Join us at Kilgraston School for the Scottish Dharma Training Programme retreat for 2022 with Dharma teachers Martin Pitt and Susanne Olbrich.

This retreat will concentrate on deepening our fundamental practice of mindfulness (Sati). We will look deeply at what it means to practise meditation, drawing on the teachings and insights of the Discourse on the Four Establishments of Mindfulness (Satipatthana Sutta) and the Discourse on the Full Awareness of Breathing (Anapanasati Sutta). We will be guided to strengthen our approach to meditation and deepen our mindfulness across many forms of practice, such as sitting, breathing, slow walking meditation as well as chanting and touching the earth. We will also explore what it means to fully integrate mindfulness into our everyday activities such as eating, working and interacting. We will look specifically at how to apply these practices to strengthen our connection with nature and Mother Earth in the context of our current ecological and climate crisis.

Dharma Teachers

Martin first visited Plum Village in 1987 inspired by Thich Nhat Hanh’s teachings on engaged Buddhism. He joined the Order of Interbeing in 1990 and became a Dharma Teacher in the tradition in 1994. Over many years he helped establish the UK Community of Interbeing and has led many meditation retreats and workshops. He lives in Devon with his wife and son and works as a researcher in the Medical School at Exeter University.

Susanne discovered Plum Village and Thay’s teachings in 1996; in 2007 she became a member of the Order of Interbeing with the Dharma name True Ever-present Stability. Susanne lives in the Findhorn community in the North of Scotland where she co-founded the Northern Lights Sangha. As a pianist and music teacher she enjoys encouraging deep listening and creative expression in people of all ages. Her special interest is in offering mindfulness retreats with the themes of creativity and music.

Location: Kilgraston School, Bridge of Earn, Perthshire, PH2 9BQ

If you have any questions, please email Lindsay linds.lumsden@gmail.com or Paloma palomablasco@protonmail.com

Touching the Earth Sangha in Banchory are delighted to invite you to a special Hybrid retreat at The Burn, near Edzell, during the last weekend of June 2022. Led by Mhairi McLuskie (True Action of Loving Kindness) Mhairi (pronounced Vari) discovered Thich Nhat Hanh in 1990 and was ordained as a lay Dharma teacher in 2012. She has applied her mindfulness practice during the ups and downs of family and work life, including the sudden deaths of her parents and the premature death of a beloved friend.
Mhairi has shared mindfulness in many settings – including courses for female offenders, victims of sexual abuse and for organisations, as well as through Plum Village UK retreats and the Be Calm, Be Happy courses which she co-developed. She enjoys offering mindfulness retreats and courses on the themes of transformation and healing and cultivating love. Mhairi was born in Scotland and is currently living in the West Midlands.

On this short retreat, we have the opportunity to refresh ourselves by nourishing peace, understanding, love and togetherness. We can slow down and look deeply into the elements of true love, supported by each other and by our natural surroundings. We can gain fresh insights on how to deepen love in ourselves and how this will serve our world.

The retreat will run from 18.00 on Friday 24th June (arrival at the Burn from 16.00) until 15.00 on Sunday 26th June 2022. Although, our facilitator is a lay teacher of the Plum Village Tradition of Thich Nhat Hanh, the weekend will be run in a largely secular manner. For beginners as well as for those with experience, this is a rare chance to enjoy learning about mindfulness through practice in a most beautiful environment. Everyone is welcome including those from all religious traditions as well as agnostics and atheists.

We are anticipating a high demand for this retreat so we recommend early booking using the attached form.

As a Sangha we want to help alleviate the suffering that is occurring in Ukraine. It would be inefficient for us to collect money and pass it on ourselves, not least because this removes any opportunity to add Gift Aid to a donation. For the time being we will therefore not be collecting donations at our meetings but asking everyone to make a contribution directly to the Disasters Emergency Committee, Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal. We can do this for a while but will eventually need to return to asking for donations to cover the cost of renting the church. In the medium term we expect the rent to go up because of the increase in fuel prices – partially caused by the conflict. Let’s give something while we can.

