Three amazing meditation retreats in the beautiful nature of Estonia in the summer of 2020
We have decided to postpone the July retreats to 2021.
We will post info in December.
Three Amazing Meditation Retreats in Estonia - Summer 2020
Find all the info below and register soon!
We are happy to announce that in July and August 2020 there will be three meditation retreats happening in the beautiful nature of Estonia.
First two retreats will take place from 18th to 26th of July and 26th of July to 2nd of August and will focus on the topics of Mindfulness, Selflessness & Compassion. These two retreats will be led by Glen Svensson - a highly experienced and valued teacher of Meditation with strong training in Tibetan Buddhism.
It will be possible to participate in either of the two retreats or to participate in both and enjoy a full two weeks of meditation practice in a conducive environment with supportive teachings.
The first week will focus on the practices of mindfulness and compassion. The second week will focus on insight and compassion.
Additionally to teachings about and practice of meditation there will be session of Qi Gong - a gentle meditative movement practice - led by Hsuan-Hsiu Hung.
The third retreat will take place from 18th to 23rd of August and focus equally on the practice of Qi Gong led by Hsuan-Hsiu Hung and the practice of meditation led by Mikk Tamme.
The retreat called The Art of Movement and Stillness will be a great opportunity to get an introduction to meditation and Qi Gong as well as to take the time to practice and deepen ones experience.
Scroll down to learn more about each of the retreats.
Mindfulness, Selflessness & Compassion Retreat
(the first week covering mindfulness (shamatha) & compassion)
When? Saturday 18th to Sunday 26th of July 2020
Where? Männiku Metsatalu in Central Estonia 15 kilometers from Viljandi. http://www.metsatalu.ee/ - a beautiful and inspiring location
Registration? Preferably before 30th of April
Group size? Maximum 30 people
Teachers? Glen Svensson http://www.glensvensson.org/ and Hsuan-Hsiu Hung http://www.dancinginart.com/
Course language? English
For whom? Everyone interested in learning methods for living a more peaceful, joyful, and successful life and willing to devote at least this week to learning about their mind.
Do you think it would be better to go about your life:
Being relaxed rather than uptight and stressed?
Having a mind that is stable rather than agitated and not focused?
With a clear mind rather than a dull mind constantly needing stimulation?
Being caring, kind, loving rather than bitter, nasty, self-centered?
With compassion rather than resentment and ill will?
Being empathetic rather than aloof and indifferent?
Having an equally open heart not oscillating between attachment and aversion?
Is there anything we do in our lives that would not benefit from a focused mind and an open heart? Spiritual practice, relationships with kids, friends, partner, colleagues, and all meaningful endeavors in our life benefit from sustained attention.
What is the retreat about?
During this nine day retreat we will learn how to develop and enhance our attention skills, how to strengthen our faculty of mindfulness. Within Buddhism this training is often referred to as shamatha practice.
We will be focusing on three techniques that have been found to be effective for people living in the modern world.
Mindfulness of breathing – This technique is particularly recommended for those who have highly discursive minds and find it difficult to remain in the present moment.
Settling the mind in its natural state – We are often the slaves of our mind, under the control of and overwhelmed by our thoughts, emotions and memories. Through simply observing these movements of our mind this technique enables us to become the masters of our mind.
Resting in awareness – This technique enables us to simply rest within the stillness of our awareness and thus to be grounded within that open and spacious state of stillness in the midst of a busy hectic life.
We will spend the first five days learning and practicing these techniques and then over the following three days deepening the shamatha practice using the object of your choice.
To ensure that our shamatha practice is balanced and effective we will be supplementing it with compassion practice. This will not only include the cultivation of the four immeasurables of loving-kindness, compassion, empathetic joy & equanimity but also the practice of exchanging self with others and the tong-len practice.
This retreat is suitable for both beginners and those already established in these practices.
Teachers
Originally from Australia, Glen has been a student and practitioner of Tibetan Buddhism since 1995 and graduated from the seven-year Masters Program in Advanced Buddhist Studies of Sutra and Tantra at Istituto Lama Tzong Khapa (Pomaia, Italy) in 2004.
