By using this website, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to analyse site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. View our Privacy Policy for more information.
Booking via link below. A €300 deposit is required and the completion of application form.
The retreat is open to anyone with previous experience of similar types of silent retreat of at least 3 days duration. It is important that you have had some experience of being in silence on a shorter retreat before undertaking a retreat of this length. Teachers and trainee teachers of Mindfulness-Based Interventions are welcome. This retreat fulfils the requirements of the MTAI.
Martine, Bernat and Martine’s husband Stephen’s new book is called ‘Living Life on Life’s Terms: Turning the Wheel of Secular Dharma.’ According to the Bodhi College:
At the heart of this book is a reimagining of the Four Noble Truths - reframed as four practical tasks to be performed – guidelines for living ethically and responding wisely to the realities of life… Identifying the core values and principles of the teachings of the Buddha, this book systematically rethinks them in ways that address the issues of this secular age.
The main question that runs through the book is a direct one: What matters today? The response is the practice of four tasks:
Embrace life
Let reactivity be
See reactivity stop
Actualise a path
These are not doctrines to accept but tasks to be performed – guidelines for meeting experience, living ethically, and responding wisely to the realities of life. It is an inspiring guide for anyone seeking a contemporary path to freedom.
The retreat will follow the theme of the book, the Four Ennobling Tasks.
Each day will offer a sustained schedule of formal Insight and Metta meditation practices, group meetings with the teachers, talks and instructions, all within an underlying environment of silence. As well as sitting and walking meditation, there will be periods of guided mindful movement each day.
MARTINE BATCHELOR was a Buddhist nun in Korea for ten years. She studied Seon Buddhism under the guidance of the late Master Kusan. She translated his book “The Way of Korean Zen”. Following Master Kusan’s death she returned her nun’s vows and left South Korea to come back to live in Europe where she also studied mindfulness meditation. She is a faculty member of the Bodhi College.
She is the author of several books including: “The Path of Compassion”, “Women in Korean Zen”, “Women on the Buddhist Path”, “Meditation for Life”, “The Spirit of the Buddha”, “Let Go: A Buddhist Guide to Breaking Free of Habits” and “What is this? Ancient questions for Modern Minds”.
Martine’s teaching style is warm and embodied. Her teaching is very practical, making complex teachings accessible and immediately applicable to our daily lives and our relationships.
BERNAT FONT is returning to Ireland to teach on our annual retreat for the 3rd time: he was here in Castletown in 2018 with Christina Feldman and in 2023 with John Peacock (who some of you will remember had to attend virtually, on a very big screen).
Bernat teaches with a combination of scholarly rigour, everyday examples, and a playful sensibility. Meeting the dharma at an early age, he has been mainly influenced by Stephen Batchelor, Sayadaw U Tejaniya and the Thai Forest tradition. A Bodhi College faculty member and founder of Espai Sati, he has a PhD in Buddhist Studies, translates Pali texts, and is also a jazz pianist.
He has published Early Buddhist Hedonism: The Role of Spiritual Pleasure in the Pali Discourses (Bloomsbury, 2026).
The combination of Bernat’s passion for the teachings of the Buddha and his love of jazz music brings playfulness, imagination and freshness to his teaching. He uses stories from real life to illustrate how the Dharma can support us in our day-to-day experience of living in today’s world.
We are so lucky to have Martine and Bernat come to Ireland to lead this retreat.
Here is a link to Martine, Bernat and Stephen talking about their new book:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISBTNwDQ9ik
The retreat is open to anyone with previous experience of similar types of silent retreat of at least 3 days duration. It is important that you have had some experience of being in silence on a shorter retreat before undertaking a retreat of this length. Teachers and trainee teachers of Mindfulness-Based Interventions are welcome. This retreat fulfils the requirements of the MTAI.
Martine, Bernat and Martine’s husband Stephen’s new book is called ‘Living Life on Life’s Terms: Turning the Wheel of Secular Dharma.’ According to the Bodhi College:
At the heart of this book is a reimagining of the Four Noble Truths - reframed as four practical tasks to be performed – guidelines for living ethically and responding wisely to the realities of life… Identifying the core values and principles of the teachings of the Buddha, this book systematically rethinks them in ways that address the issues of this secular age.
