Retreats
Retreats offer profound inner transformation fostering mindfulness, compassion and wisdom in a tranquil environment, promoting clarity and stress reduction
Residential Meditation Retreat Western Cape
Finding Your Own Inner Refuge
Monday, February 7, 2025
Discover true freedom from suffering in this Meditation Retreat in the Western Cape by learning to build your own inner refuge. Through spiritual practice and peaceful minds, you'll uncover the path to lasting liberation from pain.
Nyung Ne Fasting & Purifying Retreat
A Long Life of Good Fortune
Saturday, April 12, 2025
Join this powerful two-day fasting and purification practice with Eleven-faced Avalokiteshvara. Purify negative karma, pacify delusions, and enhance love, compassion, and bodhichitta through prostrations and the 'Drop of Essential Nectar' practice. Suitable for everyone.
What is a Retreat?
On a spiritual retreat we stop our normal activities and often retire to a quiet place in order to focus on a spiritual practice for a set time. Without the distractions we usually experience, a Buddhist retreat offers us a chance to get a deeper experience of our spiritual practice than we normally would.
Typical retreat sessions consist of preliminary prayers, an explanation of the topic of the session, meditation, and questions and answers.
On retreat we stop all forms of business and extraneous activities so as to emphasize a particular spiritual practice. There are three kinds of retreat: physical, verbal and mental. We engage in physical retreat when, with a spiritual motivation, we isolate ourself from other people, activities and noise, and disengage from extraneous and meaningless actions. We engage in verbal retreat when, with a spiritual motivation, we refrain from meaningless talk and periodically keep silence. We engage in mental retreat by preventing distractions and strong delusions such as attachment, anger, jealousy and strong self-grasping from arising...."
Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso Rinpoche
The Benefits of a Retreat
A retreat offers profound opportunities for inner transformation and spiritual growth. During these retreats, we immerse ourself in a tranquil environment, away from the distractions of daily life, allowing for a deepening of meditation practice. Through guidance and teachings, we cultivate mindfulness, compassion and wisdom, nurturing a profound sense of inner peace.
The retreats provide a perfect space to explore the potential of our mind, and to promote clarity and insight into the nature of reality. By engaging in meditation sessions, we can purify our minds, reduce stress, and develop a more profound connection with our true nature.
This immersive experience empowers us to carry the transformative benefits of meditation into our daily lives, promoting harmony, inner strength, and a deeper understanding of ourself and our world.
"I’d say retreats feel quite a bit longer than regular weekends, and that I feel better rested when the new week starts.
A Retreat Participant
Types of Retreats
Away Retreats
These retreats are held in the countryside, often 1-2 hours drive away from Cape Town. The retreats are in beautiful, peaceful places with enjoyable accommodation.
They are fully catered and the retreat sessions are fully guided, following a clear structure. Between sessions there is plenty of time to rest, meet other people, or explore the surroundings.
Retreats at Tushita Kadampa Meditation Centre
These retreats are at Tushita KMC, often lunch is provided, and the retreat sessions are fully guided. Between sessions it is possible to enjoy our garden, meet other people or discover Observatory.
Accommodation is not included in these retreats but there plenty hotels, B&B’s, etc in Observatory. Also, there is limited accommodation available at Tushita KMC for people to stay overnight. If you require this please contact the Centre.
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