Buddhafield Family Friendly Village
Storytelling at the aboandoned mill | Image © Padmapani 2011
This ever-popular retreat for all ages provides a unique opportunity to practice as a real community, exploring how to live lightly on the land in the wilds of Dartmoor, with a strong foundation in the principles of Triratna Buddhist practice. Our wonderful kids and teen teams organise daily activities for our young people, which include arts and crafts, Dharma drama, music and Bushcraft. There are daily study groups and Dharma talks, and theme-based evening pujas and ritual celebrations. Nurture yourself with nature, feast on fabulous food, celebrate with stories, song and dance, practice and play with other families as we work together to create our dream.
Important: In line with our vision for this retreat and also following popular demand, we will be attempting to strengthen the retreat nature of this event by restricting attendance to those who commit not to arrive late or leave early and who book (and pay) in advance.
- Dharma. We have study or “kula” groups and Dharma talks every day and a celebratory ritual or puja every evening in our canvas shrines and tipis, beautifully decorated with nature.
- Food. We enjoy 3 fantastic vegetarian/vegan meals a day. The recipes are based on the concept of sustainable organic whole food.
- Children. Each day there are organised activities such as arts and crafts, music, sports for fun, bushcraft, dress ups, kids Dharma study and opportunities to take part in the evening celebrations.
- Teens. We have specialist Teen workers who work with our young adults to coordinate their own activities.
- Camping. We have two beautiful meadows, free from traffic, with high quality compost toilets, outdoor washing facilities and hot showers. There is some limited space for live in vehicles and caravans.
- Community. Everyone ( 6+) gets a chance to join a work group and help towards the day to day running of the community whilst meeting new people and even acquiring new skills!
- Booking. When you book a place on this retreat during the checkout process we will ask you a few questions about youself and those you are booking for. This information helps us plan and resource the event appropriately. We will ask you:
- If you are new to this retreat
- What your involvement with the Triratna Buddhhist Community is, if any
- What type of discussion group — mixed or single sex — you may like to join
- What type of work group you may like to join. “Work“ takes up about about 1 to 2 hours a day. All allocations are on a first come first served basis (but swops may be possible on site). Job shares are possible for parents of very young children. Anyone over the age of 6 is invited to take part in a suitable work group at the parents discretion.
The work areas are:
- Kitchen chopping / cooking either lunch or dinner
- Washing Up after breakfast or lunch or dinner
- Servery serving Up food Lunch or dinner
- Tea Tent maintaining tea urns and tea stock the during day or eve
- Site Crew cleaning loos / maintaining structures / facilities
- Kids Area running kids activities — afternoon mostly
- Teens facilitating and safeguarding activities
- Showers / Hot tubs early mornings / chopping wood / maintaining fires / supervising hot tub sessions
- Arts Team experienced musicians / performers only
- Shrine
So you may like to think about these and ask those you are booking for before proceding with you booking.
You don’t have to be a practising Buddhist to come but a strong interest is encouraged.
We have a limited capacity and are always a very popular event so please make sure you book early!
Devapriya
We’re profoundly sad to have to say that on 1 November 2012, Devapriya, a longstanding member of the Family Friendly Village Heart Team, passed away. Having suffered from declining health for many years, in the autumn of 2012 he had a very bad fall at home and never fully recovered.
In accordance with one Devapriya’s last wishes, an In Memoriam online donations page for a Buddhafield Village Retreat Yurt has been created on the JustGiving website — all donations gratefully accepted!
A book of Rejoicing in Devapriya has been created, with contributions from his many friends. Further contributions are welcome c/o Lokabandhu.
Visit the 2013 Retreats & Events Programme page |
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| Dates | Monday 19 August—Monday 26 August 2013 | |
| Suitability | Open to all | |
| Venue | Frog Mill near Chagford, Devon | |
| Donation guidelines |
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| Led by | Led by Amaragita, Carl, Dayajoti and Vimalaraja | |
| Booking |
You will only be asked to pay a deposit of £40 per adult / teeneager / child now: this will be calculated for you. When you arrive on site you will be asked if you want to make a further donation: please consider donating at / in proportion to the highest rate to ensure we cover costs. |
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