The Awakening Heart and the Divine Abodes
With Tejananda and Rijumitra
November 6 - 15, 2026
Bodhicitta – the awakening heart – is both the heart–response of wisdom to the suffering of living beings everywhere and the urge to realise full awakening for the benefit of all. This retreat will focus on love, compassion, joy and equanimity – the four ‘divine abodes’ or brahmaviharas – in the context of cultivating bodhicitta.
To support this, we’ll also introduce tonglen, the ‘sending and receiving’ practice which opens the heart to universal compassion.
The divine abodes are also known as the ‘boundless states’,¬ because they are inclusive of all living beings without exception. The practices that we’ll explore together on this retreat are all ways of opening our hearts and responding to the joys and sufferings of living beings – opening to the inseparable wisdom and compassion of the awakening heart itself.
About the Leaders
Tejananda
Tejananda has been practising meditation and dharma since the mid-70s. He was ordained by Sangharakshita in 1980 after which he participated in the setting-up of the FWBO Bristol centre and was centre chair for six years. After several years working for the Karuna Trust in Oxford, he joined the team at Vajraloka in 1995. His […]
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Rijumitra
I have been living at Vajraloka for some twenty years years now having moved from working at the Leeds Buddhist Centre for twelve years in 2005. Both meditation and Vajraloka are very important to me. My first longer retreat was a Brahmaviharas Retreat I attended at Vajraloka in 1992, where I realised that I did […]
Learn more about RijumitraCategory : Experienced Meditators