Fire in Belly, Faith in Heart - Short on Time!: A Retreat for GFR Women 70+ 2024

As women who have asked for Ordination in the later stages of our life we bring to the process a lot
of life experience along with very deep conditioning. So often as we get older we come face to face
with the realities of impermanence through our ageing and loss. We still want to live with energy,
good health and freedom, but we may find ourselves meeting more and more situations where we
struggle to experience life in that way, and our minds can become closed and subject to negative
mental states.

How can we navigate our way through the challenges that old age, illness, loss and the prospect of
death bring to us? How can we begin to work with our negative conditioning and lose the sense of
self that has us trapped in our fear around suffering and impermanence when we know that time is
not on our side. How can we bring equanimity to our experiences, and contentment to the later
years of our lives?

On this gentle retreat we will evoke the Buddha and other archetypal Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, in
our search for our Heart’s Release.

This is not an ordination training retreat organized through Tiratanloka – it is simply a relaxed and gentle gathering of women who have asked for ordination in later life, have this in common and want to support each other in their going for refuge. It is a retreat that enables women who have attended the bi-monthly 70+ gatherings on Zoom to meet in person and share their experiences.

The programme will include ritual, presentations, meditation and groups. There will be indoor and
outdoor practice with periods of silence, and time just to be with your unfolding experience in self -
reflection.