Retreats & Programme
Rooted in the the buddhist teachings, especially the Forest meditation tradition of Ajahn Chah, we are inspired by nature, inner and outer. We offer meditation and eco retreats with many ways to explore and open.
Our retreats are holistic, helping us to be present and connected in body and mind. Re-minding us of our intimate links with the natural world, they are nourished also by sustainable living.
* Retreat Schedule 2021 *
Please note: during the time of the coronavirus and beyond we will be offering an online meditation every tuesday at 7.30PM French time
Meeting ID: 885 573 144
As we have so much open space and a large meditation hall with no walls, we do fully intend to offer retreats in 2021 with retreatants here in the beautiful nature at Ekuthuleni (health situation permitting).
We will also offer some online options for those who wish and shift to online fully if needed. Please keep checking the website or contact us on ekuthuleni.retreat@gmail.com.
We are updating the site regularly to offer what and how we can.....please keep checking!
Retraites à ekuthuleni
Fundraiser, Celebration and blessing (online retreat)
Saturday 1 May
We will be gathering on Saturday 1 May 2021 for a fundraiser/ celebration and blessing of Ekuthuleni! Deep gratitude to all of the teachers who will be participating and also to all of you who wish to attend, bringing your presence and energy.
SILENT & GUIDED MEDITATIONS - SANGHA - ONLINE RETREAT - FUNDRAISING
Retraites à ekuthuleni
Ascending Together!
Friday 28 May - Tuesday 1 June
a Sangha retreat with Sumedha and Noon French & English
This will be a time for gathering and sharing energy to celebrate Sangha and prepare Ekuthuleni for the upcoming season. A moment to meditate and work together in the spirit of sharing dharma practice. It is a drop in retreat so you are welcome to come for some or all of the days.
SILENT & GUIDED MEDITATIONS - SANGHA - MEDITATING & SERVING TOGETHER - OPEN AIR
Retraites à ekuthuleni
Retraite de marche contemplative avec mantras & chants sacrés.
Vendredi 11 - Mardi 15 Juin
Avec Noon & Sumedha en français with English translation as needed
Marcher tranquillement ensemble en fil indienne: une méditation en soi.
Des pauses en pleine nature pour la méditation guidée ou en silence , pour partager des poèmes, pour déjeuner...Retour à Ekuthuleni l’après midi - goûter les joies de vivre simplement en Sangha.
MEDITATIONS SILENCEUSES ET GUIDEES - ENSEIGNEMENTS DU DHARMA - MARCHES CONTEMPLATIVES - CHANTS SACREES - EN PLEINE NATURE
Retraites à ekuthuleni
O Sweet Release!
Tuesday 20 - Sunday 25 July
with Sumedha & Noon English - at Ekuthuleni with online option available also
In this retreat, we'll look into & experiment with getting in touch with freedoms already in our heart-mind-bodies, practicing with the ‘Seven Factors of Enlightenment’, making friends with the natural qualities already present in us, giving ease, belonging & love some place to be. Becoming familiar with what it feels like to taste the absence of stress, anger, grasping...Not avoiding the difficulties but finding our steadiness that can then hold and meet them differently.
SILENT & GUIDED MEDITATIONS - DHARMA TALKS - ONE TO ONE’S - CONTEMPLATIVE WALKING - OPEN AIR
Retraites à ekuthuleni
Still Forest Pools
Friday 13th - Thursday 19th August
a Sangha retreat with Sumedha and Noon French & English
Solitary retreat in community. A time to share dhamma, to follow one's own schedule & a moment of log cabin/ open air community life. Finding one’s own practice, in community, with support as needed.
SILENT MEDITATION - NATURE - SOLO TIME - COMMUNITY - GUIDED MEDITATIONS & ONE TO ONE’S AS NEEDED
Retraites à ekuthuleni
Mud & Meditation
Sunday 22 - Thursday 26th August
With Sumedha and Noon French & English
This retreat will offer a brew of: quiet times, meditations (guided & silent), dhamma talks, introduction to eco-building with mud, individual sessions with the teachers for sharings the joys & insights of spiritual practice, & receiving help to grow through the knots of life.
