Detailed List of Retreats
A Vipassana Retreat: The search for truth
"You may find that the cell is an ideal place to learn to know yourself, to search realistically and regularly the processes of your own mind and feelings ... it gives you the opportunity to look daily into your entire conduct to overcome the bad and develop whatever is good in you. Never forget that a saint is a sinner who keeps on trying.”
- Nelson Mandela - Mandela The Authorised Biography by Anthony Sampson
Vipassana (insight) meditation uses mindfulness to search for the mental and emotional patterns that cause all humans to suffer. The aim is to learn how to overcome suffering and to be fully alive. This four-day retreat is an opportunity to deepen meditation practice using the traditional Buddhist method of Mahasi Sayadaw and Achan Tong. Meditators are encouraged to stay for the entire course but you may also stay for a shorter time and beginners are welcome to learn how to start Vipassana meditation. Mindfulness is developed by regular walking and sitting practice (both in the meditation hall and outside in the forest), by maintaining awareness during normal activities such as eating, showering, dressing etc. and supported by daily interviews with the teachers. The retreat will be held in an atmosphere of Noble silence.
Sustain awareness at every moment in every posture, whether standing, walking, sitting or lying down. This is the way to establish mindfulness in the heart- Ajahn Chah
Anna Scharfenberg began practicing Vipassana in 2005 and worked at meditation centers in Europe. She practiced and trained as a teacher with Ajahn Tong. Ajahn Tong is Abbot of Wat Chom Tong and is widely regarded as the greatest living teacher in Thailand. Since 2012, she has taught with her husband in Thailand, Mexico, Italy, Spain, and South Africa. In 2013 they started teaching meditation together in the Czech Republic and are currently teaching and managing the Tisarana Vipassananusorn Meditation Center Prague (www.tisarana.cz).