Intrepid Travellers of mind and space with an interest in authentic Buddhist meditation:  Book 4 nights with vast views and daily 90-minute 1-1 study and meditation instructions.  Your Retreat Shepherdess, Beki, has received teachings from some of the greatest living Tibetan Buddhist Masters over the past 30 years, spending 17 years as a nun.  She completed the traditional Tibetan 3-year retreat in silence and is well qualified to guide and assist.   Your solitary* retreat in The Skyline Cabin, situated on the flank of Wolstonbury Hill (revered as sacred by Bronze Age royalty - evidenced by it's 4000-year-old earthworks), will be a unique experience.  *it's also possible for two if you are close!

 

This five-day winter retreat option is for anyone wanting to develop or enhance a genuine understanding of meditation and, particularly, the methods taught in Tibetan Buddhism for swift progress along the spiritual path and for those with enough curiosity and willingness to give it a little time.  It is designed to suit absolute beginners as well as meditators looking to deepen their practice and experience.  Instruction sessions relate to philosophical views, what happens when we die, how we currently exist, why we suffer, and Buddhist meditations on how to free ourselves and others from suffering.  To cater to the infinite variety of mindsets and capabilities, your bespoke retreat can be structured around an initial phone discussion or on arrival.  

 

Allowing time for relaxation, meditation practice (either based on your previous experience or taught practices whilst you are here), reading and contemplations whilst gazing out across the gorgeous landscape, as well as periods of silence.  Mindful walks in the awesome landscape are a must!

 

The cabin is furnished to provide a comfortable, luxurious, yet simple internal space.  Futon mattresses and feather duvets with 100% cotton sheets encourage quality sleep under the often starry skies. 

 

Outside, there is a fire pit and your own completely private outside space hugged by hedges - with the option for cold plunges into 10-degree fresh Wolstonbury water!   Test your resilience and determination with a cold dip - quicker, safer and easier than cold sea swimming. It's invigorating, and your freshly run water is clean!   To warm up once back in the cabin, along with the overall super-insulated solar gain space, there is a cute little woodburner with logs provided for your use from a nearby woodland.  Before bed, a Zen-inspired flannel-washing for the face and body is encouraged, with a little booklet explaining more on arrival.

For humbling reminders of how we exist - and with reverence to that precious water, we don’t poo in it - there are clean composting loos nearby, with wild pees also encouraged.

 

Wolstonburydreaming.com has general background information on this unique location at Chantry Farm.  The campsite is run in a very low-key, ecologically considerate way and during winter, with very few visitors.  The Skyline Cabin is positioned higher than any other accommodation on Wolstonbury Hill and is one-of-a-kind, clad in wood milled from trees Beki’s father planted nearby nearly 50 years ago.  Its location was carefully chosen, facing due south (with a glimpse of the sea beyond Brighton) the cabin was built with Tibetan Buddhist blessing vases integrated into its foundational structure.    

 

There is also a Shrine Room in the main Flint Barn, with daily Vajrayana prayers such as Green Tara (at 6.30 am) or Medicine Buddha later in the day.  These can be attended if wished.

 

A note about Phones and Internet

There is no outright ban, but coming for retreat means pre-planning your phone use.  A small clock is provided for timekeeping..

 Meditation sessions can run with the sand timers provided.  Ideally, you ‘turn your phone in’ on arrival.  It can be monitored in the office, so if someone needs to contact you during that time, they can.  Or opt to leave it in your car and check once a day.   Consider at least 24 hrs phone-free. It's not about being too rigid!  However, it is beneficial to sit away from EMF amplification by mobiles and wifi routers.

 

The Cost:  £585.  This includes

Four nights accommodation in the Skyline Cabin,

Initial 15-minute ‘design consultation’ by phone to establish an approximate retreat framework if required

4 x 90-minute 1-1 instruction sessions (inc time for discussion/Q&As)  with Beki

Firewood for inside woodburner and outside fire pit

Parking for one car in the yard near the office (about 100m from Skyline Cabin)

Unlimited fresh drinking water filtered (and tested for public supply) from Wolstonbury Hill

 

Note:  Except for a simple breakfast option (organic porridge, fruit, sultanas with yoghurt and hot croissant), Food is not included in the price.  There is a gas hob and all cooking utensils in the Cabin - which is a meat-free zone.  If you would like organic/locally produced lunches provided, please ask for details.  Breakfast is available either cooked at 7.30 or as supplied ingredients.

 

If you decide to come and stay, your contribution will have myriads of benefits - income from Retreats is reinvested into the land and the facilities.  We have barn owl boxes, orchid-filled chalk grassland meadows, the orchard, and a huge amount of hedging to maintain, as well as the Bronze Age monuments to look after.  Unlike many other Sussex rural enterprises, we do not (currently) receive any grant money or subsidies from the Government for the work here, so your contribution makes a difference.   Support for this ancient Tibetan lineage of mediation teachings and practice is of incredible importance.  In a world which desperately needs greater mental as well as physical health, - the value of mutual effort to develop greater wisdom and compassion by relying on time-tested and sacred instructions is as vast and unending as the skyline.