Globally, the coronavirus and all its implications presents us with an enormous challenge - but how are we responding? With ill-will and aversion, or with curiosity and compassion? Today marks the start of our latest home retreat: Turning Arrows into Flowers - an exploration of the Seven-point Mind Training, where we are learning to cultivate a mind free of blame and reactivity, a mind that is open, kind, interested. By delving into these teachings, facilitated by Yashobodhi, and with personal reflections from others, we hope to develop an attitude of ‘taking adversity onto the path’ - an attitude, perhaps, at times, badly needed; helping support us to rise to the challenge, whatever that looks like where we are.

What is a home retreat?
Well, this is hard to define - because it’s up to you what it looks like specifically! But really we want to offer you some inspiring Dharmic material around this theme of Mind Training for you to engage with as much as you can in your current context. On the home retreat page we’ve suggested a format for each day - but you can decide what’s appropriate for you.

You might have the time and space to set yourself up in full retreat conditions, and completely immerse yourself and that’s great - but we also hope that whatever your conditions are at the moment you will benefit from some input around this theme. Roping a friend in to join you is one way that can really help you stay motivated throughout the week. And of course, don’t forget that we run twice daily online meditations on week-days which you can join throughout the home retreat.

Finally, as part of this home retreat, Yashobodhi is generously offering two live teachings sessions. Firstly on Sunday 17th May she will be taking part in a Q & A, and then on Saturday 23rd May she will lead a Tonglen meditation on Zoom. You can find the times of these sessions and connect on the day via the Turning Arrows into Flowers home retreat space. And if you can’t make these live sessions - we will be recording them and will make them available later. 

We hope you benefit greatly from this home retreat! 🙏

First, train in the preliminaries. - Lojong Slogan 1

Find all the retreat materials here including a practice diary

Watch Yashobodhi’s talk Introducing Seven-point Mind Training and The Four Reminders

Download a copy of Mind in Harmony (ebook) courtesy of Windhorse Publications

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