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By invitation only: please only book if invited or agreed by Amarachandra, who is the the contact person for this retreat. An opportunity to experience living & working with your local sangha in the beautiful realm of Taraloka: You will be living as a spiritual community, following a retreat programme and mixing periods of meditation, work and ritual throughout the day. Blurring the boundaries between work and spiritual practice, making and deepening Sangha friendships, these retreats can often be unexpectedly transformative.    An invitation to contribute to the flow of generosity and love that has co-created Taraloka over decades. Celebrating our 40th anniversary, your help will be building on these strong traditions as we prepare Taraloka for the next 40 years. Work will be practical maintenance and gardening projects, so please bring weather proof clothes, stout shoes/boots, and gloves if you have your own that you'd like to bring. There will also be cooking and daily chores for the retreat. You need to be in good physical and mental health to come, so if you are unsure as to whether it is suitable for you, please do talk with Amarachandra. There is no charge for these retreats but if you wish to make a donation please do click on the donate button at the top of our website at any time.

This weekend is suitable for newcomers and is an introduction to mindfulness: as a meditation practice, as a way of being and as part of a spiritual path. Mindfulness practices can help us develop a serene, alert, freer state of mind, in which we can listen to our deeper inspiration and wisdom.

By invitation only: please only book if invited or agreed by Linda, who is the the contact person for this retreat. An opportunity to experience living & working with your local sangha in the beautiful realm of Taraloka: You will be living as a spiritual community, following a retreat programme and mixing periods of meditation, work and ritual throughout the day. Blurring the boundaries between work and spiritual practice, making and deepening Sangha friendships, these retreats can often be unexpectedly transformative.    An invitation to contribute to the flow of generosity and love that has co-created Taraloka over decades. Celebrating our 40th anniversary, your help will be building on these strong traditions as we prepare Taraloka for the next 40 years. Work will be practical maintenance and gardening projects, so please bring weather proof clothes, stout shoes/boots, and gloves if you have your own that you'd like to bring. There will also be cooking and daily chores for the retreat. You need to be in good physical and mental health to come, so if you are unsure as to whether it is suitable for you, please do talk with Linda. There is no charge for these retreats but if you wish to make a donation please do click on the donate button at the top of our website at any time.

By invitation only: please only book if invited or agreed by Suryahridaya who is leading these days. If you are interested in coming, and have not been invited, please email suryahridaya@taraloka.org.uk. An opportunity to give of your time and energy and contribute to the creation & maintenance of the beautiful gardens of Taraloka. Join the flow of generosity which has co-created Taraloka over decades. Celebrating our 40th anniversary, your help will be building on these strong traditions as we prepare Taraloka for the next 40 years. The garden needs a lot of work, and the retreat centre is empty during these days so it's a perfect opportunity to get cracking! Do join us for any days within these dates that suit you - you could come for just a day or for all of them. Bear in mind that this is not a retreat - we work in the garden and eat lunch together during the day, and there are no led meditations or rituals. You are of course very welcome to use the Tara Cabin or Shrine Room. Food and accommodation is provided, and there will be a variety of jobs to choose from, but you will need to be physically fit and able.Please bring stout working shoes/boots, waterproofs and clothes you can get messy in, also your own gloves if you want to. We do have spares of most things if this is not possible for you. If you are coming but not for the whole time, please email with the days you are planning to be here at the same time as making a booking.

Wouldn’t it be nice to stay calm, and keep our confidence, composure and steadiness, no matter what the world throws our way? But how can we do that? Look no further. This retreat will focus on learning practical methods to find greater equanimity and perspective amid the ups and downs of everyday life. Meditation teaching included.

Join Taralokans past and present to bless Tara's Realm for the next forty years!  Come together in Tara's realm to open up to the magical deep-realities of sadhana, with plenty of meditation and devotional practice.  We'll use Tara as a basis, but it will be suitable for anyone wanting to deepen their explorations of any sadhana.

So often we want to live with ease, freedom and creativity – but find ourselves in very different mental states. How can we navigate our way to greater levels of contentment, peace and freedom? Study and meditate on Subhuti’s Mind In Harmony - an accessible, practical and encouraging guide on how to know and transform our inner lives.

