The Body as Mandala
With Paramananda and Mandarava
December 4 - 11, 2026
In the West, the seat of consciousness has tended to be imagined in the head. More traditionally, it would be associated with either the belly or the heart. On this retreat, we will imagine our own bodies as both vessels containing psyche and as mandalas where the central or constellating archetype is the heart. We will playfully and imaginatively shift our attention from our thoughts to our direct experience, which is constantly manifesting as us through our own bodies and our extended awareness of the world around us.
RETREAT CATEGORY: TRIRATNA INTENSIVE
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.
Please read our booking and cancellation policies and FAQs before booking.
Leaders
Paramananda was ordained in 1985 at Tuscany by Sangharakshita. He has been chairman of both the West London Buddhist Centre and the first chair of the San Francisco Buddhist Centre. For the last 20 years, he has spent most of his time leading meditation retreats worldwide. He emphasises the inseperable relationship between body/mind. He has written a number of popular books on meditation and continues to lead inspiring and poetic retreats for experienced meditators. Including: Change Your Mind, A Deeper Beauty, The Body and The Myth of Meditation.
Learn more about Paramananda
Mandarava is an artist, puppet maker, and storyteller who creates immersive settings for enactments and ritual. She has a background working in professional theatre/opera, as a puppeteer, puppet maker, scene painter, prop maker, and costume dyer. As well as her interest in working creatively, she has trained more recently in the ‘healing arts’ and is now working as a ‘Somatic Experiencing and Focusing Practitioner’. Both are body-oriented approaches that help bring about more aliveness and vitality inherent in our bodies and release what has been blocked or stuck in our lives. She is inspired by a holistic approach to practice…
Learn more about Mandarava