Meditation

Meditation is a big part of life at The Hermitage. We broadcast our daily meditation sessions live, online from The Hermitage, here in North Wales. To see our current timetable and links to the liturgy we use, CLICK HERE to visit our main sangha website with all the information you need and details of how to connect.

If you’re local to The Hermitage there’s the option to come and join in practice with us in person, in our shrine room.  Many locals attend for silent sitting meditation on a Tuesday evening at 5pm, but it might be possible for you to join us on another day to suit you, just get in touch to arrange your first visit.

We also hold regular meditation and teaching days, where we offer guided instruction for beginners by our resident and experienced meditation and mindfulness teacher, Tara Dew. See the Events Page for more information or visit our main website for a full list of upcoming AHS event.

We call the type of meditation we practise ‘Formless Meditation’.  This term is used to distinguish this particular practice of naturalness, which is very deep and simple, from meditation practices using images, imagination, and rituals of various kinds.

We have an introductory website to meditation and in particular Formless Meditation at www.howtomeditate.org.uk – with mindfulness mediation audio guides and videos explaining meditation as well as how to get further instruction, and why that’s important.

All of our sangha learn how to practice Formless Meditation through the Living the Awakened Heart Training – a distance learning course in Buddhist meditation, reflection and insight. When you learn how to meditate with Lama Shenpen and the Awakened Heart Sangha, you’ll find we deliberately keep the focus simple. Do not be deceived by the simplicity however. The practice gradually reveals itself to be subtle and profound.

The ease of that simplicity is elusive and takes a long time to develop and stabilise, which is why having a qualified teacher or mentor is important. However complex other practices may be, in essence they are always meant to develop and stabilise the simple awareness of Formless Meditation.

Meditation is the basis of all Buddhist practice and through meditation we learn to make friends with ourselves and all our experience, good and bad, because the essence of both is the same natural and profound openness, clarity and sensitivity of our being.