The Buddha Project 
Retreats
A retreat is a unique opportunity to have one’s depth of practice reinvigorated by doing multiple daily group meditations in silent, beautiful, and inspiring surroundings, feeling the bonds of spiritual friendship while following the supportive rhythm of the gong.
A retreat is a moment for immersed focus, feeling of community and energizing inspiration. Every meditator has experienced that their meditative practice is regularly challenged by social pressures, lack of time, the appeal of various distractions, and the absence of a supportive environment. This influences the intensity and continuity of their practice resulting in less meditative progress.
Allowing yourself to take time for one or two retreats each year, will give the necessary support to keep a stable practice, and as you will receive new input, to be able to experience new insights and rekindle your joy for meditating. The opportunity to be in direct contact with an experienced teacher for a week or longer, is possibly its greatest benefit. A retreat will give you the opportunity to stand still for a moment to focus on training your mind without the turbulence and pressures of your regular daily life.
Welcome to the Retreats!
Sign up through one of the centres
3 TYPES OF RETREATS
Retreats cover 3 interconnected topics tailored to suit practitioners of varying skill levels. There are 4 annual retreats.
In-depth Meditation Training
Vipassana is a form of Buddhist meditation that focuses on developing insight or “clearly seeing” into the true nature of reality. It is one of the oldest and most widely practiced forms of meditation in the Buddhist tradition.
The practitioner observes the nature of their own mind and body, and learns to see things as they really are, without the distortions of their own thoughts, emotions, and desires.
The focus of these retreats is on basic Vipassana methods as taught in the Theravada Forest Tradition of Myanmar, grounded in the deeply compassionate motivation, of wanting to become enlightened for the welfare of all sentient beings.
Compassion and Lojong
Lojong practice involves using the challenges and difficulties of everyday life as opportunities to transform negative emotions into positive qualities.
These mind training retreats focus on a combination of training in serenity (shamatha) and developing the four great qualities of the heart: equanimity, empathetic joy, love, and compassionate care.
These Four Immeasurables ‘flow like rivers into the great ocean of bodhicitta’, the altruistic mind of awakening.
Mahamudra
The goal of Mahamudra is to directly experience the nature of mind, the source of all wisdom and compassion. Mahamudra, or “great seal”, refers to the ultimate truth that everything in the world lacks a fixed, independent essence, but exists interconnected and depends on various causes and conditions.
This profound and advanced meditation practice forms the pinnacle of the portfolio of Tibetan meditative methods. Daily meditation focused on the nature of the mind will be enhanced by incorporating the Gaden Lha Gyema, a guru yoga practice that lies at the intersection of both sutra and tantra traditions. This essential technique is a core component of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism.
Upcoming
Retreats
Weekend Retreat Finland
Helsinki, Finland
Awakening in the modern world: a weekend of grounded vipassana on the awakening factors, embedded in the caring and courageous attitude of the bodhisattva, to discover how we can flourish and persist for the welfare of the web of life on which we depend. Onsite and online.
City Weekend Retreat Amsterdam
Maitreya Instituut Amsterdam
Awakening in the Modern World: a weekend of grounded vipassana on the awakening factors, embedded in the caring and courageous attitude of the bodhisattva, to discover how we can flourish and persist for the welfare of the web of life on which we depend. Onsite and online.
Brahmavihara Shamatha Retreat
Maitreya Instituut Loenen, The Netherlands
In this week retreat we will successively practice the four divine, immeasurable thoughts and bodhicitta to cultivate a renewed connection with our environment, a boundlessness of mind, and a tranquil calm. Onsite and online.
Summer Retreat 2025
Maitreya Instituut Loenen, The Netherlands
A silent week of meditation. More information will follow. Save the dates: July 3-9, 2025! Online and onsite.
Archive
Retreats
Death and Dying: How to Transform Anxiety into Joy
Tibet House US, New york, USA
Evening teaching in which we will explore how we can apply the Dharma to our unique individual circumstances and psychological makeup, to enjoy our deaths as fully as our lives. Onsite and online.
Weekend Retreat: Silent Compassion in a Mind-Made World
Garrison Institute, Garrison, USA
We will focus on calming the mind and opening the heart, as a window to living frictionless in the world, where our well-being is intimately interwoven with those of others. Onsite only.
Who Are We…. Really?
Shantideva Center, New York, USA
In this three-session series, we'll learn to see ourselves in new ways. Ven. Gendun will help us dissolve our limiting ego views, demystify the “five aggregates”, and apply these insights to living in the world with greater ease, confidence, and compassion. Onsite and online. Sept. 16, 23 and 30.
Urban Retreat: Awakening in the Modern World
Shantideva Center, New York, USA
Discover how we can flourish and persevere for the welfare of the web of life on which we depend. We will explore the awakening factors, embedded in the caring and courageous attitude of the bodhisattva. With an opportunity to take or renew Refuge and Bodhisattva vows. Onsite and online.
Monks and nuns in Western Buddhism – What is their role?
Mid-town Manhattan, USA
Apart from personal experience as a monk, Ven. Gendun will share his perspectives about the role of monastics in Western Buddhism. How can Western Buddhist monasteries help spread the Dharma? What unique contributions can Western monastics offer? Online and onsite.