Breathing in I know you are suffering.
Breathing out I am here with you.

For the sixteenth time we are going to walk in peace at the Royal Botanic Garden in an event organised in collaboration with Edinburgh International Centre for Spirituality and Peace, EICSP.

Please join us at Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, John Hope Gateway, Arboretum Place, Edinburgh, EH3 5NZ on Sunday 20 March 2022 at 10am for 10.15am-11.15am.

This silent walking meditation is an open event. Before the walk begins there will be a brief introduction to mindful walking as a meditation practice.

This is not a protest or a campaigning event, so please do not use any banners. Our silence and togetherness in nature says it all at this time.

May the Sound of this Bell
Penetrate deep into the Cosmos
Even in the darkest spots
Living Beings are able to hear it clearly
So that all suffering in them cease
Understanding come to their hearts
And they transcend the path Of Sorrow and Death

The Universal Dharma Door
Is already open
The Sound of the Rising Tide is heard clearly
The miracle happens
A beautiful child appears in the heart of a Lotus flower
One single drop of this Compassionate Water
Is enough to bring back the refreshing
Spring To our Mountains and Rivers

Listening to the Bell I feel the afflictions in me begin to dissolve
My mind calm, my body relaxed
A smile is born on my lips
Following the Sound of the Bell
My breath brings me back to the safe Island of Mindfulness
In the Garden of my Heart
The flowers of Peace Bloom beautifully

Children are welcome when accompanied by adults.

Please remember to wrap up warmly and note that no animals except Registered Assistance Dogs are permitted within the Garden. Please maintain social distancing, and follow all recommended COVID-19 protocols.

We will be returning to our regular meetings at St Marks Unitarian from 3rd February 2022 and are looking forward to seeing you in person.

There is no need to book through Eventbrite. We will keep a paper register of who is attending for Covid contact tracing. You will need to sign in when you arrive and give a contact number. We will discard the list of attendees after three weeks.

The mask policy is “like a cafe”. Please wear a face covering when standing and moving about but you can take it off when seated. We are still meeting in the main part of the church so there is plenty of air and you can sit a distance away from others if you need to.

But 17th February may be on line again! We aren’t sure if a regular facilitator will be available on 17th February as most of us will be on retreat.

With deep mindful breaths we share the news that our beloved teacher has passed on. For more details see the official announcement at the Plum Village website.

Please take some time to enjoy your breathing and walking and the beauty that surrounds us. We are walking for Thay now.

Come join us as we sit together at St Marks Unitarian Church on Sunday (23rd January), 7:15pm for a 7:30pm start, finishing by 9pm. We are going to have a period of mainly silent meditation to enjoy each others presence and the continuing presence of our teacher.

As mentioned in Thursdays Sangha session here is the podcast episode for the 3 Doors of Liberation.

Sister True Dedication’s Edinburgh TED talk is now available to watch online. Very moving and inspiring!

In view of the ongoing Covid situation and the Scottish Government guidance to gather in groups of no more than three households, we have decided to go back to having the Thursday evening sessions  on Zoom during January and we will then review the situation as advice changes.

We are, of course, keen to return to face-to-face meetings as soon as it is safe and permissible to do so. 

Although the Zoom meetings cannot generate quite the same energy as face-to-face meetings they are still a way for us to stay connected with each other during these challenging times and we are grateful for the technology that makes this possible. It’s also been wonderful to meet friends online from so many different locations.

If you haven’t been emailed the zoom link please fill in the form on the contact page and Pete will email it to you.

Thursday 16th December will be our last in person meeting of 2021 at St Marks before we break up for Christmas. We decided to go ahead with this meeting after the recent changes in guidelines from the First Minister because religious practices are not included in the recommendations and we have plenty of room to maintain social distancing. We totally understand that some people will not feel comfortable attending. We have planned to resume meeting at St Marks on 6th January 2022 but this will be reviewed nearer the time. It is looking likely that our practice will be online in January.

Remember the Wednesday Scots Pines virtual sangha continues to be available.