Day-long Mindfulness Retreat

HELD AT KAMALASHILA TIBETAN BUDDHIST CENTRE
​6 March 2022

Thank you to the very experienced and qualified Venerables Ayya Jitindriya and Jayasara who led the Day Retreat at Kamalashila at Khenpo la’s invitation. Thank you Khenpo la. 

This day’s Mindfulness Retreat was both simple and revelatory. As Ven. Ayya Jitindriya pointed out, practicing awareness is like entering a learning space, like a research laboratory, within which we can develop Mindfulness to direct our attention. She underlined that mindfulness alone is merely the sharpening of our ability to focus and needs to be practiced within a context of ethical behaviour in order to realise its potential for awakening and wisdom.

After leading the group on a walking meditation, Ven. Jayasara offered the analogy of a river to help us understand the process of working with our chattering thoughts. Like a quiet witness, we watch the flow of thoughts rush by, without jumping in. Sometimes our attention may be like a stick caught on a rock, but as soon as our mindfulness realises our ‘stuckness’, we can let go and return to the bank to quietly watch the stream of thoughts. 
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Our heartfelt thanks to Venerables Ayya Jitindriya and Jayasara for their warmth, wisdom, and humour, inspiring us to develop our mindfulness in our own everyday lives. Thank you to everyone who came and participated, and for asking those questions that help us all. The group were very enthusiastic to see the Venerables again very soon.