Since 2005 he has taught and led meditation retreats in India, Europe, North America and Australia with a clear and structured teaching style and emphasizing the integration ​of philosophical ​view, meditation and daily life conduct.
Additionally, we will have sessions of Qi Gong led by Hsuan-Hsiu Hung from Taiwan. She has studied and practiced the art of balancing the mind and body through gentle movements, breathe, and relaxed focus for more than a decade.
​
General Schedule
05.30 – Wake up
06.00 – 06.35 Qi Gong
06.45 – 07.30 Session 1
07.30 – 09.00 Breakfast
09.00 – 10.15 Session 2
10.15 – 10.45 Break
10.45 – 12.00 Session 3
12.00 – 14:00 Lunch
14.00 – 15.15 Session 4
15.15 – 15.45 Break
15.45 – 16.45 Qi Gong
16.45 – 17.00 Break
17.00 – 18.00 Session 5
18.00 – 19:30 Dinner
19.30 – 20:30 Session 6
First day of the retreat (18th July) will start at 16.00 and last day of the retreat (26th July) will finish at 12.00.
Practicalities
This event is run as a meditation retreat meaning that during the week there will be silence – both between the course participants and with the outside world. No phones, computers, internet, talking.
The accommodation is in rooms with 2-3 people. Rooms have private bathroom. Men and women are in separate rooms.
Delicious vegetarian food three times a day is offered.
People should be dressed moderately and loosely so sitting would be comfortable. Intoxicants that cloud the mind are prohibited.
The fee for the retreat is €370 that covers accommodation, food, meditation room, and the teacher’s flight to Estonia. Participants can leave a donation for the teacher. Limited number of single rooms are available for an extra fee.
In case there is genuine interest to participate but financial problems inhibit, please do contact the organizers and we will see what can be done. The retreat is not organized for profit but out of the organizers wish to share beneficial teachings with others.
​
Recommended reading
The Attention Revolution - B. Alan Wallace
The Four Immeasurables - B. Alan Wallace
Genuine Happiness - B. Alan Wallace
Registration and info:
To register please contact Mikk Tamme at retreatinestonia@gmail.com.
​
Ideally register as soon as possible as in previous years places have filled up quickly.
Mindfulness, Selflessness & Compassion Retreat
(the second week covering selflessness (vipashyana) & compassion)
When? Sunday 26th of July to Sunday 2nd of August 2020
Where? Männiku Metsatalu in Central Estonia 15 kilometers from Viljandi. http://www.metsatalu.ee/ - a beautiful and inspiring location
Registration? Preferably before 30th of April
Group size? Maximum 30 people
Teachers? Glen Svensson http://www.glensvensson.org/ and Hsuan-Hsiu Hung http://www.dancinginart.com/
Course language? English
For whom? Everyone interested in learning methods for living a more peaceful, joyful, and successful life and willing to devote at least this week to learning about their mind.
What is the retreat about?
​
During this eight day retreat we will be applying mindfulness to gain insights into the nature of reality. Within Buddhism this training is often referred to as vipashyana practice.
We will be focusing on four main insights that will enable us to overcome four distorted views of reality and thereby help us to reduce and eliminate our mental afflictions and suffering.
​
The four insights are
Impermanence – coming to realize that everything is changing moment by moment
Suffering – coming to realize that there is no genuine happiness to be found out there in the world
No self – coming to realize that there is no autonomous self to be found anywhere
Emptiness – coming to realize that nothing exists independently
To ensure that our vipashyana practice is balanced and effective we will be supplementing it with compassion practice. This will not only include the cultivation of the four immeasurables of loving-kindness, compassion, empathetic joy & equanimity but also the practice of exchanging self with others and the tong-len practice.
​
This retreat is suitable for both beginners and those already established in these practices.
​
Teachers
Originally from Australia, Glen has been a student and practitioner of Tibetan Buddhism since 1995 and graduated from the seven-year Masters Program in Advanced Buddhist Studies of Sutra and Tantra at Istituto Lama Tzong Khapa (Pomaia, Italy) in 2004.
