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9-Day Retreat – Natural Samādhi with Bhante Ānanda & Ven. Mettānanda

November 4, 2023 @ 12:00 pm - November 12, 2023 @ 12:00 pm

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Boundless Love Meditation to Nibbāna

November 4th to Nov 12th

The Karuna Sanctuary, Saywell Rd, Katoomba NSW 2780

The Centre is located in woodland in the Blue Mountains of N.S.W.

A shorter weekend registration is also possible, in case you cannot attend the whole retreat. Join us for a weekends with Bhante Ananda and Ven. Mettananda at Karuna Sanctuary, Blue Mountains, on Nov 4th-5th/Nov 11th-12th. Practice in person, then continue at home from Nov 6-10. Help us manage the retreat by arriving on Saturday morning.

Register here. Cost: $150 for weekends only. It will be Nov 4th morning-5th evening and Nov 11th morning-12th afternoon where you commit to practice in-person at Karuna Sanctuary, Blue Mountains.

For other details or full registration, please continue reading !!

Summary

Natural Samādhi: Boundless Love Meditation to Nibbāna

A 9-Day – Loving-Kindness Meditation retreat with Bhante Ānanda

Natural Samādhi is the original teaching of the Buddha on how to develop mental collectedness (Samādhi), by way of uplifting the mind and relaxing bodily tension. This is what the Buddha called wise practice (Right effort). Learning to use the vehicle of Calm and Clarity (Samatha-Vipassanā), meditators deepen in their experience of a happy and composed mind, and drink deep, the bliss of the higher mind (Adhicitta).

For a mind well trained in this timeless wisdom and free from the five mental obstructions, there is no need to wish for happiness, since happiness pervades every moment of existence. The collected mind is happy, and a happy mind is collected (Sukhino cittaṃ samādhiyati).

Developing awareness of Loving-Kindness to Nibbāna, using right effort (6Rs). In the spirit of Tranquil Wisdom Insight Meditation (TWIM) taught by Late Most Ven. Bhante Vimalaramsi, Bhante Ānanda’s teacher.

While we are always fully dedicated to offer the Dhamma for free, this retreat requires participants to afford the base price of their accommodation at the Karuna Retreat Centre, food and regular travel fare to bring the teachers to the retreat.

As this is HeartDhamma‘s first retreat in Australia organized by the Metta Centre at the Karuna Centre, all three organizations are safely testing the grounds, as neither HeartDhamma nor Metta Centre does not have the financial capabilities to leverage the whole cost for this retreat. Karuna Centre has generously offered discounted prices for us to support the Australian community with low-cost retreats. We have done everything we could to keep the price as low and accessible as possible. We are hoping to be able to make this retreat by-donation only next year or in future years.

Cost: $580 AUD per person to cover food, discounted accommodation and basic transport costs to bring the teacher. Otherwise, the teachings are offered for free. At the end of this retreat, please consider donating to the HeartDhamma Foundation and Metta Centre as they run on donation basis. We also invite you to offer your donations or volunteering help to the Karuna Centre, which has supported this low-cost initiative wholeheartedly. To offer retreats completely free (donation basis) is our future plan.

Deposit: $290 AUD to secure your spot on the retreat

Closing balance: $290 AUD due by October 1st

It is free for monastics. If you are a monastic, please contact us directly at retreat@mettacentre.com

To register, please complete the form below, then secure your place by sending the payment to the bank listed below.

Register here

Please pay within 7-days by bank transfer:

Please write ‘Bhante A retreat’ followed by your name in your bank transfer description.

Name: Metta Centre Incorporated
Account number: 699266231
BSB number: 082356
SWIFT: NATAAU33

About the Teachers

Bhante Ānanda & Ven. Mettānanda

Bhante Ānanda is a Canadian Buddhist monk trained in the Teaching and Way of Life (Dhamma-Vinaya) of early Buddhism.

He first received the going-forth from his meditation teacher, Bhante Vimalaramsi, at his retreat center, Dhamma Sukha, in Missouri, USA, in 2019. Later completing his full ordination in Sri Lanka, under the Sri Kaliyāni Yogaśrama (Galduwa) school.

Bhante Ānanda teaches and practices the whole of the Buddha’s instructions as found in the Early Buddhist Texts (EBTs). He emphasizes we he calls “Natural Samādhi”, which is an essential teaching of the Buddha on how to develop mental collectedness (Samādhi), by way of uplifting the mind and relaxing bodily tension. This, the Buddha called wise practice (Right effort), beginning by Loving-Kindness meditation and traversing all four emancipated states (Brahmavihāras), the four resting places of awareness (Satipatthāna) and culminating in mental liberation (Vimutti).

Learning to use the vehicle of Calm and Clarity (Samatha-Vipassanā), meditators deepen in their experience of a happy and composed heart, and drink deep, the bliss of the higher mind (Adhicitta).

He shares his time between Sri Lanka (his monastic home), the Heartwood Hermitage in the Kootenays mountains of British Columbia (Canada), and the Indian Himalayas, while he is not teaching other retreats around the world.

