To attend this retreat you will need to have been regularly meditating for at least two years and regularly attend retreats, a centre or a group within the context of the Triratna Buddhist Community. You must also be comfortable with extended periods of sitting meditation, Buddhist devotional practice and spending most of the retreat in silence.
In many myth and fairy tales the appearance of a white animal leads the hero or heroine to leave home and begin their adventure. This is the ‘call’ to leave the narrow confines of the familiar and marks the beginning of a spiritual journey towards a deeper experience of ourselves and our relationship with the world. The White Deer can therefore symbolise the start of the individual’s movement from a naive egocentric position to one of more maturity and aware connection with others. On this retreat we will take this journey together through meditation and ritual and the conscious cultivation of a sense of community and mutual support.
“...your body might reveal its self to you, as a home for the world, a glimpse that you, are entirely beyond yourself, like the white deer at the beginning of a fable, and if without hesitation you follow, you will find yourself gloriously lost, in the rise and fall of your seasons”
– From the poem ‘If you are lucky in this life’ by Paramananda
Paramananda has been teaching meditation and leading retreats around the world for over 30 years and is also a poet and author of four books on meditation: Change Your Mind, A Deeper Beauty, The Body and The Myth of Meditation.
Covid-secure requirements
We still have some Covid related requirements that we believe helps to ensure that Rivendell is a safer environment (such as asking each retreatant to take a lateral flow test and letting the office know the result before travelling to Rivendell), and we will only accept bookings on the basis that those who attend our retreats abide by the requirements of our Covid risk assessment.
We want those that come to Rivendell to be confident that we are making their stay here as safe as possible.
Concession information
Rivendell has reintroduced its concessionary rate for all retreats, however we are still in a very difficult financial situation so please can we ask that you only use this rate if essential. Please do also consider writing to our office team via bookings@rivendellretreatcentre.com if you really are in need of further financial assistance to help enable you to come on retreat here.
Cancellation policy
All deposits are non-refundable and non-transferable in all circumstances. If you wish to cancel your place on a retreat, we require a minimum notice of 4 calendar weeks before a retreat is due to take place, in order that a refund (not deposit) will be possible. If you cancel and we can't replace you, you will be required to pay half the total cost of the retreat. Please let us know as soon as possible if you need to cancel, as there may be other people waiting for a place on the retreat to become available. Any refund will still be on the basis that we can the fill your space.
Prices for this event are: £389 - £366 (Conc)