Since 2005 he has taught and led meditation retreats in India, Europe, North America and Australia with a clear and structured teaching style and emphasizing the integration ​of philosophical ​view, meditation and daily life conduct.
Additionally, we will have sessions of Qi Gong led by Hsuan-Hsiu Hung from Taiwan. She has studied and practiced the art of balancing the mind and body through gentle movements, breathe, and relaxed focus for more than a decade.
​
General Schedule
​
05.30 – Wake up
06.00 – 06.35 Qi Gong
06.45 – 07.30 Session 1
07.30 – 09.00 Breakfast
09.00 – 10.15 Session 2
10.15 – 10.45 Break
10.45 – 12.00 Session 3
12.00 – 14:00 Lunch
14.00 – 15.15 Session 4
15.15 – 15.45 Break
15.45 – 16.45 Qi Gong
16.45 – 17.00 Break
17.00 – 18.00 Session 5
18.00 – 19:30 Dinner
19.30 – 20:30 Session 6
First day of the retreat (26th July) will start at 16.00 and last day of the retreat (2nd August) will finish at 12.00.
​
Practicalities
This event is run as a meditation retreat meaning that during the week there will be silence – both between the course participants and with the outside world. No phones, computers, internet, talking.
The accommodation is in rooms with 2-3 people. Rooms have private bathroom. Men and women are in separate rooms.
Delicious vegetarian food three times a day is offered.
People should be dressed moderately and loosely so sitting would be comfortable. Intoxicants that cloud the mind are prohibited.
The fee for the retreat is €330 that covers accommodation, food, meditation room, and the teacher’s flight to Estonia. Participants can leave a donation for the teacher. Limited number of single rooms are available for an extra fee.
​
In case there is genuine interest to participate but financial problems inhibit, please do contact the organizers and we will see what can be done. The retreat is not organized for profit but out of the organizers wish to share beneficial teachings with others.
​
Recommended reading
​
Minding Closely - B. Alan Wallace
How to See Yourself as You Really Are - The Dalai Lama
The Four Immeasurables - B. Alan Wallace
​
Registration and info:
​
To register please contact Mikk Tamme at retreatinestonia@gmail.com.
​
Ideally register as soon as possible as in previous years places have filled up quickly
Retreat in Matsalu: The Art of Movement and Stillness
Introduction to the practices of Qi Gong and meditation
When? Tuesday 18th of August to Sunday 23rd of August 2020
Where? Matsalu Creative Space in Western Estonia http://www.kodade.ee/en/ - a beautiful and inspiring location
Registration? Preferably before 31st of May
Group size? Maximum 20 people
Retreat leaders? Hsuan-Hsiu Hung http://www.dancinginart.com/ and Mikk Tamme
Course language? English
For whom? Everyone interested in learning methods for living a more peaceful, joyful, and successful life and willing to devote at least a week to learn about their mind and body.
​
About the retreat
Set in the beautiful Matsalu, a peaceful environment in nature that supports one looking inwards within oneself, to work with both the mind and the body through movement and meditation practices.
The movement sessions offer traditional forms of Qi Gong as well as creative and physical tools that allow us to tune into the body, to relax, to release the tensions, to listen to the body‘s intuition, to heal, to express ourselves authentically and to better connect with the world around us. These practices deepen our awareness as we live and move through life.
The meditation sessions will give you an introduction to basic meditation practices. We will also discuss why meditation is important and what it actually really is about. We will see how meditation practice can help us in everyday life and we will take time to practice so that we would have an idea how to meditate after we leave.
During the retreat silence will be the default mode. If you feel it will be more meaningful to talk in a mindful way and you have a willing partner, you are welcome to take a walk and talk. But in general the few days are an environment to rest from all the chit chats and to really learn to notice oneself more. This is best done while being mostly silent.
Get in Touch
Ask additional questions or register for the retreats
+3725531133
A TV program about the Retreat in Estonia from 2018
One of the participants in the retreats in 2018 was a successful TV host leading one of the most popular TV programs in Estonia. As an exception he and his crew got an access to the second retreat of 2018 for 24 hours to film and put together a TV show.
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It is mostly in Estonian but you can see the place and the atmosphere and Glen speaks in English.