Visit https://heartdhamma.love

Ven. Mettānanda received the going-forth as a sāmaṇera under Ven. Bhante Vimalaramsi in 2020. He has experience with several meditation traditions, including Tibetan Buddhism, Advaita Vedanta, Qi Gong, and he is also a certified Hatha & Ashtanga Yoga teacher with 800 hours in Nepal and Indonesia.

Formerly, Ven. Mettānanda (then Liam McClintock) received a BA from Yale and founded FitMind, a meditation app and podcast. He holds an MS in applied neuroscience from King’s College London and now consults on meditation research for Harvard Medical School and Mass General Hospital. He is now furthering his knowledge and monastic training under the guidance of Bhante Ānanda.

Most Ven. Bhante Vimalaramsi’s Teaching

On his personal journey to liberation, Bhante Vimalaramsi practiced and learned from many renowned meditation teachers from Thailand, Burma, Sri Lanka and Malaysia.

But it is only after many long retreats that he discovered the first modern translation of the the Majjhima Nikāya, the Buddha’s original discourses by Bhante Ñāṇamoli and Bhikkhu Bodhi.

He was then so inspired by the Buddha’s own words that he left for a cave in Thailand, where he started practicing directly from the Buddha’s own words. His discovery was life changing and shortly afterwards, he synthesized a meditation technique which called Tranquil Wisdom Insight Meditation (TWIM).

TWIM teaches how to use the four immeasurable states of the heart: Boundless Love, boundless compassion, boundless joy and boundless calm, in a natural, gradual and linear sequence, using, as a compass, what he called the 6Rs (Recognize, Release, Relax, Re-Smile, Return, Repeat). The culmination of which leads to a perfectly clear and still mind and the direct experience of Nibbāna.

Since then, thousands of meditators have greatly benefited from Bhante Vimalaramsi’s teaching and have experienced profound levels of liberation, freedom and happiness.

Retreat Overview

This is a time for simple living and participants need to bring their own pillows, sleeping bags or bed sheets and doona, towels, torch, toiletries etc. Accommodation is selected on a first come first serve basis so it’s important they attend on time for the registration. We recommend wearing indoor shoes or warm socks in the meditation hall, a shoe-free area, and mosquito repellent for the warmer season.

Orientation:

The retreat welcomes you with a grounding orientation, along with beginning Loving-Kindness (Mettā) meditation instructions on the first day, as well as how to use the 6Rs.

Morning Routine:

Waking up early to make the most of the day, meditators gather in the meditation hall every morning to freshen their minds with renewing their virtue and remembering the highest refuges, and letting their minds soak in a few short essential sayings of the Buddha.

Meditation Periods:

Meditation periods are flexible and alternate between sitting and walking meditation, as per everyone’s level. There are mainly two blocks dedicated to meditation, which allows advanced meditators to sit for longer periods of time without being disturbed and ensures that those who begin on this path have the freedom to follow their own needs, under the guidance of the teacher.

Daily Interviews:

Participants will receive personal guidance from the teacher on meditators’ interviews. This ensures that each participant’s meditation is carefully nurtured by insightful advice and ensures good, steady progress. Since this meditation changes and evolves constantly, close monitoring is necessary, and new meditation instructions are usually given during these personal interviews.

Food:

Breakfast is served early, and lunch is taken before noon to allow an optimal diet for meditation, following the Buddha’s advice. Tea is available in the afternoon, and no evening meal is served in order for meditators to enjoy lightness and strength in their meditation. An exception is made for participants with a medical condition who require an evening meal.

Evening Discourse:

Every evening at 7 pm, all meditators gather in the hall for a discourse on the Buddha’s teaching (Dhamma). The talks are framed around the original discourses of the Buddha (Suttas). Themes vary and include practical, down-to-earth meditation instructions, methods to let go of mental distractions, the development of the Buddha’s wisdom, the cultivation of wholesome, skillful mental states, and so forth. Meditators will get to hear various suttas complimented with anecdotes, real-life stories, relevant and inspiring poems along with a certain dose of good humor.

Rest and Sleep:

Bedtime is at 10 pm. Rest during the day is recommended, especially in the beginning, to ease the transition from the busy house life to the purely meditative lifestyle of retreat. Feeling rested is essential in this practice.

05:30 am – Wake up

06:00 am – Refuges, Virtues, and Meditation

07:30 am – Breakfast

08:00 am – Meditation

09:00 am – Personal Interviews

11:00 am – Lunch

01:00 pm – Meditation and interviews

05:00 pm – Tea

07:00 pm – Discourse

08:30 pm – Meditation

10:00 pm – Sleep or Personal Meditation

At lunch, Bhante Ānanda comes for alms in the dining area.

Participants may get a chance to practice their generosity and offer food in his bowl and receive good wishes.

Please note,

The retreat will begin on the afternoon of November 4th with a brief orientation at 1 pm.

and will end on November 12th after lunch.

Facilities

Comfortable amenities for both Lay practitioners and monks.

Spacious dormitory-style rooms and individual cabins available. Some shared residences are being built at the moment.

Clean. Open. Spacious. Comfortable.

We have done everything we could to keep the price as low and accessible as possible. We are hoping to be able to make this retreat by-donation only next year or in future years.