we have no idea that the large chamber is even there.”
—Sangharakshita

Awareness, or mindfulness, is an essential foundation for all spiritual growth. Through knowing experience directly, we can transform difficulties and become happier, calmer, and more fulfilled.

But awareness offers much more: it also provides a doorway to other dimensions in the large chamber of our experience. Awareness of the body, heart, and mind can blossom into awareness of boundlessness, love, and mystery, as Buddhist teachers have taught down the millennia.

Imagination is a key to this opening. When our minds are clear and we’re alive to what’s within us and around us, our imaginations wake up to new possibilities.

Vidyamala and Vishvapani invite you to join an exploration of mindfulness and imagination through talks, meditation, creative activities, discussion, and shared ritual, particularly focused on the richly evocative symbol of the mandala.

This Home Retreat is an opportunity to live for a week with mindfulness, kindness, poetry, and creativity, even in the midst of our daily lives.

“If the doors of perception were cleansed, we would see the world as it really is - infinite.”
—William Blake

Attend any or all conversations in Zoom.

This event will be recorded and may be published online for others to access. Only the leader's video will be used except where users consent to appear spotlighted in a public conversation. Private conversations in breakout rooms will not be recorded.

Session Times:

First daily session (2 hrs): USA PDT 2:00 am | México CST 3:00 am | USA EDT 5:00 am | IE & UK BST 10:00 am | Europe CEST 11:00 am | India IST 2:30 pm | Australia AEST 7:00 pm | New Zealand NZST 9:00 pm

Second daily session (1.5 hrs): USA PDT 7:30 am | México CST 8:30 am | USA EDT 10:30 am | IE & UK BST 3:30 pm | Europe CEST 4:30 pm | India IST 8:00 pm | Australia AEST 12:30 am (next day) | New Zealand NZST 2:30 am (next day)

Third daily session (1.5 hrs): USA PDT 11:30 am | México CST 12:30 pm | USA EDT 2:30 pm | IE & UK BST 7:30 pm | Europe CEST 8:30 pm | India IST 12:00 midnight | Australia AEST 4:30 am (next day) | New Zealand NZST 6:30 am (next day)

Event Registration:

Register at the link below.

Suggested Donation for the Whole Retreat:

£125 / $175 / €150 or £25 / $35 / €30 per day.

Get one ticket and come to any session you wish throughout the week!

Like all our events, this retreat is offered by donation rather than charging a compulsory ticket price. We want to do this because we never want money to be an obstacle to taking part in a supportive community, and we know many people are struggling financially in the wake of the pandemic and cost of living crisis. The amount we suggest reflects the huge amount of work and love that goes into putting on events we hope will benefit everyone attending. If you can, please donate today to help us continue with our work and support others to attend who cannot afford to pay. Thank you!

About the Hosts:

Vidyamala was ordained into the Triratna Buddhist Order in 1995 and is co-founder of Breathworks, a leading mindfulness organization. She focuses particularly on using awareness and kindness training to work with pain and illness. This draws on her own experience of managing spinal pain and disability. She is an award-winning author of three books and was awarded an OBE in 2022 for her services to pain management and well-being. She regularly leads retreats and workshops, and speaks at international summits, events and webinars.

Vidyamala has long had an interest in the creative mind and heart and how to access this through myth, ritual and non-conceptual approaches and looks forward to deepening this even more on this online retreat.

Vishvapani has practiced meditation and Buddhism for over 40 years. He’s a writer, best known for Gautama Buddha: the Life and Teachings of the Awakened One and as the Buddhist contributor to Thought for the Day on BBC Radio 4. He’s a prominent figure in the UK’s mindfulness world and has taught over 150 mindfulness courses.

He loves to explore poetry, myth, and imagination, along with Buddhism, in his writing, teaching, and practice.