In Buddhist practice faith, energy, mindfulness, collectedness and insight are cultivated together as the five spiritual faculties.

These five faculties have both a linear and a dynamic interplay. Understood like this they offer a precise way to recognise what needs balancing in our meditation and spiritual cultivation.

When brought to fulfilment these faculties overflow in the heart’s release. A heart released from suffering and its causes has an embodied realisation of Nibbana.

The retreat structure will create a safe holding for contemplative practice in an ethically sensitive environment, and in noble silence. There will be daily Dhamma reflections, Q&A opportunities, and personal practice dialogues offered. The schedule will include structured periods of sitting and walking meditation, as well as the opportunity for less structured practice for those more experienced in retreat. There will be time set aside in the schedule for yoga, or other forms of exercise suited to the contemplative environment.

Both Willa Thaniya and Elizabeth were trained in the lineage of the Thai Forest Tradition, in which teachers offer Dhamma reflections in response to the present moment (the ‘here and now’ Dhamma), rather than prepared Dhamma talks. They speak informed by the graduated teachings of the Buddha, drawing on primary texts relevant to the unfolding learning in the retreat itself.