Walls, floors, and windows eaten by time. Photo credit: Jorge Zamora What an experience it was to have the opportunity to sit, share meals, laugh, and listen to Master Tokuda. I honestly didn’t know what to expect; I was simply thrilled to meet Hamid and his teacher. Witnessing the way they interacted and how the teacher carries himself through life was something very special. A lot happened during the retreat, but I won’t recount everything here — those are stories for the

One week has passed since the end of our sesshin  (a week of intensive meditation practice) with Zen master Ryotan Tokuda, a Japanese monk who has been a missionary in Brazil and France for more than half a century. I don’t understand what brought us there, and where it’ll lead us to. But it is always through the unexpected that the path weaves itself, and one just walks, step by step, into the unknown, as countless others have walked and paved... just for you to walk.   Abru

some photos of our retreat at ei tai-ji temple with sensei tokuda that may give you a glimpse into the week we spent in the mountains...

I had been repeatedly listening to a song that goes "if you don't like your job, quit; if you don't have enough time, stop watching TV;...

What a truly magical experience. This retreat was a holiday for my brain and my soul. I had no idea that there was so much healing in...

The first dhamma talk Hamid gives invites us ‘to become intimate with our own mind’. This invitation shapes this retreat for me. The word...

Coming out of the world of doing, it felt quite intense to go into being. It's strange to see how something I really want - going to the...

As pointed out in the retreat there is an immense source of distractions as never before in the history of humankind. I’m sitting in an...

All reflections have a beginning, yet I am unsure where to start. How far back in time should I go for you to understand my current...

This silent retreat was GORGEOUS. And I mean gorgeous, luxurious, and delightful to the senses. Hosted in an incredible location, there...

The 8-day silent retreat in July 2023 was my second through Maitri Retreats – I also attended in July 2022 with Hamid. This time, I had...

I have attended Hamid's retreats twice : last year for an 8d retreat in Portugal and this year for a 4d retreat in Bali. Trying to...

What arises from silence is GRATITUDE. I feel blessed and privileged to have experienced such an expansive feeling throughout the...

This was to be my second meditation retreat with Hamid, and my first time ever in Bali. The excitement that comes with discovering a new...

For a period of time, the March 2023 silent retreat in Bali was not going to happen for me. Due to passport issues, my partner and I got...

Hello dear reader! Please allow me to pass along some thoughts based on my attendance at the 8 day silent retreat in Monchique. As a 37...

I arrive at The Yogi’s Garden in Payangan, Bali, with a small red suitcase. But I’m also carrying another burden, one that’s harder to...

Following a lot of great personal disappointments in my life and a general sense that my neurotic, ever-anxious, depressed mind was going...

Dreading heading straight into autumn and darkness again after what we in Norway call a “skipped summer”, I desperately searched the net...

The following words can not do justice to what is mostly an experience of the heart for me. I feel like for a week I've vanished from...