Thursday, November 30, 2006

Meditation Retreat

December 31st 2006. There was a photograph of an altar set up for the Buddha's Enlightenment ceremony here. Unfortunately I failed to get permission from the photographer to publish it so with regret, and apologies all round, I have removed the picture.

On Sunday we will be celebrating the ceremony of the Buddha's Enlightenment. Traditionally this is marked on December 8th however we do the ceremony on the nearest Sunday so that guests can come and join in.

It is usual at this time of year for us to have an intensive meditation retreat for the monastic community. And that's just what we will being doing quite soon. So posting to this blog are likely to be sporadic as I turn my attention towards preparing for the retreat. It is a rare and precious opportunity and I'm grateful to be able to be doing this.

It is good for anybody to spend some time with a more concentrated focus on formal meditation and I hope those of you who meditate will make the time to sit a bit more too during the next few weeks.