This weekend is suitable for newcomers and is an introduction to loving kindness (metta) as a way of being, as a meditation practice, and as part of a spiritual path. Practising metta can, over time, bring ease, relaxation, and delight into our lives, and transform our relationships.

This special time of year, when we have passed the darkest day and light is beginning to return, can be a precious time of renewal. As well as focusing on exploring awareness and loving-kindness meditations, we will take a look at how to bring compassion, mindfulness and creative change into our day-to-day lives.

Deepen your meditation, practise in the landscape, and enjoy ritual in the presence of beautiful shrines. Delight in the opportunity to relax and simply be with your experience. We will reflect on the old year and welcome the new, particularly through an imaginative evening of devotion.

This weekend is suitable for newcomers and is an introduction to loving kindness (metta) as a way of being, as a meditation practice, and as part of a spiritual path. Practising metta can, over time, bring ease, relaxation, and delight into our lives, and transform our relationships.

"I, a nun, trained and self-composed, established mindfulness and entered peace like an arrow." The powerful teachings of Enlightened women at the time of the Buddha speak to us of clarity and confidence, wisdom and freedom. Drawing on up-to-date scholarship in Analayo's recent book Daughters of the Buddha, those first women can be seen in all their strength and impressiveness. Where they went, we can follow. "Having entirely relinquished darkness, I dwell in peace...I recognise you, wicked Mara! Make yourself disappear and go!" Image: Mahapajapati Gotami. Thanks to www.present.bhikkhuni.net

Travel the boundless dimensions of the heart! This intensive meditation retreat explores the wisdoms of the five Prajnas - a set of five archetypal Buddhas in female form - and the way their wisdom perspectives can inform the path and practice of loving-kindness. This retreat will combine talks, imagery and meditation instruction together with ritual and silence.

This weekend is suitable for newcomers and is an introduction to mindfulness: as a meditation practice, as a way of being and as part of a spiritual path. Mindfulness practices can help us develop a serene, alert, freer state of mind, in which we can listen to our deeper inspiration and wisdom.

An opportunity to focus on the gifts and challenges inherent in parenting as a context for spiritual practice. This retreat is led by Buddhist mothers and includes talks, workshops and discussion, all within lightness, spaciousness and invaluable time out.

A retreat simply about silence, and what arises as the mind quietens. We can open to stillness and beauty, which softens the sense of self and lets us feel more connected with everything. We may even glimpse that ‘form is only emptiness, emptiness only form’. The retreat includes meditation, direct experience in the landscape, ritual, gentle movement exercises, and contemplation. The retreat will be in silence from the end of the first evening until after lunch on the final day.

This weekend is suitable for newcomers and is an introduction to loving kindness (metta) as a way of being, as a meditation practice, and as part of a spiritual path. Practising metta can, over time, bring ease, relaxation, and delight into our lives, and transform our relationships.

With mindfulness practice we can be more fully alive - relaxed yet more engaged with our lives and the world around us. Mindfulness, as taught by the Buddha, is a direct means to freedom. Come and explore taking mindfulness more deeply into daily life, with full meditation teaching, personal exploration and short periods of companionable silence.

Order weekend for Dharmacharinis in the Mid Western region.

Explore mantra as a practice in its own right! Like magic words, mantra can be a doorway into the archetypal realms of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, cutting through rational concepts, and taking us into a deeper, clearer and more loving engagement with life. Using sound, embodiment and connection with inner and outer energies, we’ll go deeper into the mystery that is mantra. No musical ability or knowledge required.

This is an inspiring, important retreat for women on the path to ordination. A creative vision of beauty, of the transcendental, of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, of the spiritual potential of the imagination, takes us further in our Going for Refuge and is a preparation for future sadhana practice. A deeper understanding of devotion and ritual will also support discussing and leading these practices as a dharmacharini. We ask that you do not come on this retreat until you have done at least one other retreat for women who are training for ordination. If you need to discuss this, please talk with your local mitra convenor or contact us.

