Rijumitra

I have been living at Vajraloka for some twenty years years now having moved from working at the Leeds Buddhist Centre for twelve years in 2005.
Both meditation and Vajraloka are very important to me. My first longer retreat was a Brahmaviharas Retreat I attended at Vajraloka in 1992, where I realised that I did not have to accept my habitual ways of being and that different possibilities were available to me. Not long after that retreat I left my career job and started a new way of life working for Triratna.
I enjoy helping people recognise that they can meditate and they can have a deeper and clearer relationship with their on going experience. It’s great to be able to be on retreat with others, particularly in the silence of the retreats, where, somehow, the connections with each other fill out and it becomes clearer what it is to be human.
I feel blessed by the landscape and the wildlife here and as I write this the House Martins are flying about enjoying the last of the daylight.
Events with Rijumitra

November 21 - 30, 2025
Bodhicitta – the awakening heart – is both the heart–response of wisdom to the suffering of living beings everywhere and the urge to realise full awakening for the benefit of all. This retreat will focus on love, compassion, joy and equanimity – the four ‘divine abodes’ or brahmaviharas – in the context of cultivating bodhicitta. To support this, we’ll also introduce tonglen, the ‘sending and receiving’ practice which opens the heart to universal compassion. The divine abodes are also known as the ‘boundless states’,¬ because they are inclusive of all living beings without exception. The practices that we’ll explore together…

February 6 - 15, 2026
Do we dare to turn towards suffering or even the joy of the world? Do we dare to remain open to experience and see the truth of situations unfold? Do we dare to respond? Subtly, we turn away from life and dull down. This retreat will challenge this habitual response and give you the tools to turn towards experience and embrace it with the love and responsiveness of the Brahmaviharas. We will engage with the Brahmaviharas drawing out both their active and receptive components and show how they can be a complete path to awakening.

April 3 - 10, 2026
+ Cittamoksa & Akshayapradipa “Just Sitting” is perhaps the most regal of all meditation practices. It could even be said that it goes beyond meditation. When asked how to practice “just sitting,” Sangharakshita simply replied, “You just sit.” This captures the essence. However, many find that “just sitting” often turns into endless mental chatter. This compulsive, deluded thinking, known as prapanca, is not the true nature of just sitting. Clearly, this is not what Sangharakshita intended. How do we truly embrace this simple practice? During this retreat, we’ll explore direct and effective methods to quiet the mental noise. This will…

August 7 - 14, 2026
In the Bahiya Sutta of the Udana we not only find an inspiring story of one person’s spiritual quest and awakening, but also a simple yet profound guide to meditation. The Buddha instructs Bahiya: “…as regards things seen, heard, sensed or cognised, there will be in the seen only the seen, in the heard only the heard, in the sensed only the sensed, in the cognised only the cognised.” In other words, the Buddha invited Bahiya to remain present with what is, without overlaying, projecting or reading anything whatsoever into his experience. On this retreat we’ll cultivate clarity, metta and…

October 9 - 18, 2026
+ Kiranasri Metta is seen as a great potential source of happiness in the Buddhist tradition – an openness to and love of life in all its forms – which spontaneously manifests as compassion and joy. Yet the cultivation of metta can sometimes seem very ‘heady’, at times forced and dry. How can our practice of kindly awareness gain fresh inspiration? On this retreat, we will explore opening to metta as an innate quality of our body, heart and being – literally embodying love. Becoming and being truly embodied is not just a preliminary practice, but integral to the whole path. We will…

November 6 - 15, 2026
Bodhicitta – the awakening heart – is both the heart–response of wisdom to the suffering of living beings everywhere and the urge to realise full awakening for the benefit of all. This retreat will focus on love, compassion, joy and equanimity – the four ‘divine abodes’ or brahmaviharas – in the context of cultivating bodhicitta. To support this, we’ll also introduce tonglen, the ‘sending and receiving’ practice which opens the heart to universal compassion. The divine abodes are also known as the ‘boundless states’,¬ because they are inclusive of all living beings without exception. The practices that we’ll explore together…