Five-day Silent Retreat with John Peacock 2023

Living with the changing self

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5 Days Silent Retreat with John Peacock from May 12 – May 17, 2024

 

Who do we think we are? Do we have a fixed idea or image of ourselves? When we introspect, in an attempt to discover ourselves, any image or idea simply slips away to often be replaced by something unexpected and unlike who we think we are. The ‘self’ it appears is slippery from both a conceptual and experiential standpoint as it is always changing. We may ask the question as to whether, in this constant flux of a self, we are becoming the kind of person we perhaps aspire to be?

Early Buddhism questioned the idea of the fixity of the self by proposing that we are not who we think we are, that any idea or image of fixity is merely a limiting fantasy. The self, from this early Buddhist viewpoint, was constantly becoming and our task was to direct the process of self-becoming in the direction that we wish it to take, rather than cling to images and ideas of ‘who we are’, or simply be thrown around by the vicissitudes of life. Do we wish to become kinder, more compassionate, understanding and gain freedom from that which entraps us in habit and repetition? If so, we must understand the nature of the changing self and how we live it in our daily lives.

 

This retreat will focus on exploring the dynamic nature of the self and how best we can direct it towards living in a flourishing way and achieve our potential for living with kindness, compassion and understanding. The retreat will consist of  periods of sitting and walking practice, together with small group sessions and talks on a daily basis.

 

Teacher
JOHN PEACOCK is both an academic and a Buddhist practitioner of nearly fifty years. Trained initially in the Tibetan Gelugpa tradition in India, he subsequently spent time in Sri Lanka studying Theravada. After doing a doctorate in philosophy, he taught Buddhist and Western philosophy and then Buddhist Studies at the University of Bristol. He went on to be Associate Director of the Oxford Mindfulness Centre, co-direct the Master of Studies programme in MBCT(Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy) at Oxford University, and teach Buddhist psychology on the same course.  John is now retired from academia and continues to teach meditation, as he has done for more than thirty-five years.

Translation into German
Nadine Helm

Seminar Venue
Haus Ebersberg near Kassel, Germany

Seminar Times
May 12,  05:00 p.m. – May 17, 01:00 p.m. 2024

Seminar Fee
€ 490

→REGISTRATION soon to be open. If you need assistance in booking this retreat, please send us an email.

 

… read more about our Silent Retreats
with John Peacock
in the past (2020 & 2019):

 

How do we flourish in an uncertain and changing world?

 March 19 – 24, 2023

This retreat will focus on the problem of how we flourish in a world that is both unstable and anxiety provoking. We can see that many of the things we invest with certainty turn out to be uncertain and fragile. This instability is both observable in the world around us as well as within our own personal lives. From the readily apparent crises in the environment and the political instability of our world to the fluctuating fortunes of our own lives, there appears to be very little that we can rely on. Such dynamic changes threaten to radically undermine any of our attempts to be happy and to flourish in the world. How do we live, therefore, without submitting to despair and depression? What can we do to address this problem?

 

Whilst it is important that we do not turn away from the pain and suffering of the world in an attempt to create a fantasy of happiness. How can we flourish and find happiness in the face of the pain and distress of the world?

 

In the course of the retreat we will examine ways that we can feel more secure and less anxious in an uncertain world. Central to this will be the cultivation of a wonder that allows us to embrace the change with an equanimity, patience and joy. It is through through the practice of an awareness combining all of these factors that we can open to what is still astonishing within our world allowing us to feel more at home, and less homeless, within our world.

Five-day Silent Retreat with John Peacock
October 11-16, 2020

“All the happiness in this world arises from the wish that others may be happy.”

Buddha

This retreat has already taken place. 

Through the practice of mindfulness and meditation, we open up towards the experience of the present moment. Gradually, we become more aware of our thoughts, our feelings, our habits and our intentions. As we meet our inner challenges on this path with benevolence and care, we can also feel growing compassion and understanding towards others.

The Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta (the discourse on the establishment of mindfulness) describes four ways to develop mindfulness in meditation and in daily life. The fourth of these ways includes two areas that either hinder or support the process of “awakening” and insight.

One area describes some of the key obstacles to the “awakening” process, which prevent the development of insight in meditation. This includes desire, aversion, drowsiness, lethargy, restlessness and sceptical doubt. These factors are sometimes described as the cause of mental illness.

The other area contains factors that, when cultivated, support the process of “awakening” and insight. These are mindfulness (sati), friendly exploration (dhammavicaya), energy/ effort (viriya), joy/ delight (piti), calm (passaddhi), inner composure (samadhi) and serenity (upekkha).

In this silent retreat we will collectively turn towards the experience of these aspects and explore them in depth. We will practice cultivating the beneficial factors in our minds and recognizing their importance for an awakened and conscious life. Also, there will be suggestions on how to keep them alive in daily life.

The retreat gives space for

• Collective mindfulness and meditation practice
• The investigation of our inner attitude – both in formal (e.g. sitting meditation) and in informal (e.g. at lunch) mindfulness practice
• Keynote speeches from Jon Peacock
• Strengthening our motivation and practice during and after the retreat

Target group

• people with experience in mindfulness meditation, e.g. from a mindfulness training, an MBSR or MBCT 8-week course or a retreat

Seminar direction
John Peacock has been studying and practicing Buddhism for almost 45 years. He is co-director of the MBCT (Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy) master’s program at the “Oxford Mindfulness Centre” at Oxford University. In addition to his academic work, John Peacock has taught meditation in the United States and Europe for over 25 years and is one of the main teachers at Gaia House, Devon, UK. He is also a co-founder of Bodhi College, a European centre for meditative learning, which was inspired by the texts and practices of early Buddhism.

Seminar Venue
Seminarhaus Hof Oberlethe, Oldenburg

Seminar Times
Start: Sunday 5pm
End: Friday around 1pm with lunch

Seminar Fee
€ 410.00 plus costs for accommodation and meals – please book your room independently at Seminarhaus Hof Oberlethe, Oldenburg

 

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Testimonials from the retreat “The Four Ways to Cultivate Mindfulness”

(Retreat with John Peacock at the Mindfulness Institute Ruhr, 2019)

“I just thought everything was fantastic! (…) Your organization, quiet attentive presence – everything gave me a trust and a feeling of security! (…) John Peacock was, of course, an experience that I will never forget in my life. And although I knew about his competence and eloquence, had read something about him, I was deeply moved: by his friendliness as well as by his competence. If he was present, I had no problems with meditation at all. The translation was great, too! A real stroke of luck.”
Anne Baestlein

“John’s talks were very inspiring and humorous, not least thanks to the gorgeous translations by Nadine. I feel enriched, fulfilled and internally cleared and I feel very motivated for my next MBSR-courses. Thank you for all of this.”
Michaela Eggers

read further testimonials