Cost Information
£30 per night
There is no fee for teachings, although donations will be gratefully received.
The minimum stay is two weeks.
The Winter into Spring Retreat on Holy Isle is an opportunity for engaging in dedicated meditation practice. We offer a supportive environment for all those wishing to engage in the Preliminaries Practices (Ngondro) and also welcome others from all traditions. It is important, however, that participants receive the relevant instructions for their practice before commencing a period of retreat with us
Ani Palden and Peter Hutchinson will be present throughout the retreat, give talks, and available for support.
Ani Palden meet Akong Rinpoche in 1982, whom she took guidance from throughout her life. She has worked with children, teenagers, and adults with learning disabilities or mental health problems. She qualified as an art therapist, and is one of Akong Rinpoche’s Tara Rokpa psychotherapists. She worked for many years at Akong Rinpoche’s Lothlorien Therapeutic Community. After taking her life vows as a nun, she went into two closed long-term women’s group retreats on Holy Isle under the guidance of Drupon Karma Lhabu Rinpoche. Currently she is Lama Katen’s representative for Holy Isle.
Peter became a student of Akong Rinpoche and Lama Yeshe Losal Rinpoche in the early 1990s. He has spent many years in retreat both in the UK and with Drupon Karma Lhabu Rinpoche, in Sekhar Retreat in Nepal. He currently divides his time between the Isle of Arran, Samye Ling, and Sekhar Retreat. He also teaches at Glasgow Samye Dzong and Holy Isle.
The Winter Retreat is designed essentially for individual practice, with people following their sessions in their own rooms, but all are welcome to join the daily Green Tara and Chenrezig group sessions that are part of the Holy Isle regular morning and evening schedule.
Lama Yeshe Rinpoche, Abbot of Samye Ling and Founder of the Holy Isle Project, asks that all people attending the Winter Retreat take advantage of this opportunity to practice by making a firm commitment to follow the retreat programme, keeping to the following scheduled times:
- 6.00 – 7.00……………Green Tara or Individual Session
- 7.30 – 8.30……………Breakfast
- 8.30 – 9.30……………Karma Yoga
- 9.45 – 11.00…………Individual Session
- 11.00 – 11.30………..Tea break
- 11.30 – 12.30………..Individual Session
- 12.30 – 2.30…………Lunch
- 2.30 – 4.00………….Individual Session
- 4.00 – 4.30………….Tea break
- 4.30 – 5.45………….Individual Session
- 6.00 – 7.00………….Soup
- 7.00 – 8.00………….Chenrezig or Individual Session
There will be silence every day from 7 p.m. until 1 p.m. the following day
WORKING WITH COMMUNITY
As many of you know, the Holy Isle Project is run by a team of resident volunteers and in order to support their participation in the Winter Retreat we shall ask all retreatants to help for an hour after breakfast with community tasks in the kitchen, house care or garden. We shall also set up a rota for each retreatant to spend a morning helping the cook prepare lunch. Depending on the number of retreatants and length of your stay this would most likely only be once every 3 weeks or so.
Applications to join the retreat:
Please send an email to reception@holyisle.org indicating your background, information about your meditation teacher, previous retreat experience, and your proposed dates. If you are new to the Holy Isle or the Winter Retreat, we may ask for further information or arrange to have a conversation.
Crossings to and from Holy Isle will take place every Wednesday, weather permitting.
Individual contributions towards the hire of Lamlash Cruise ferries will be gratefully received.
