To Expect Wonders: A Non-Residential Weekend Retreat led by Kirsten Kratz

About the retreat

‘Though I do not expect a plant to spring up where no seed has been, I have great faith in a seed. Convince me you have a seed there, and I am prepared to expect wonders.’ Henry David Thoreau

Buddhist teachings explore how to nourish and cultivate wholesome seeds of intention, liberating ways of looking, that can connect us directly with our yearning for true happiness. During uncertain, confusing and frightening times, one of our habitual reflexes is to create limiting, separating or even polarising narratives, thus perpetuating suffering for others and ourselves. We can discover an increasing freedom from our conditioned painful reactions, which are often futile ways to attain some sense of safety and certainty, allowing us to attend to life from a place informed by connection, care and wisdom. During the weekend we will explore the heart-mind’s capacity for compassion, balanced presence and engagement.

There will be periods of sitting/stillness and walking/movement meditation, practice suggestions, guided practices, reflections as well as opportunities to ask questions. There may be some guided interactive practices. The sitting and walking meditation periods will typically last no longer than 40 minutes.

You can attend this event in-person and online.

The weekend is open to all but some previous experience of sitting meditation is preferred.

The retreat will be held in companionable silence, including during the lunchtime. Chairs, mats, meditation cushions and hot drinks will be available. The venue is wheelchair accessible.

About the teacher

KIRSTEN KRATZ has practised Buddhist meditation in Asia and the West since 1993. She started teaching in 2006 and since 2015 she has been ‘teacher in residence’ supporting those on personal retreat at Gaia House. Her love and understanding of Dharma has been strongly influenced by, among others, the teachings of her friend and teacher colleague, Rob Burbea. One of her particular passions is exploring how wisdom teachings can foster appropriate responses to the challenges of our time, and Kirsten sees her involvement in activism as an important expression of her practice. Kirsten is co-initiator of the “Dharma Action Network for Climate Engagement” (DANCE) and supporting teacher of Freely Given Retreats.You can listen to one of Kirsten’s talks on Dharmaseed, : “Calm and kindness”.

https://www.dharmaseed.org/talks/19051

Kirsten Kratz's Talks

About the Venue

The event will take place at Whirlow Spirituality Centre, Whirlow Grange Close, S11 9SY.

Saturday October 26th 10.00 – 17.00, Sunday October 27th 10.30 – 17.00

The Zoom link will be sent the day before for those attending online. 

The schedule includes 30 minutes for Sangha building (tea and chat) before the close of the session on the final day.

About Tickets

You can attend in person or online - tickets for each option are available

The suggested donation for each ticket will go towards the running of Sheffield Insight Meditation (Eventbrite fee of £0.49+ 6.5% will be taken from within total donation).

There are several different prices - a supported ticket is for those who can contribute something towards the cost of the event, the standard rate is for those who can contribute the cost of the event and the sponsor rate is for those able to make an additional contribution. In addition, freely given tickets are available for anyone who needs one.

Your ticket pays for the costs of the retreat but does not cover a payment for the teachings. You will be invited to offer a donation (dana) to support the livelihood of the teacher. Please see more detail about this below.

Booking

Bookings for this retreat are accepted on the basis of a commitment to join for both days for the full day of practice, however if you can only come for one day, please attend Saturday. The cost is the same for one or two days. Unfortunately your payment has to be for 2 days.

We request that people book places for themselves. If you are booking for yourself and somebody else you must make a separate booking for each person, with an email address for each.

Dana

Dana can be translated as cultivating generosity or giving. The teachers who lead our retreats receive their travel costs and ‘out-of-pocket’ expenses but do not receive any payment for their teaching. However they are happy to receive voluntary contributions from participants in the events they lead. These offerings are traditionally called dana. Most of our teachers depend on dana for most or all of their livelihood.

Our teachers are following an ancient tradition, offering teachings freely just as they received them freely from a previous generation of teachers. In this way the dharma (the teachings of the Buddhist tradition) is not made an object of commerce, and the relationship between teacher and student is based upon trust, freedom, and mutual generosity.

If you attend one of our events and appreciate what the teacher has offered, we warmly invite you to make whatever contribution you feel appropriate. If you do so, you will be making a vital contribution to their livelihood and helping them to continue teaching on this generous basis, particularly in situations where people cannot afford to pay anything.

Dana can be offered to the teacher, Kirsten, during and after the retreat

More information

Cancellation and Refunds refunds will be offered for cancellation up to the day before the event. Tickets can be cancelled automatically through Eventbrite (The eventbrite fee will not refunded). If you find that you are no longer able to attend, please cancel as soon as possible, to free up a place for someone else. Thank you.

Link to Sheffield Insight Meditation website

Host or Publisher Sheffield Insight Meditation