DharmaMind Group
Latest Update April 2024
Hopefully you like our updated website. Our platform had become out-of-date and difficult to maintain so we have upgraded to the latest software. This gave an opportunity to review the look and feel of the website, particularly for mobile devices, and we hope has improved the experience for everyone. Take a look around and if you find anything that doesn’t work, or an area you feel could be further enhanced then please get in touch.
Latest Update September 2021
With Covid-19 restrictions being relaxed, we’ve been working to re-establish our annual schedule of residential retreats. Following a fabulous 5 days at the beautiful Trigonos centre in North Wales, we have now reserved Anybody’s Barn for the Autumn. As the momentum of the group has grown we’ve needed to create a more formal structure, and in August we published our new Constitution and Guidance for Running the Group. These documents provide a clear framework for us and enable us to secure insurance, book retreat centres and manage our administration.
Update October 2020
When Covid-19 restrictions appeared in March this year we adapted our retreat programme and moved online, to Zoom. A trial day retreat at the end of March was remarkably effective at recreating the Sangha presence, and further planning delivered a regular weekly meeting as well as Saturday end of month day retreats.
Although physical meetings are our preference, Zoom enables the Sangha to continue to practice, talk Dharma, and ensure we remain connected to the DM teachings and form. In these extraordinary times it’s easy to overlook the structures that support us, and many feel the online Sangha and routine of practice have helped keep us anchored over the last 6 months.
During the Summer we hoped to return to physical meetings and residential retreats, and we managed to squeeze in one residential before the rules changed. But with the current situation we are now 100% online, and likely to remain this way for the foreseeable future.
The drum-beat of retreats will continue. Our online Sangha continues to grow. Our hope is that more will come and try it! We offer:
– Every Thursday evening, 7pm-9pm (meditation, Dharma video, discussion)
– Last Saturday of every month (day long silence, 9:30am-5pm, sitting and walking periods, Dharma video)
– Weekend retreats (2 days back-to-back, same format as Saturdays)
Please click here for dates and more details.
Or email us: dharmamindteam@protonmail.com
Update October 2019
Following the death of our teacher Āloka David Smith in 2015, many in the DharmaMind Buddhist Group continued to practice the way we always had. The teachings we had been left were, and still are, complete in their own right, so we continued to use Āloka’s legacy and the practice that taught us so much.
In May 2019, a day’s meditation retreat was held in memory of our teacher. This meeting acted as a call to bring old DMBG members back together again. The following month we started running DharmaMind end-of-month Saturday retreats, and last week we held the Autumn weekend residential retreat. We are now in the process of restarting local meditation groups as well as developing a residential retreat schedule. The form, pujas and schedule are unchanged from Āloka’s days.
The DharmaMind Buddhist Group continues to grow, enabling us and others to come home to the practice that teaches us how to transform ourselves, to accept ourselves and others, and how to embrace life with joy. We’ve learned a lot and we’re still learning. In Āloka’s words, “this is the falling over and picking yourself up and keep coming back and this is what we do and that’s why it is a polishing. You do your best”.
Please bookmark this page to see regular updates about retreats, or contact dharmamindteam@protonmail.com for more information. All are welcome.
With love and gratitude,
The DharmaMind Team