Tiruvannamalai, Bodh Gaya, Sarnath, India.

January/February, 2011

Our retreats in Bodh Gaya (start 1975) and the Dharma Gathering in Sarnath (start 1999) are run entirely on dana (donations) from participants.

TO REGISTER FOR BODH GAYA RETREATS
bodhgayamanagers@yahoo.com
See www.bodhgayaretreats.org for information on our programme for Tiruvannamalai, Bodh Gaya and Sarnath.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     

INDIA
GENERAL INFORMATION

GENERAL INFORMATION

Our India programme will probably run through from November, 2011 until May 2010.

Every month during this time, there are teachings and practices in very different environments all over India including Jaya, Gemma, Ajay, Sanghaseva and others.

See also www.openDharma.org email openDharmainfo@yahoo.coma www.sanghaseva.org

email: sangha_seva@yahoo.co.uk

Do come to India to join all or part of this extraordinary and truly unique six month programme, much of it run entirely on your donations (dana). Our retreats in Bodh Gaya (started 1975) and the Dharma Gathering in Sarnath (started 1999) are run entirely on dana (donations) from participants.

TO REGISTER FOR BODH GAYA RETREATS

See www.bodhgayaretreats.org for more information on our programme for Bodh Gaya bodhgayamanagers@yahoo.com

 PLEASE REGISTER YOUR NAME FOR BODH GAYA BY E-MAIL. Bodh Gaya manager is Dominika Zwyrtek. You are also guaranteed a place if you simply arrive in Bodh Gaya for the start of a retreat.

No need to register for Sarnath.

January 6 18.00 to January 12 2011 12.00

3rd DHARMA GATHERING IN TIRUVANNAMALAI

Five minutes walk from Sri Ramana Maharshi Ashram

Mountain Breeze Guest House

Tiruvannamalai

Tamil Nadu.

Radha Nicholson

Radha Nicholson teaches the cultivation of wisdom and compassion through insight. Her teachings focus on inquiry and non-duality. Radha first met Christopher in India in 1975 where she participated in extended retreats. She was one of the founding members of the Australian community, Bodhi Farm, where she lived for 13 years. She is a Registered Psychologist with a private practice in Bangalow near Byron Bay. NSW. She has been co-teacher of the Bodh Gaya retreat with Christopher for five years.

For further information, please contact Radha

radhanicholson@ozemail.com.au

 INDIA JANUARY/FEBRUARY, 2011

37th ANNUAL DHARMA RETREAT IN BODH GAYA

January 17 - 27, 2011

BODH GAYA RETREATS

Radha Nicholson

Thai Monastery

Bodh Gaya, near Gaya, India
www.bodhgayaretreats.org,
bodhgayamanagers@yahoo.com

January 27 - February 6, 2011

BODH GAYA RETREATS

Christopher Titmuss, Radha Nicholson,

Thai Monastery
Bodh Gaya, near Gaya, India
www.bodhgayaretreats.org,
bodhgayamanagers@yahoo.com

Bodh Gaya managers: Dominika Zwyrtek and Ben Barnes.

February 9 - 19, 2011

13th  ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL DHARMA GATHERING

Christopher,Jaya, Radha, Zohar and others

Sarnath, near Varanasi, India

Come any day, leave any day. Dharma Gathering offered on donation.

www.bodhgayaretreats.org

No need to register for Sarnath.

See also www.insightmeditation.org

We have printed a beautiful flyer with colour pix to promote Bodh Gaya and Sarnath.

Families welcome0

England

GENERAL INFORMATION

Our India programme will run through from November, 2007 until May 2008. Every month during this time, we offer teachings and practices in very different environments all over India.  
See also www.opendharma.org or email: opendharmainfo@yahoo.com and www.sanghaseva.org or e-mail sangha_seva@yahoo.co.uk and www.dharmanow.com

Do come to India to join all or part of this extraordinary and truly unique six month programme, much of it run entirely on your donations (dana).

The India programme includes:
tree planting, 
sharing life with a large community of lepers,
intensive silent retreats,
dharma gatherings,
Tiruvannamalai,
Bodh Gaya,
Sarnath,
Rishikesh  

IMAGINE...

Imagine such a place on Earth. Hundreds of lamas from the Himalayan kingdoms, both monks and nuns, sit together in an exotic garden with all kinds of trees, flowers, stone statues and stupas. The monks and nuns rock gently to the deep sound and rhythm of ancient chanting and incantations.

It is a place with thousands of butterlamps, candles and incense competing with the bougainvillaea blossoms in day time. At night the lamps sparkle like the reflection of the Milky Way. Amidst this Biblical landscape stands the stupa rather like a space shuttle ready to take off. At the foot of the stupa is the Bodhi Tree, where the Buddha was enlightened.

