The Ground of Practice - Insight Meditation Retreat,13th - 14th September

About the retreat

Meditation practice is the simple act of being here without grasping, the willingness to befriend the moment in its fullness with tender curiosity. Opening to the flow of life as it happens, meditation supports us in engaging creatively with uncertainty and learn to trust in ourselves and the moment.

On this weekend retreat we will have periods of stillness and walking meditation as well as meditation instructions and reflections. The retreat will be held in companiable silence. There will also be opportunities for questions and discussion with the teacher.

This retreat is suitable for beginners and those wishing to refresh their practice.

About the teacher

Tony O’Connor has been practising meditation since the mid 90’s in both the Insight Meditation and Korean Seon traditions. He trained under the guidance of Martine Batchelor and completed the Bodhi College Dharma Teacher Training Programme. He is interested in exploring how Dharma teachings can be integrated into our daily lives and inform the issues of our time.

You can listen to one of Tony's talks at Gaia House Retreat Centre here:

https://gaia.dharmaseed.org/talks/79950/?access_key=5IvTyvgNRI

The Venue

The event will take place in person at the Whirlow Spirituality Centre, Whirlow Grange Close, S11 9SY. The venue has beautiful grounds and is wheelchair accessible.

Saturday 13th September 10:00 - 17:00

Sunday 14th September 10:30 - 17:00

The schedule includes 30 minutes for Sangha building (tea and chat) before the close of the sessions on each day.

We encourage you to attend for both days.

About Tickets

Attendance is in person only.

The suggested donation for each ticket will go towards the running of Sheffield Insight Meditation (Eventbrite fee of £0.49+ 6.5% will be taken from within total donation).

There are several different ticket prices - the standard rate is for those who can contribute the full ticket cost, the supported ticketoffers a reduced rate for those who can contribute something towards the cost of the event, and the sponsor rate is for those able to make an additional contribution. In addition, there are a number of freely given tickets available for those unable to make a financial contribution at this time.

Your ticket pays for the costs of the retreat but does not cover a payment for the teachings. You will be invited to offer a donation (dana) to support the livelihood of the teacher. Please see more detail about this below.

Booking

We encourage you to attend for both days, however it is possible to attend only on the Saturday. The ticket price is the same for 2 or 1 days.

We request that people book places for themselves. If you are booking for yourself and somebody else you must make a separate booking for each person, with an email address for each.

Dana

Dana can be translated as cultivating generosity or giving. The teachers who lead our retreats receive their travel costs and ‘out-of-pocket’ expenses but do not receive any payment for their teaching. However they are happy to receive voluntary contributions from participants in the events they lead. These offerings are traditionally called dana. Most of our teachers depend on dana for most or all of their livelihood.

Our teachers are following an ancient tradition, offering teachings freely just as they received them freely from a previous generation of teachers. In this way the dharma (the teachings of the Buddhist tradition) is not made an object of commerce, and the relationship between teacher and student is based upon trust, freedom, and mutual generosity.

If you attend one of our events and appreciate what the teacher has offered, we warmly invite you to make whatever contribution you feel appropriate. If you do so, you will be making a vital contribution to their livelihood and helping them to continue teaching on this generous basis, particularly in situations where people cannot afford to pay anything.

Dana can be offered to the teacher, Tony, during and after the retreat

More information

Cancellation and Refunds refunds will be offered for cancellation up to the day before the event. Tickets can be cancelled automatically through Eventbrite (The eventbrite fee will not refunded). If you find that you are no longer able to attend, please cancel as soon as possible, to free up a place for someone else. Thank you.

Link to Sheffield Insight Meditation website