BuddhaDharmaSangha Summer Camp
August 9-17th 2008
With Yanai Postelnik, Brad Richecoeur & Catherine McGee
Costs of the Camp including food £160/£140.
Donations will be invited for the teaching at the end of the camp.
Children: under-threes are free
3 to 11 year olds £60-£80
12 to 17 year olds £70-£90
Call 0845 3305086 or email
View Photo Galleries from previous camps
You are warmly invited to participate in our eighth BuddhaDharmaSangha camp – an annual gathering of dharma friends new and old. The camp is a wonderful opportunity to practice Dharma in the time honoured way of the Buddha - in the beauty of nature, together with a like minded Sangha.
We will combine Insight Meditation, Qigong and Inquiry with the transformational quality of the natural world and being together in both silence and conversation. We will also devote some time in smaller groups for sharing our experience in seeking to apply the dharma to our modern lifestyles and exploring ways to nurture spiritual companionship in our lives. There will be space for formal practice and discussion groups, as well as time to enjoy being in nature and hanging out with others, walks on the moor, nights around the campfire, star gazing, songs, stories and................whatever we decide to create!
Camp Rhythms
We will be offering a daily schedule and encourage everyone to find their own way of engaging with it during the camp. The morning practice session will be supported by an atmosphere of silence up until lunchtime. A typical day will run something like
Sitting meditation
Breakfast
Sitting, Qigong and Inquiry
Lunch
Afternoon: walks to the open moor/woods/river, swims, games, quiet time
Optional Qigong, Sitting, Discussion/sharing groups,
Supper
Night-time: dharma talks, time around campfire, songs, stories, star gazing.......
General Camp Guidelines
We are a small, intimate camp with total participants limited to 80 adults and 20 children. We request that no drugs, alcohol or dogs are brought to the camp.
In order to create the possibility of deepening into common-unity, and to support the running of the camp, we ask that all participants commit to arriving by Saturday 9th and staying for the whole duration of the camp, i.e. until midday on Sunday 17th.
Insight Meditation (Vipassana)
Drawn directly from the teachings of the Buddha, Insight Meditation is founded on the cultivation of our capacity to be in the moment, with a care-full attention to each experience. From this quality of being present, our heart and mind begin to awaken to a natural peace and liberating clarity, freeing us from the power of greed, negativity and confusion. We will explore our body, heart and mind and the very ground of our interconnected lives, practising in the spirit of loving kindness and compassion for others and ourselves.
Qigong
Qigong offers a gentle and yet dynamic complement to sitting meditation. At the core of the practice is the art of Wu Wei - ’effortless action’, letting go of our habitual striving and pushing, settling into our experience of body/mind and allowing activity to flow from here. Grounded in our inner experience we can begin to cultivate our aliveness (or Qi) through simple movements, standing postures, hand gestures, mental focus and intention. This helps to mobilise our inner resources, release stagnation and tiredness and generate increased mental clarity and strength of body.
Inquiry
Here we draw upon the resource of our Sangha in a practice of speaking and listening, of inquiring deeply into our experience and of contemplating relationship in the moment. The sessions are guided, we work in pairs or threes and explore themes arising from our practice of Being on camp within a context of stillness, presence and curiosity. This is a valuable resource in integrating the depth we find in silence and stillness into the realm of human interaction.
Catherine McGee
Buddha, Dharma and Sangha have been at the centre of my life for over fifteen years and I have had the privilege of leading Insight meditation retreats for the last ten years in the UK and overseas. Bringing together the wonder of the depth of being that we might touch on retreat with the fullness and breadth of our daily life is the exciting invitation of this camp for me. I look forward to being there with you all.
Yanai Postelnik
Since first encountering Buddha-dharma and meditation, while travelling in Asia in 1989, I have devoted my life to practising, studying and serving the dharma full time, and have been leading insight meditation retreats in the UK and world wide since 1993. I also lead various courses combining meditation and silence with being in nature, and find this to be a wonderful combination. This camp combines these with our sharing and living together and offers many rich possibilities.
Brad Richecoeur
This camp brings together many of my passions in life-meditation, Qigong, nature and people! I have been practising Vipassana Meditation since 1985 and Qigong since 1989. I have been studying with Master Zhixing Wang since then, most intensively since 1994 during which time I have trained as an instructor.
The Beautiful Venue
This secluded site exudes both the peace and wildness of the moors. It is surrounded by hills, trees and bordered by the bubbling ‘Holy Brook’. We are within easy walking distance of the River Dart, with its swimming places and wooded walks, as well as the open moor and its magical wildness. We bathe in the stream and use especially made 'earth latrine' loo's. We have a large Yurt for practicing in and several geodomes for smaller meetings.
Donations/Dana
In the tradition of the Buddha, the dharma teachings are considered precious and beyond price. The camp teachers Yanai, Brad and Catherine, share their experience and understanding without receiving payment for this service, and rely upon the generosity and donations of those who value the teachings to support them to live in this way. Dana means generosity and sharing what we have, to support that which we value. Participants on the camp will be invited to give dana to the teachers in this spirit.
Food
We will be cooking communally on a camp fire using mainly local organic vegetables and vegetarian wholefoods. The cost of the food is included in the price of the camp and we will try and cater for special diets as much as possible.
Children
The children have their own dome and games and activities are offered for children aged three and above for the morning and afternoon sessions. We ask that parents be involved in at least 2 sessions during the camp. Under three’s need to have parental supervision.
