Six-Week Retreat 2027

Dates: 3 April – 22 May 2027
Teachers: Jill Shepherd and Willa Thāniyā Reid, with Elizabeth Day

At the heart of our offerings is a long, silent retreat held in Aotearoa.

This retreat is intended for experienced meditators and includes alternating periods of sitting and walking meditation, guided instructions, Dhamma talks, and one-on-one practice discussions with the teachers.

The teachings will be rooted in Early Buddhism, drawing inspiration from the Western Insight tradition and the Thai Forest lineage.

Description of Teachings

Kalyāna: Cultivating the Beautiful in the Spiritual Life

The Buddha has pointed out the way:
beautiful in the beginning, beautiful in the middle,
and beautiful in the end.

Supported by spiritual friendship and seclusion, this six-week retreat offers the ideal conditions for establishing the heart-mind (citta) in kind, steady knowing. Here, we attune to the presence of the beautiful—profoundly skillful mental states such as the Seven Factors of Awakening, the brahmavihāra heart qualities, and awareness itself.

Through an integrated approach that weaves together Satipaṭṭhāna (The Four Foundations of Mindfulness) and Ānāpānasati (Mindfulness of Breathing), the teachings and practices will support a sustained focus and deep inquiry into the nature of experience, guiding the citta toward liberative transformation.

Cost

Our retreats are offered freely, with no fixed fee for participation.
Most of the financial support for our collective comes through dāna—the voluntary donations offered by participants at the end of each retreat. This generosity sustains our work and enables future retreats.

Location

Aotearoa
We are currently exploring suitable venues for the retreat. If you know of a location that may be appropriate, please get in touch with us.

Registration

Official registration is not yet open. However, if you are interested in attending the retreat as a retreatant we invite you to express your interest here. This will help inform our planning and will allow us to contact you when registration has opened. Also please sign up to our mailing list to keep up date with other information regarding the collective.