What is the Buddha's teaching on compassion?  How can we have compassion for ourselves in our daily lives?  How can we nourish ourselves while caring for others and responding to the world's suffering?  Explore these questions through meditation, talks, discussions and workshops in the light of the science of compassion and current neuroscience.

The Spiritual Community is a dynamic organism in which Awakening happens. Sangharakshita suggested that the Bodhicitta is most likely to arise in a community practising together. What does that mean for us? How can the Sangha be a field of compassion?

What is a really good way to spend a long weekend? Come to Taraloka for almost three days of gentle silence. Go deeper as you quietly meditate, walk, appreciate nature, share ritual, dwell in a special atmosphere ... and relax.

Delight in the Dharma life by coming together in large numbers! Join your Sangha friends and the Taraloka and Tiratanaloka teams for a weekend of inspiration and connection in beautiful springtime Taraloka. Theme to be confirmed. The meditation space for this event will be a marquee. Join in our massive shrine room sleepover (comfy mattresses, pillows and duvets provided) or else come camping with your friends in our wonderful meadows, with the luxury of hot showers and all your meals prepared!

Early summer is a beautiful time at Taraloka. The air is full of birds and their songs: the deep velvety song of the blackbird; the sweet descending notes of the willow warbler. On this long weekend retreat we will interweave meditation with appreciation of birds and their song, finding spaciousness and peacefulness, and allowing ourselves to be saturated with natural beauty. No previous experience of meditation needed - just curiosity to learn something new, and a willingness to step out into rain or sun. The meditation space for this event will be a marquee. Join in our massive shrine room sleepover (comfy mattresses, pillows and duvets provided) or else come camping with your friends in our wonderful meadows, with the luxury of hot showers and all your meals prepared!

Many of us live in our heads - heads full of thoughts, ideas, arguments, opinions, fears and desires. We are out of touch with our bodies. This causes us much suffering. On this weekend, we will be gently exploring feeling in the body, getting in touch with the body’s wisdom. And we will be looking at what often blocks us from experiencing the integration and peace that this offers. Spend a joyful weekend going deeper in your practice, connecting with others from local Sanghas and enjoying the Taraloka gardens and grounds in the spring. This retreat is ONLY for people who regularly attend Chester, West Wales, Llangollen and Shrewsbury Triratna Sanghas. All genders welcome.

If we are to Awaken then we need to re-imagine what we are; to allow that we are far more than what we normally assume. We need to understand that we are not separate beings but rather embedded, entangled and participative in a much bigger world. One way to re-imagine what we are is through contemplation of the six elements. 'I would go so far as to say that a universe conceived of as dead cannot be a universe in which one stands any chance of attaining Enlightenment. (Whether you stand any chance in a living universe is of course up to you.)’ - Sangharakshita, Living with Awareness.

This retreat is a sacred turning, A gentle unfolding of the heart-mind— An opening into freedom, A path of insight lit from within. What does it mean to have a revolutionary heart? When so much of our life experiences are dominated by endless wanting, the drive to dislike, and the choice to ignore. Sangharakshita describes the awakened heart as fearless in transcending all conditions: ‘…. Loves where there is no reason to love, is happy where there is no reason for happiness, creates where is no possibility of creativity….’ (Mind Reactive, Mind Creative)

Wouldn’t it be nice to stay calm, and keep our confidence, composure and steadiness, no matter what the world throws our way? But how can we do that? Look no further. This retreat will focus on learning practical methods to find greater equanimity and perspective amid the ups and downs of everyday life. Meditation teaching included.

This weekend is suitable for newcomers and is an introduction to mindfulness: as a meditation practice, as a way of being and as part of a spiritual path. Mindfulness practices can help us develop a serene, alert, freer state of mind, in which we can listen to our deeper inspiration and wisdom.

The Brahma Viharas are a path to Bodhicitta. They transform our negative tendencies into Love, Compassion, Gladness and Equanimity. We will practise these wondrous meditations within a specially created Mandala of the Five Jinas and come to see how, in our everyday lives, we can dwell much more in these loving states of mind.