SILENT & GUIDED MEDITATIONS - SANGHA - MEDITATING & SERVING TOGETHER
Retraites à ekuthuleni
Slippery Slopes to Freedom: Ekuthuleni in the High Pyrénées a silent walking retreat with times for dialogue & poetry
September 2021
With Sumedha and Noon French & English
This meditation retreat will be a "Yatra": a meditative walking retreat, with dhamma talks, guided & silent meditation times, poetry sharings, community life together in a friendly campsite by a river & time to breath the fresh air of the high mountains with many quiet lakes.
SILENT & GUIDED MEDITATIONS - DHARMA TALKS - CONTEMPLATIVE WALKING - OPEN AIR
Retraites à ekuthuleni
"If it isn't good let it die. If it doesn't die, make it good."
Ajahn Chah
Spoken language
Retreats are offered in English or in French with translation on certain retreats
Spiritual influences
Also, rooted as we are in buddhist teachings, we are inspired by many different paths and invite participation from people of all faiths and spiritual leanings
Throughout the season
-
solitary practice: we can co- create a structure that works for you and for us, with more or less silence/ engagement
-
activity retreats for individuals: living and participating in the daily rhythm of life, including daily sittings and regular guided meditations. This year we wish to finish the renovation of the meditation hall and dining shelter. You are most welcome to come and give a hand from May to October, learning rustic and eco building skills, helping with the garden.
-
locals: you are welcome to come and join our morning and evening meditations. From May to October on Wednesdays we offer a guided meditation - you can also contact us about retreat days or weekends.
Scheduled guided retreats
Our retreats are silent apart from the activity retreats where there are times of speaking.
TYPES OF RETREATS
Guided retreats are facilitated by Noon and Sumedha or by teachers who inspire and resonate with the vision of Ekuthuleni. In the last few years this has included especially nuns (and ex nuns) of the forest tradition and teachers from Nirodha in Finland, as well as Jaya from Open Dharma.
TEACHERS AT EKUTHULENI
TUESDAY GUIDED MEDITATIONS
Every Tuesday at 12noon French time with Sumedha and Noon.
Zoom link:
Meeting id: 885 573 144
WEDS 30 Dec (evening) - Sun 3 Jan 2021 (Lunchtime)
With Noon & Sumedha
A new year's meditation retreat to refresh and discover our hidden possibilities. Online and yet very connected - 3 guided live sessions a day, plus group meetings and opportunities for one to one meetings with Noon or Sumedha. Offered via the zoom platform - keeping the tech side simple.
DHAMMA TEACHINGS - GUIDED MEDITATIONS - SILENT MEDITATIONS - CONTEMPLATIVE WALKING
thurs 25th - mon 29 june 2020
Guided by Ajahn Sundara (in French)
In the beautiful natural setting of Ekuthuleni we will practice some of the teachings of the Forest Tradition. We will have the opportunity to explore, with a gentle and warm approach, the benefits of awareness and to taste life as it is - in the present moment.
10 places at Ekuthuleni with teachings via Zoom - also available for retreatants to join online
GUIDED AND SILENT MEDITATIONS - DHARMA TALKS - ONE TO ONE MEETINGS
fri 24 - fri 31 july 2020
Guided by Noon and Sumedha
Rooting back into our capacity for awareness, embodied and heartful presence we will explore how practice can really enter our lives. Can we loosen our grasping, taste the joy and sanity, connected responsiveness, that comes from sensing our deep interconnection with life? Vital always, and especially in this time of planetary crisis, we embark on this journey of coming back home together.
DHAMMA TEACHINGS - GUIDED MEDITATIONS - SILENT MEDITATIONS - CONTEMPLATIVE WALKING
Real Roots in Abundance
fri 14 - thurs 20 august 2020
Led by Noon and Sumedha
How often do we relate in our lives from a sense of lack? What effect does this have? This retreat will help us to listen underneath all these voices and touch our real roots in abundance. It will help us to explore our deep interconnectedness, our sense of self and our responses in the world...
DHAMMA TEACHINGS - GUIDED MEDITATIONS - SILENT MEDITATIONS - CONTEMPLATIVE WALKING
Touching our Kindness (format to be confirmed)
fri 4 - mon 7 september
Led by Ajahn Candasiri
The Buddha taught taught that the four 'Brahmaviharas' – divine abidings – are boundless qualities and pathways of profound transformation and freedom. They are woven through our capacity for awareness or presence in a way that keeps our journey of freedom heartful and connected, guiding us as we meet our lives.
SILENT AND GUIDED MEDITATIONS _ DHARMA TALKS - ONE TO ONE MEETINGS
past retreats
.jpg)
