Blog | maitri-retreats

May 8, 20222 min read

seven-day silent retreat in karuna

I shave my head and pack my suitcase. Tomorrow the retreat in Karuna begins. I hear a pigeon calling: "You see it". There is a saying in...

carlzimmerling

May 6, 20224 min read

concentration

A silent retreat is not an isolated event. There is a string of events, internal and external developments which prompt the call for...

jmcdekker

May 3, 20221 min read

a reflection from the april 2022 sesshin, monchique

I just finished my 5th retreat and what a profound experience it was. It was so healing. My thoughts were, as I had anticipated, quite...

georgia morley

May 2, 20224 min read

monchique

sleepless from a mountain hut looking out the window the morning star shimmers alone from the pond ceaseless croaking it is the morning...

Apr 17, 20221 min read

first words then silence

first words then silence let silence ripen said the master said master who ripening of silence as the mind fasts fasts on words in other...

Mar 21, 20221 min read

a week of zen & holy silence

Linda & David from Art of Euphoria share an intimate glimpse into their first silent retreat experience, with daily personal input.

david217581

Jan 8, 202219 min read

notes from a silent retreat

notes from a silent retreat I early hours waking up in the early hours sitting here with you you unbeknown to me closest though late for...

Dec 28, 20212 min read

just sit and breath

By Jennifer van der Toorn - So, there I sat, Monday morning at 6AM on a meditation cushion in the temple of Karuna Centre in Portugal....

jvandertoorn

Dec 18, 20212 min read

on the vanity of traveling

after long travels facing black letters on the wall white the wall behind the letters colorless the empty all around reading my way...

Aug 28, 20211 min read

the fly in the bottle

keep telling leo not to get confused zazen and relaxation being two things pourtant les instructions sont simples simple and sparse sit...

Aug 28, 20211 min read

approaching silence

then comes this drop into silence. with the suspension of time, everything is fluid, everything, mountains too, their imperceptable...

Jun 13, 20211 min read

a radiance hidden in the heart of darkness

sesshin ends. last sit together. sitting with those here. sitting with those who left. with those who never came. with those who couldn’t...

May 1, 20212 min read

letting go of your treasure

Zazen makes you look at the stuff you don't want to see, the things you've been hiding from yourself, sometimes in plain sight. This is...

davidwim

Apr 28, 20216 min read

ephemeral

end of our silent retreat, monchique 23 april 2021 a poem inspired by the dharma talks during the week __________________________________...

Apr 26, 20211 min read

we are being called

We are preparing ourselves for an intensive period of practice where for a week, we will be spending long hours every day sitting in...

Mar 25, 20212 min read

the three jewels

In Buddhism we have the three jewels; the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha. They are indissociable from one another and form an...

thoughts

Mar 21, 20212 min read

a response to life on a rainy friday morning

how i would appear before the world that lifelong concern with mirrors mirrors now broken mostly shimmers on the surface of waters...

Mar 6, 20211 min read

notes from a mountain retreat

the man is keeping silent in his hut oblivious of time being a river ripples moving on the pond reflections of ripples in the air what we...

Mar 1, 20211 min read

in reverence of the unknown

" Comment vivre sans inconnu en face de soi? How can we live without the unknown in front of us? René Char - Le poème pulverisé. " In...

thoughts