A Walking and Compassion in Action Retreat
“Rarely, if ever, are any of us healed in isolation. Healing is an act of communion.” bell hooks
Name of Retreat: A Walking & Compassion Action Retreat
Date: Spring: 18 - 21 May 2024
Autumn: 10 - 13 October 2024
Location: Kathmandu Valley
Number of Participants: 6 - 12
Duration: 4 days
Leaders: Pema Lama, Abiding Heart team and Benchen monastery school team
Fee: *$450
*Fee includes room, breakfast, lunch and transport. Please note the food offerings for the monastic children are in addition to this fee.
We use this fee to give full scholarships for monastic primary teachers to attend our teacher training courses. One well trained teacher change many monastic children's life. Our retreats are not for profit purposes.
Description:
Walking, Meditating, and Understanding Buddhist Heritage
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The first walk is from Panauti to Namo Buddha and includes a pilgrimage to sacred sites in the area.
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The second walk is in Pharping with a focus on local sacred Buddhist sites.
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The third hike is from Pharping to Champadevi hills.
Compassion in Action
Offering our presence and joy to others. Our partner school's monastic children in Pharping will join us on the third and fourth days. We will celebrate our common humanity and togetherness.
Itinerary:
Day 1:
We drive to Panauti where the walk will begin. We spend time exploring this ancient Vedic city. Starting in Panauti we hike to Namo Buddha where we stay overnight. Length of walk is 6 hours reaching altitude of 2551m.
Day 2:
We spend the morning at Namo Buddha stupa pausing to contemplate this sacred site through historical and mythological
storytelling, as well as understand their philosophical meaning.
We meditate and contemplate Bodhichitta (all encompassing
compassion) and offer butter lamps. In the afternoon we drive to Banepa and visit the blue Tara temple, experiential explore wisdom and compassion. We conclude this day by making butter lamps offerings and return to Kathmandu for the night.
Day 3:
We travel to Pharping, walking together with the little monks of Benchen monastery to the different sacred Buddhist sites in the area while listening to stories about Guru Rinpoche, Vajrayogini, Tara and the
Golden Temple. We take time to practice awareness and mindfulness meditation before offering butter lamps. Sharing afternoon tea with the children, we celebrate togetherness and enjoy delicious cakes as we soak in the spiritual nature of this special community.
Day 4:
On our final day we hike with the older monks from Hattiban to Champadevi hills passing through stupas and taking our time to admire the breathtaking view of the Kathmandu Valley, Pharping and the mountains. We have a picnic together before walking down the hill down to our vehicle which will take us back to Kathmandu where we will conclude our walking retreat with a traditional Nepali meal. The Length of the walk is 5 hours reaching a high point of 2249m.