Ratnavandana will not now be leading this retreat but if well enough may make a 'guest appearance'

This is a retreat of reconnection; of remembering our place on this living Earth, recalling its sacred beauty, recollecting our inseparability from all beings and of reconnecting our hearts to gratitude and appreciation. We will be exploring the animistic dimensions of Buddhist practice in meditation, talks and ritual and we will cultivate a sensitivity to our bodies to enable us to extend our awareness and love into the body of the World. There will be periods of silence and plenty of time outside on the land. Come and join us as we explore this rich theme to find our place in the midst of Everything

Stories call to us and reveal the universal wisdom of human experience. On this retreat, alongside Buddhist practice, we will use ancient myths and stories to help us connect with our own lives and history. As a collective we will explore their relevance directly to our own lives through reflection, group discussion, meditation, ritual, gentle body work in nature and our own creativity. Image: Amitajoti www.amitajyoti.com

What would it be like to be completely free? Look into the mirror of your mind... The mysterious home of the dakini. (Naropa) The Dakini - pure openness, naked energy, red love, sensitive freedom, an ungraspable dance in the fires of transformation. Explore how this Tantric symbol of awakening can bring us into intimate connection with our body-heart-mind in meditation and ritual, living ever more authentically in the flow of life. This retreat is suitable for people with a familiarity with Buddhist ritual and puja.

Return to the truth of the body, to the quiet wisdom of the six elements, and to the freedom found in simplicity. Through stillness and movement, meditation and reflection, we’ll explore the deep interconnection of earth, water, fire, air, space, and consciousness as they flow through our bodies and the universe — revealing our paths to Awakening.

This weekend is suitable for newcomers and is an introduction to loving kindness (metta) as a way of being, as a meditation practice, and as part of a spiritual path. Practising metta can, over time, bring ease, relaxation, and delight into our lives, and transform our relationships.

Buddhism provides us with a raft of practices which are all supports to help us find freedom. Sometimes, however, we find that we’ve managed to create oppressions out of those very practices. We’ve forgotten how to listen to our inner voices, to cultivate a sensitivity of being which can allow us to be truly creative.  On this retreat we will explore the qualities of confidence, intuition, adventure and play needed to creatively sail the path of freedom.

‘Your old life was a frantic running from silence… Wake up like someone suddenly born into colour.’ - Rumi Rumi, the Sufi poet, beautifully expresses the longing for peace and clarity that so many of us feel in the hectic modern world. Stop, unwind, and recharge your batteries in the beautiful surroundings of Taraloka.

Love (metta) underpins the whole of Buddhist practice. Like a jewel it has many facets: patience, intimacy, interest and kindness. All these facets are ways in which we come into relation with ourselves and others. All are ways to live at peace in this fleeting, fragile world.

'It is crucial to keep the transcendental element in Buddhism in mind. If you lose sight of that, you lose sight of Buddhism itself.' - Sangharakshita How do we - in actual lived practice - open ourselves to 'the transcendental element' and let our mistaken stories of self and world fall away? Intensive meditation retreat exploring spiritual death, spiritual rebirth and spiritual receptivity.

This retreat is for women who are training for ordination and live in the Mid West Region (Birmingham, Worcester, Nottingham. Leicester, Shrewsbury and North and West Wales). It will be led by Private Preceptors in the Mid West Region After the success of previous Mid West Jewel Quest Weekend retreats we are delighted to be able to offer another in 2026. The weekend will include meditation, talks, discussion groups, puja and opportunities to spend time with friends old and new. I do hope you can join us! More details on the theme to follow.

Tara.  Earth Goddess, Moon of Wisdom, Beautiful Queen, Midnight Star. This intensive meditation retreat will explore the many forms and qualities of Tara: her compassion, fearlessness and spontaneity. The week will be full of devotion, offerings and silent contemplation of the loveliness and abundance of her realm in spring time.