Nearby there are the solemn and precise incantations of monks from Thailand, Japan, Burma, Sri Lanka, and India. At times, there are the deep drones of the horns announcing the arrival of a great Tibetan lama. Droves of pigeons and the flashing green of parrots fly over the glittering roofs of numerous temples from Buddhist countries. The market is alive with the colours and smells of fruit, vegetable and grains plus desperately poor beggars, skinny horses, noisy trucks, among numerous poor Indian villagers, Asian pilgrims and Western travellers. Since the early 1990's more and more spiritual teachers come in December and January.

All this is Bodh Gaya - the place where Gautama the Buddha sat under the tree and awakened 2500 years ago to the deepest understanding of life.

In 1975, Christopher Titmuss gave his first 10-day retreat in Bodh Gaya when he was a Buddhist monk (Ven. Kitti Subho) in the Vipassana Buddhist tradition of Thailand. Every January since the mid-1970s, he has led retreats at the Thai monastery at the kind invitation of the Lord Abbot of the Monastery. Norman Feldman has been teaching at the monastery since the mid-1980's. The monastery is a few minutes walk from the Bodhi Tree in Bodh Gaya

EACH RETREAT HAS A MAXIMUM CAPACITY OF 135 PEOPLE. THE RETREATS ARE HELD IN THE THAI MONASTERY, BODH GAYA, NEAR GAYA, BIHAR, INDIA.

THE RETREATS
Are held in silence except for personal meetings with the teachers, small group meetings and inquiry sessions in the meditation hall. People stay for the full duration of each retreat within the grounds of the monastery. The retreats include teachings on awakening, comprehensive instructions on Insight Meditation (Vipassana) question and answer periods and guided meditations. The evening talks and inquiry periods explore Liberation, daily life issues and contribute to understanding deeply the range of inner experience.

INSIGHT MEDITATION
I includes sitting, walking, standing, reclining and eating. There is normally an early morning exercise period of guided yoga instructions or the opportunity to follow one's own form of exercise. Two substantial meals are served - breakfast and lunch and a light tea consisting of tea and fruit. Smoking is not permitted on the retreat. The inquiry sessions and evening talks are open to the public.

THE TEACHERS
Martin Aylward and Yvonne Weier lead the first retreat in Bodh Gaya. Christopher Titmuss, Jaya and Radha lead the second retreat in Bodh Gaya. 

BODH GAYA
Is 13 km from Gaya, on the main railway line between New Delhi and Calcutta. The most popular train from New Delhi railway station is the Poorva Express that leaves on Monday, Tuesday and Friday at 16.30 arriving at Gaya 08.40 the next day. There is a fast train, the Rajdhani Express, which leaves every day except Tuesday and Friday at 17.15 and arrives in Gaya at 04.32. The Rajdhani also operates from Calcutta and takes six hours to Gaya. Other trains from Calcutta take about 10 hours. From Gaya station there is a motorised three-wheeler rickshaw direct to Bodh Gaya (costs about 80 rupees) or a taxi (costs about 250 rupees) or local bus. Travel only in daylight hours.

SARNATH PROGRAMME
Runs at the Meditation Centre, Thai Monastery in village of Sarnath, close to sacred grounds in February. Arrive any day and leave any day. Teachings, practices, daily meditations and many group explorations on numerous spiritual and life issues. Run totally on donations. With Christopher, Bryan and several co-teachers. Accommodation in various monasteries and small hotels in village - where Buddha gave his first teachings. 12 kilometres from Varanasi.

TRAIN TICKETS
These can often be purchased in the West. In England, a sleeper berth ticket from New Delhi to Gaya is available through SDEL, 103 Wembley Park Drive, Wembley HA9 8HG. Tel: 0181-903-3411. Please note that the managers at Gaia House are unable to make travel arrangements for you nor provide further information.

AIR TRAVEL FROM OVERSEAS
Contact a reliable local travel agent. Compare air prices. Remember to check the length of period that your air ticket remains valid. Apply for a tourist visa with the Indian Embassy. From New Delhi airport, either take the airport bus to the centre of Delhi (approx. 20 rupees) or a taxi. Be sure to buy a voucher from the pre-paid taxi booth. There is a booth inside and one just outside. Cost is around 200 rupees. Most flights from Europe arrive in the middle of the night. Remember to use at all times pouch or money belt for passport, traveller's cheques and air tickets when travelling through various countries.

HOTELS IN NEW DELHI
There are many inexpensive hotels in New Delhi. See a traveller's guidebook to India. The YMCA, Jai Singh Road, New Delhi 110001, Tel 91 11 311915, Fax 91 11 3746032 offers simple accommodation, plus breakfast and Indian vegetarian meal. Must book in advance.

