The Heart of Imagination with Vishvapani and Amitajyoti

Led by Vishvapani and Amitajyoti

Friday September 13 - Thursday September 19, 2024

A home retreat to enrich and inspire the heart of wonder

The mind, freed from the pressure of the will, is unfolded in symbols
W.B.Yeats

Following last year’s successful Mindfulness and Imagination retreat, The Heart of Imagination offers a week of meditation and creative practice, drawing inspiration from poetry, art, nature and Buddhist symbols.

Over the seven days we’ll engage in a variety of mindfulness practices, reflections and creative explorations to access the potential of the imagination to awaken the heart and enrich our lives.

Bringing mindful awareness to the whole of our lives, we’ll explore how being grounded and embodied can open a space for curiosity, receptivity and connection.

To deepen our understanding of creativity and the imagination as gateways to awakening, we’ll draw on the great themes of spiritual life as formulated by Sangharakshita:

• Integration, meaning embodied awareness
• Positive emotion: an open, loving and empathic heart
• Spiritual Death: releasing limiting attitudes, and finding a more authentic way of being
• Spiritual Rebirth: the realm of imagination that brings an expanded experience of ourselves and opening to a sense of mystery
• Spiritual Receptivity: resting in the freedom of open, spacious awareness and creative flow

These are doorways to a more creative experience that we can access whatever our circumstances

Enlightenment is the state of irreversible creativity
Urgyen Sangharakshita

Event images by Amitajyoti

Suggested donation for the whole retreat:

£175 / $220 / €205 or £30 / $38 / €35 per day.

To take part in this home retreat we ask that when reserving your place you affirm you have been practising meditation regularly for at least six months. Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions about this or your own potential attendance on the retreat.

Get one ticket and come to any session you wish throughout the week!

Like all our events, this retreat is offered by donation rather than charging a compulsory ticket price. We want to do this because we never want money to be an obstacle to taking part in a supportive community, and we know many people are struggling financially in the wake of the pandemic and cost of living crisis. The amount we suggest reflects the huge amount of work and love that goes into putting on events we hope will benefit everyone attending. If you can, please donate today to help us continue with our work and support others to attend who cannot afford to pay. Thank you!

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First daily session (2 hrs): USA PDT 2:00 am | México CST 3:00 am | USA EDT 5:00 am | IE & UK BST 10:00 am | Europe CEST 11:00 am | India IST 2:30 pm | Australia AEST 7:00 pm | New Zealand NZST 9:00 pm

Second daily session (1.5 hrs): USA PDT 7:30 am | México CST 8:30 am | USA EDT 10:30 am | IE & UK BST 3:30 pm | Europe CEST 4:30 pm | India IST 8:00 pm | Australia AEST 12:30 am (next day) | New Zealand NZST 2:30 am (next day)

Third daily session (1.5 hrs): USA PDT 11:30 am | México CST 12:30 pm | USA EDT 2:30 pm | IE & UK BST 7:30 pm | Europe CEST 8:30 pm | India IST 12:00 midnight | Australia AEST 4:30 am (next day) | New Zealand NZST 6:30 am (next day)

Attend any or all conversations in Zoom.

This event will be recorded and may be published online for others to access. Only the leader's video will be used except where users consent to appear spotlighted in a public conversation. Private conversations in breakout rooms will not be recorded.

Vishvapani

Vishvapani is a writer, broadcaster and mindfulness teacher based in Cardiff, Wales, with over four decades’ years experience of Buddhist practice. As a writer, he's best known for Gautama Buddha: the Life and Teachings of the Awakened One and as the Buddhist contributor to Thought for the Day on BBC Radio 4. He’s a prominent figure in the UK’s mindfulness world and has taught over 150 mindfulness courses.

He loves to explore poetry, myth and imagination, along with Buddhism, in his writing, teaching and practice.

www.vishvapani.org

www.mindfulnessinaction.co.uk

Amitajyoti

Amitajyoti is a full-time artist, tutor and freelance teacher/trainer living and working in London. She received BA (Hons) Fine Art in 1998, and in 2003 studied drawing, to MA level, at the Royal Drawing School. Her work is held in private collections across the UK, Europe and America.

She has been practising mindfulness meditation for over 30 years and has been teaching drawing, mindfulness and the imagination courses and workshops for over 20 years in both Buddhist and secular contexts. She has worked as a freelance drawing and mindfulness teacher/trainer in a variety of locations including The National Gallery, British Museum, British Library, Pallant House Gallery and the Queens Gallery.

http://www.amitajyoti.com