[AxelSnaxel]

Very good news everyone!

An English speaking meditation retreat with Abhaya Thero has now been confirmed. It will be a 9 day meditation retreat held in the last 2 weeks of September 2020 nearby London. The Dates and Location will be confirmed later. it will be residential retreat, meaning that the accommodation is in the same location as the meditation

All the Dhamma discussions and meditation instructions will be in English. While the meaning of all the Karmasthanas (Pali/Sinhala chants for meditation) will also be explained in English also.

All who want to attend should join this Whatsapp group: https://chat.whatsapp.com/GU93LJsMydwHu5RLl4Ehor

If you can’t attend, that is not the end of the world. As the whole retreat, discussions and meditation, will be live streamed.

I have personally attended 3 of his meditation retreats and I highly recommend them.
Here are a playlist of English Dhamma discussions by Abhaya Thero. They are quite powerful and can give a lot of Niramisa Sukha. It was through watching them that i made the leap to Sotapanna. Playlist Link

Please share this event with your fellow Dhamma friends.
I hope to see you there :)

[Lal]

Thank you, Axel.

I have heard very good things about Abhaya Theros retreats. Christian has posted some videos on testimonials from retreat attendees from the past retreats at, “Personal Experiences.”

I have met Abhaya Thero a couple of times in my visits to Sri Lanka in 2014 and 2016. Even though I did not get to meet Waharaka Thero (due to his illnesses), I was able to meet Abhaya Thero and Sudithadeera Thero. They provided me with many recorded discourses of Waharaka Thero and were very helpful. They have, of course, made those discourses available at “සදහම් දේශනා” (in Sinhala)
– When I first met Abhaya Thero in 2014 he was not yet ordained. He was an engineer. So, he has a good background in science as well.
– He has a unique ability to get others to samadhi with his unique style. Those who had cultivated jhanas in recent previous lives are able to attain jhana in a short time (during a retreat).

The only reservation I have about Abhaya Thero’s retreats is the emphasis on jhanas. It is, of course, a great thing to cultivate jhanas. But as I have discussed at length on this website, it is important to make note of the following two points.

1. It is not easy to distinguish between anariya and Ariya jhana. Only the person who experiences jhana would know whether kama raga are only suppressed (anariya jhana) or removed (Ariya jhana). As Waharaka Thero has also pointed out, one must remove kama raga to attain even the first Ariya jhana. I have a discourse from Waharaka Thero on that point in the post, “Parinibbāna of Waharaka Thēro.”
– I have also discussed these issues in detail at, “Samādhi, Jhāna (Dhyāna), Magga Phala”

2. Jhanas are not necessary to attain magga phala. Those who are not able to attain jhana in a retreat need not be discouraged. What is important is to grasp the anicca, dukkha, anatta nature. Abhaya Thero does a good job of explaining those concepts at the beginning of the retreats.

P.S. New post for this week is, “Vacī Saṅkhāra – Saṅkappa (Conscious Thoughts) and Vācā (Speech)“

[Christian]

I can agree but I can not find any explanation for it, even I lost any craving for jhana when doing my formal meditation with chants as I found that there is something else going on that helps me to attain and uproot tanha. I do not know how it is possible but I have not jhana factors yet they are factors that help me progress on the Path like samadhi, upekkha and clarity of mind. I even have lights before eyes that people have in 4th jhana but I can not tell if I’m in 4th jhana, it’s seems I have 4th jhana factors (or something similar to magga phala) without any jhana. I still didn’t find any satisfying explanation on what really going on BUT as long as I can see tanha disappearing I’m all fine with whatever happens as progress is ongoing. As Lal said one should not be discouraged because lack of jhana as one can make progress without it as long as one can get into “pure mind” to see things as they are (Anicca, Dukkhha, Anatta) and the fetters will fall off like crumbled glue off the mind.

[lodonyo]

Im very interested in this retreat as i have received great awakenings from abhaya thero lectures and include him in my dedications.

I would like to receive transmission of his jhana techniques for practice in this life.

The WhatsApp link says its been “revoked unfortunately” and I do not know sinhalese…yet. can anyone direct me ti another way to connect to registration or information on this retreat?

[AxelSnaxel]

UPDATE: For those who wish to join the Whatsapp group

We had some problems with spam bots joining, so we had to disable the link. Those who want to join should Contact my Whatsapp and i will then add you.

nr: +47 941 646 58

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