Retreats
Planned activities, 2010:
The next 10 day meditation course will begin Monday 2nd August 2010 at The Peradur Centre for the Arts, West Hoathly Rd, East Grinstead, West Sussex, RH19 4NF (55 minutes by train from London Victoria). Course finishes Friday 13th after breakfast.
We are planning a couple of public talks/demonstrations in the South of England before or after the August Course. This has yet to be confirmed.
We will also be holding a 10-15 day course during winter 2010-11 in South India, probably Dec-Jan.
10 Day Meditation Course UK:
This intensive meditation course is an opportunity to develop awareness and equanimity and to de-condition the mind leading to clarity, positivity and peace. The focus is on raja-yoga (meditation) but hatha yoga will comprise about 20-30% of the daily routine. This includes a two hour morning session of asanas, and pranayamas, and an evening session of light asanas and kundalini pranayama technique. The hatha-yoga is led in a way that is appropriate for a range of abilities.
In Kumar’s own words, throughout the course, we will ‘live like monks’. Each day begins at 5am with meditation, each session will last about 1 hour and there will be approximately 7 meditations per day. In order to relax the body there will be gentle stretching for 10-15 minutes between each meditation, followed by a break when ayurvedic herbal tea will be served. Meals are home-cooked with nourishing, organic vegetarian food. After lunch there is a period for rest before the afternoon meditations begin. Every evening Kumar gives a discourse clarifying the theory behind the techniques given, sharing his knowledge and experience of the spiritual path and illustrating, with humour and intelligence, how we can apply these teachings to daily life.
The nature of the course is that it is as challenging as it is rewarding. Through effort and investigation lasting changes will be made in the mind and body. It is a process that requires full commitment over the 10 days and is not for those who seek an opportunity for relaxation.
Courses are tailored to each individual’s requirements but the basic outline is as follows:
Day 1-4: Five meditations will be taught progressively to develop subjective consciousness (sadguna) to objective consciousness (nirguna) leading to samadhi and sharpened awareness.
Day 5-10: Wisdom (Prajna) meditations will be taught to decondition the subconscious and unconscious mind leading to clarity and peace of mind.
Typical daily schedule:
Course Observances:
For the duration of the course all students maintain ‘noble silence’ and resolve to practice Yama, a code of conduct given by Patanjali. The aim of this is to make a purposeful choice to close the sense doors, allowing focus and awareness to stay within ourselves rather than in the outside world. Kumar says that the ‘Mind is like a room, if the room is to be cleaned, first we have to close all the doors and windows so that no additional dust comes in.’
Noble silence involves avoiding any form of interaction with others including non-verbal communication, also no phone, email contact, reading or writing. Students can communicate with Kumar throughout, in order to clarify course related queries.
Yama involves maintaining Ahimsa, (non violence /abstaining from harming) ; Satya, (speaking truth/ abstaining from lies); Asteya, (abstaining from stealing); Brahmacharya, (abstaining from sexual activities); Aparigraaha, (abstaining from intoxicants including tobacco).
Course location:
Peredur Centre for the Arts, West Hoathly Road, East Grinstead, West Sussex RH19 4NF (55 minutes by train from London Victoria).
When to arrive:
Participants can arrive anytime on Monday 2nd August 2010 from 9am, lunch will be served at 1pm. In the afternoon we will be preparing the meditation hall. The course will finish on Friday 13th August after breakfast. If you would like to arrive and stay overnight on the Sunday evening, this can be arranged for an additional £20.
About the Accommodation:
The course venue is a residential arts centre located in pleasant surroundings and easily accessible from London by train or road. The yoga and group meditation takes place in a large studio. There will be chairs available for those that require them. The accommodation is located in an adjacent building, bedrooms are located on three floors, are of varying size and share use of bathrooms. Bed linen and towels will be provided. Use of a kitchen and laundry is available.
What to bring:
Yoga Mat, cushion and blanket/ shawl for meditation, Slippers or warm socks for meditation room, stretch clothing for yoga
Food and special diets:
The food will be freshly prepared in the Peredur kitchens and will be a simple vegetarian diet. Please let us know about any special dietary requirements and we will do our best to cater for them.
Course Fees:
The course fee is £1000 for instruction, single room accommodation and food, including three organic meals a day. A proportion of the fee goes to the Yoga Healing Foundation (UK & India) to enable Kumar to promote the teaching of yoga in the traditional way, to provide health treatments, to subsidise course fees for people unable to pay or on low incomes and also to provide basic learning materials to Indian villages. Kumar uses unpaid leave to teach these courses and takes no remuneration from his teaching work. People may wish to give more at the end of the course when they are in a position to appreciate the changes brought about in their mind and body. They may wish to help others to experience the benefits of this teaching.
If you would like to attend a course but have difficulty with meeting the full fee or the donation, please discuss your circumstances with us. As much as we are able, we aim to remove barriers to people benefiting from Kumar’s programmes. As a new organisation, we are not yet in a position to subsidise as many places on our current courses as we would like. We very much appreciate the generosity of our donors and are able to provide information about how donations have been spent.
A deposit of £100 is required at the time of booking in order to secure your place on the course. Payment can be made by bank transfer or by cheque. Please email us through the contact page for details. Payment of the balance of the course fee should reach us by Friday 30th July at the latest. We will send an email receipt for all course fee payments.
For all bookings and enquiries please email us through the contact page.