Retreat Title: Emptiness and the Heart Sutra
Led by Tejananda
‘Not even wisdom to attain, attainment too is emptiness’
Buddhist practice is aimed at fully-awakening to the actual nature of things.
Prajnaparamita, one of the most important Mahayana schools, calls this awakening ‘the perfection of wisdom’. Yet the Heart Sutra, a Prajnaparamita text, asserts that there is no wisdom and no attainment – in fact, there is not even any
non-attainment!
As such paradoxes suggest, when it comes to things-as-they-are, words and concepts have their limitations as well as their undeniable uses.
We will explore all this on this retreat through the three levels of wisdom – first getting a clear basic understanding of the teaching, then allowing the mind to quieten and reflecting experientially on the emptiness of self, and of all phenomena.
And finally, seeing that this is always pointing us back to the beauty and simplicity of direct experience and resting in simplicity in a completely uncontrived way.
As well as brief practical introductions to the main themes of the sutra, the retreat will include led reflective meditations pointing to the emptiness of self in the five skandhas, plenty of time for personal practice, and recitations of the sutra itself.
This retreat is suitable for people who have been meditating for at least 3 years
Start Date: 11th Dec 2015
End Date: 20th Dec 2015
Price: £360 (Full Price) / £324 (Conc Price)
This retreat is nearly full. Please ring or email to confirm a place is available before trying to book.