The main question that runs through the book is a direct one: What matters today? The response is the practice of four tasks:
Embrace life
Let reactivity be
See reactivity stop
Actualise a path
These are not doctrines to accept but tasks to be performed – guidelines for meeting experience, living ethically, and responding wisely to the realities of life. It is an inspiring guide for anyone seeking a contemporary path to freedom.
The retreat will follow the theme of the book, the Four Ennobling Tasks.
Each day will offer a sustained schedule of formal Insight and Metta meditation practices, group meetings with the teachers, talks and instructions, all within an underlying environment of silence. As well as sitting and walking meditation, there will be periods of guided mindful movement each day.
MARTINE BATCHELOR was a Buddhist nun in Korea for ten years. She studied Seon Buddhism under the guidance of the late Master Kusan. She translated his book “The Way of Korean Zen”. Following Master Kusan’s death she returned her nun’s vows and left South Korea to come back to live in Europe where she also studied mindfulness meditation. She is a faculty member of the Bodhi College.
She is the author of several books including: “The Path of Compassion”, “Women in Korean Zen”, “Women on the Buddhist Path”, “Meditation for Life”, “The Spirit of the Buddha”, “Let Go: A Buddhist Guide to Breaking Free of Habits” and “What is this? Ancient questions for Modern Minds”.
Martine’s teaching style is warm and embodied. Her teaching is very practical, making complex teachings accessible and immediately applicable to our daily lives and our relationships.
BERNAT FONT is returning to Ireland to teach on our annual retreat for the 3rd time: he was here in Castletown in 2018 with Christina Feldman and in 2023 with John Peacock (who some of you will remember had to attend virtually, on a very big screen).
Bernat teaches with a combination of scholarly rigour, everyday examples, and a playful sensibility. Meeting the dharma at an early age, he has been mainly influenced by Stephen Batchelor, Sayadaw U Tejaniya and the Thai Forest tradition. A Bodhi College faculty member and founder of Espai Sati, he has a PhD in Buddhist Studies, translates Pali texts, and is also a jazz pianist.
He has published Early Buddhist Hedonism: The Role of Spiritual Pleasure in the Pali Discourses (Bloomsbury, 2026).
The combination of Bernat’s passion for the teachings of the Buddha and his love of jazz music brings playfulness, imagination and freshness to his teaching. He uses stories from real life to illustrate how the Dharma can support us in our day-to-day experience of living in today’s world.
We are so lucky to have Martine and Bernat come to Ireland to lead this retreat.
Here is a link to Martine, Bernat and Stephen talking about their new book:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISBTNwDQ9ik
MARTINE BATCHELOR was a Buddhist nun in Korea for ten years. She studied Seon Buddhism under the guidance of the late Master Kusan. She translated his book “The Way of Korean Zen”. Following Master Kusan’s death she returned her nun’s vows and left South Korea to come back to live in Europe where she also studied mindfulness meditation. She is a faculty member of the Bodhi College.
She is the author of several books including: “The Path of Compassion”, “Women in Korean Zen”, “Women on the Buddhist Path”, “Meditation for Life”, “The Spirit of the Buddha”, “Let Go: A Buddhist Guide to Breaking Free of Habits” and “What is this? Ancient questions for Modern Minds”.
Martine’s teaching style is warm and embodied. Her teaching is very practical, making complex teachings accessible and immediately applicable to our daily lives and our relationships.
BERNAT FONT is returning to Ireland to teach on our annual retreat for the 3rd time: he was here in Castletown in 2018 with Christina Feldman and in 2023 with John Peacock (who some of you will remember had to attend virtually, on a very big screen).
Bernat teaches with a combination of scholarly rigour, everyday examples, and a playful sensibility. Meeting the dharma at an early age, he has been mainly influenced by Stephen Batchelor, Sayadaw U Tejaniya and the Thai Forest tradition. A Bodhi College faculty member and founder of Espai Sati, he has a PhD in Buddhist Studies, translates Pali texts, and is also a jazz pianist.
He has published Early Buddhist Hedonism: The Role of Spiritual Pleasure in the Pali Discourses (Bloomsbury, 2026).
The combination of Bernat’s passion for the teachings of the Buddha and his love of jazz music brings playfulness, imagination and freshness to his teaching. He uses stories from real life to illustrate how the Dharma can support us in our day-to-day experience of living in today’s world.