Let’s be honest about our experience of the metta bhavana! Sometimes we sit down to meditate and are filled with easy radiant joy, but often we find our hearts are closed tight, critical, angry, jealous or bored. By turning towards our heart’s authentic responses with sensitivity and appreciation, we can find our own experience and path of metta, “a naturally expansive desire to brighten the whole world, the whole universe, and universes beyond that.” (Sangharakshita)

Life is precious; impermanence is inescapable; our choices shape our lives; life includes suffering: these are the The Four Mind Turnings or The Four Reminders. These are 'preliminary practices' that can take us all the way: releasing us from our bewitchment with what isn't stable, isn't reliable, can't give us ultimate satisfaction – and turning us wholeheartedly, with urgency, towards the magical open space of the Dharma life.

This weekend is suitable for newcomers and is an introduction to mindfulness: as a meditation practice, as a way of being and as part of a spiritual path. Mindfulness practices can help us develop a serene, alert, freer state of mind, in which we can listen to our deeper inspiration and wisdom.

'So with a boundless heart should one cherish all living beings; radiating kindness over the entire world….. outward and unbounded, free from hatred and ill-will.' - The Buddha, from the Metta Sutta Wouldn’t you love to stay confident, kind and calm, when that person cuts you up at the traffic lights? Or being able to step into self-compassion, rather than listening endlessly to your inner critic? Metta, a kindly, compassionate attitude towards ourselves and others, no matter who they are, lies at the heart of what the Buddha teaches, helping us develop stability of heart and mind to steer us during difficult times.

'You as a human being are the product of millions upon millions of years of evolution… You don’t have to justify your existence by being useful. You yourself are the justification for your existence.... All that you can really be said to be here for is to develop into some higher form of human life – to become a Bodhisattva, to become a Buddha.  So don’t be ashamed of sitting around and doing nothing. Glory in it. Do things spontaneously, out of a state of inner satisfaction and achievement.' Sangharakshita On this retreat we'll let Bhante's classic 'greater mandala of uselessness’ teaching take us deep into the mystery of life.

A joyful celebration of loving-kindness, through meditation, uplifting song, and heart-opening guided movement. In the peaceful beauty of Taraloka, we’ll come together to sit in stillness and share periods of silence. From this deep sense of connection, we’ll move gently into the landscape—exploring how our voices and bodies, just as they are, can become expressions of the harmony and love within us all. No musical experience or talent required.

The Satipatthana Sutta is the Buddha’s teaching on mindfulness in the service of liberation. To engage with its richness means entering a world of revelation - the world, oneself and others are not as we thought. An embodied approach, which emphasises grounding in direct, felt experience and leads to feeling more alive, awake and relaxed will help lift the veils of delusion and imprisonment, paving the way to clear seeing and the heart's release. Taraloka is the ideal setting with its natural beauty and depth of Inspiration. Come and see for yourself!

Engaging with the suffering of the world can be distressing, and we may turn away to avoid feeling powerless or overwhelmed. Drawing on the Dharma, living systems theory, and deep ecology, 'The Work That Reconnects' helps us respond with courage and compassion to global challenges. It invites a transformative journey, deepening our connection with ourselves, each other, and with life, strengthening our capacity to feel and act. We hope it will be a week of imagination, inspiration and adventure!

This weekend is suitable for newcomers and is an introduction to loving kindness (metta) as a way of being, as a meditation practice, and as part of a spiritual path. Practising metta can, over time, bring ease, relaxation, and delight into our lives, and transform our relationships.

Become a warrior with a soft and open heart! How do we cultivate wisdom – seeing things as they really are; and compassion – allowing our hearts to break open with love for self and others? Drawing on both Satipatthana mindfulness teachings from early Buddhism and Lojong mind training Bodhicitta teachings from later Buddhism, this is a retreat designed for our times.

This special time of year, when we have passed the darkest day and light is beginning to return, can be a precious time of renewal. As well as focusing on exploring awareness and loving-kindness meditations, we will take a look at how to bring compassion, mindfulness and creative change into our day-to-day lives.

Deepen your meditation, practise in the landscape, and enjoy ritual in the presence of beautiful shrines. Delight in the opportunity to relax and simply be with your experience. We will reflect on the old year and welcome the new, particularly through an imaginative evening of devotion.