Taraloka Buddhist Retreat Centre

buddhist retreat centre for women

Introductory Weekend: Kindness December 2025

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Introductory Weekend: Kindness December 2025

5 - 7 Dec 2025
Led By: Lilamati
For: Introductory

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.

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Metta is wishing well to ourselves, to others and to all beings and in a way that takes us beyond our usual limits and preferences.  2,500 years ago, the Buddha described and taught metta or loving kindness as a way to develop positivity and warmth, to leave behind harmful emotions, and to connect with other people at a deeper level.   He saw it as liberating and called it ‘freedom of heart’.  Our experiences of ourselves and other people can change for the good in ways we could not have imagined.

To develop metta, we need to acknowledge – also with kindness – our actual habitual emotions, and the views and expectations that can hold us back.  We can then contact our natural sense of connection with other living beings and move towards a compassionate or even joyful response.

We will fully introduce the Metta Bhavana meditation (the development of loving kindness).  In a series of structured stages, we begin with developing kindness towards ourselves, which is deeply important but doesn’t always feel easy!  We then send our well-wishing to a range of individuals and then to all living beings.  The retreat will also include activities to explore bringing kindness and compassion into our daily lives, small discussion groups, presentations, and some time for ourselves: to relax, let go and appreciate sitting quietly or walking in the landscape.

The retreat is led by women who are ordained within the Triratna Buddhist Community and are experienced meditators and teachers.  They may well have very different lifestyles and be different ages.  They may be living in the spiritual community at Taraloka, working in the world or bringing up a family.  However, they will look forward to sharing the vision and practice of metta with you and within the beauty of Taraloka and its landscape.

Suggested donation (in addition to the booking fee): £200 waged / £140 unwaged

Booking Fee: £65.00

Single Rooms: No single rooms currently available on this retreat. Please email to go on single room waiting list.

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Booking Form

Waiting List Booking Form

Tickets

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Ticket Type Amount Spaces
Retreat Booking Fee £65.00

Registration Information

Your Details

Please provide details of someone we can contact on your behalf in case of emergency.

How Did you Hear?

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Triratna Experience

If you don't attend any centre, please put your nearest town.

Retreat Level: Triratna Regulars - You need to have been taught the Mindfulness of Breathing and Metta Bhavana meditations and have participated in the Sevenfold Puja within the Triratna Buddhist Community. You also need to regularly attend a Triratna centre, group or retreats. If you do not fit these criteria, please DO NOT BOOK but choose one of our Open level retreats instead.

Our Triratna Regulars retreats include more periods of meditation and silence than our Open retreats. If you are unsure whether this retreat is appropriate for you, please contact the office and we can talk it through with you.

Accommodation

Big Event Accommodation

Select the accommodation type you require for this retreat:

  • Bedrooms are shared with 2 to 4 people in a room.
  • Single rooms are not bookable online. If you need a single, DO NOT BOOK HERE. Please email admin@taraloka.org.uk or phone 01948 710646.
  • Taraloka is centrally heated and generally very comfortable. You will be sharing a room with between 1 and 3 other women. Rooms are not en-suite but all rooms are close to toilets and showers.
  • Ground floor rooms are available. Please contact the office if you need a ground floor room.

Diet

No
Yes

Wheat free
Gluten free
Nut free (please specify which nuts in box below)
No chilli

If you are unable to eat more than two items, please contact the office to discuss before booking. We can only cater for a limited number of restricted diets on any one retreat.

We offer a vegan diet at Taraloka. If you have a restricted diet for genuine medical needs please provide information above. You will be offered a simple meal which may be very similar every day: plain steamed vegetables, rice and simple protein. To assist the cooks, please restrict requirements to absolutely essential items only.

Health

No
Yes

For more information see our am I well enough to be on retreat page. On retreats we live as a community and share household tasks such as vegetable chopping, cleaning or washing up for around one hour daily. If you are unable to join the communal work rota, please let us know here, as it helps us to plan the practical running of the retreat.

All information is confidential and will only be communicated to the team leading your retreat, so they can best support you on the retreat.

Mental Health

No
Yes

For more information see our am I well enough to be on retreat page.

Mental health issues won't necessarily block you from coming on retreat, but we do need to know about them. All information is confidential and will only be communicated to the team leading your retreat, so they can best support you on the retreat.

Consent

Continuity is an important aspect of being on retreat. It is disruptive to the atmosphere of a retreat to arrive late, leave early or to take excursions. You cannot attend online meetings while on retreat. Please tick box to confirm that you understand Taraloka's policy on continuity and can attend the entire retreat.

Booking fees are non-refundable under any circumstances. If you give us at least six weeks notice (to the start of your booked retreat) when cancelling, it may be possible to transfer the booking fee, providing there is space on another appropriate retreat within the calendar year. You can only transfer a booking fee once.

We aim to provide an environment that is relaxed and enjoyable, yet also supportive of meditation, reflection and the Buddhist ethical precepts – including the practice of stillness, simplicity and contentment. A retreat is a collective experience, so what an individual does affects the atmosphere of the retreat for everyone.

This is why, to support the retreat environment, we ask that you refrain from alcohol, sexual activity, meat or fish eating and illicit drugs for the duration of the retreat.

Smokers are asked not to smoke on the premises, including in your car, but may do so outside of Taraloka buildings and grounds (this includes electronic cigarettes.)

We also ask that you turn off your mobile phone and leave at home your laptop, tablet and other devices. We request that mobiles and other devices are not used in the retreat centre or grounds. If you need to be contactable in an emergency, please give your friends and family the Taraloka emergency mobile number: 07774 007 133.

Taraloka News

Quarterly newsletter with very occasional additional email

Booking Summary

Please select at least one space to proceed with your booking.

Paying for your retreat

Taraloka runs on generosity.

To book a retreat you pay a booking fee. This is the only charge made for coming on retreat. As far as possible, we don’t want anyone’s financial situation to stop them from coming to Taraloka.

At the end of your retreat, you have the opportunity to give money towards Taraloka. If you are able to donate, you are giving to another person who otherwise could not afford to come on retreat. And you are helping to give the gift of Taraloka to the women of the future.

We have suggested donations as these reflect the basic income needed to make a retreat viable. However, they are only suggestions. It is genuinely fine to give ten times these amounts, nothing, or anything in between.

Running on generosity is radical – thank you for being part of that.

For more information see what does it cost and a flow of generosity