TRAVEL AGENTS
In Britain contact Trailfinders, 42-50 Earls Court Road, London W8 6EJ. Tel: 0171-938-3366 or Trailfinders, 48 Corn Street, Bristol BS1 1HQ, tel: 0117 9299 000 or Mike Cole travel, 29 Sydney Road, Exeter EX2 9AH. Tel: 01392 219 499. Cost of return air ticket from London to New Delhi ranges from about £400 - £500 return. Late December and early January is a popular time to travel to India so book your flight in September or early October for reasonably priced tickets.

PERSONAL NEEDS Days are generally sunny. At night temperatures in Bodh Gaya can drop to just a few degrees above freezing. It is important to bring a warm sleeping bag. A meditation shawl is useful for cool temperatures. We have a limited number of meditation cushions and mosquito nets. Blankets, shawls, cushions and mosquito nets are available in the local market. You will need a torch/flashlight and some people find earplugs helpful.

FACILITIES IN THE MONASTERY Facilities are simple. Due to the number of retreatants, conditions can be cramped. Accommodation is in dormitories, outside on the veranda or in a large tent. Unfortunately, we have no disabled facilities. We recommend arriving in Body Gaya a few days early to acclimatise and not leaving again immediately after the retreat unless you have to.

BODH GAYA HOTELS Accommodation in Bodh Gaya is limited. There are a number of local hotels. The Burmese Vihara, the Maha Bodhi Society, Bhutanese and some other temples occasionally offer basic accommodation. The Ashok Travellers Lodge and Tourist Bungalows offer facilities that are more expensive. There is a dormitory in the Tourist Bungalow near the Thai Temple and rooms in private houses in Pachatti (near the Burmese Vihara). We can use the rooms in the Thai Temple only during the period of the retreat. We are sorry we cannot book accommodation for you.

COST The retreat is residential. Your donations (dana) cover food, accommodation, cooks' wages, postage, air fares for two of the teachers and one of the managers, and railfare for other teachers and managers. Payment may be made in rupees, foreign cash or travellers cheques. At the end of the retreat, participants are also invited to give donations (dana) to help support Dharma service of teachers, manages and cooks.

BOOKINGS mail to: . Please indicate your age, sex, which retreat you wish to sit and any medical conditions that may affect your retreat. On arrival in Bodh Gaya, please confirm your place with one of the managers. Payment in rupees at this time is appreciated as pre-retreat expenses are high. Our budget does not permit us to communicate by fax or telephone with you., but in an emergency you may fax Burmese Vihara, Bodh Gaya at 0091-631-400848.
Volunteers are needed to help set up the retreat from late December to January 17. We welcome all help. Immediately after each retreat, there is the opportunity for a guided visit to remote villages.

See also People First International, based in Bodh Gaya. UK address of PFI is PO Box 457 Navenby, Lincoln, LN5 OGD, England. UK Fax is 44 (0) 1522 811128. Fax for PFI in Bodh Gaya is (91) 631 400 656.

OUR SCHOOL Since the 1980s, Christopher has been giving regular teachings to the village children coming to the monastery. This led to the opening in the early 1990's of an inter-faith school. There are now 560 poor children from Bodh Gaya attending the school that offers free education. Much of the funds for the school come from Western retreatants. Buddhists, Hindus, Christians and Muslims co-operate together to run the school. The school puts out an annual newsletter. On the afternoon of January 15, 23 and February 4, the school puts on a cultural event of dance and music for Western visitors and local people.

DONATIONS Please support the Pragya Vihar School (the School of Abiding Wisdom). Every donation goes directly towards the running and maintenance of the school. Please send donations in any currency. It costs approximately $40 (£26) per year to educate a pupil. The 15 teachers aim to nourish the spiritual, cultural, practical, social and intellectual development of the pupils. The school relies totally on these donations. Donations can be sent to the following contacts:

1. Pragya Vihar School (see Lord Abbot), c/o Burmese Vihara, Bodh Gaya, Bihar, 824231, India.

2. Felix Helg, Talacker Str. 44 8500 Frauenfeld, Switzerland. tel: 41 52 7203825

3. Bodh Gaya Development Foundation c/o Eoin Meades, 147 Richmond Road, Morningside, QLD 4170, Australia. tel. 07 3992017. Cheques payable to Bodh Gaya Development Foundation. Indicate School.

4. Hugh Bryne, 724 Underwood St., NW Washington, DC 20012, USA.

5. Christopher Titmuss c/o Pragya Vihar School, 7 Denys Road, Totnes TQ9 5TJ Devon England. Make cheques payable to Pragya Vihar School.

Please click here for more information about the Pragya Vihar School.

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The retreats point to awareness, depths of meditation, opening the heart and liberation here and now. For further information about Dharma teachings, teachers and retreat centres world-wide offering Insight Meditation, please write to Gaia House for a programme and newsletter. Please feel free to copy this information.

MAY ALL BEINGS BE LIBERATED