Beauty, Unity and Spirituality - The 2008 European Retreat

Buckland Hall Retreat Centre, Brecon, Wales, UK - the location of the powerful 2008 European Retreat 

The 2008 European allowed both students who have been on several retreats, and those for whom this was their first, to enjoy and experience the benefits that a group of like-minded people coming together can provide. Thirty-four people came together for this retreat, representing the UK, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Germany, Greece, Estonia, Australia, Canada, and the US.

The schedule of practices for the retreat focused around experiencing conscious Astral Projection as well as experiencing daily life consciously, with several of the activities during the retreat consisting of normal activities such as sports, conversation, and eating. Even during free time, we all tried to remain aware of our actions and inner states while conversing or doing whatever we may have been doing.

The best way to relate the story of the retreat is in typical blog fashion - through plenty of pictures!

The retreat began the moment we had put our bags away; we all met in the "Pink Room" and exchanged introductions. We also set goals for the retreat and many of us shared ours, which helped to shape the whole group's goals. To achieve these goals, we explored and practised a range of exercises including practices to improve concentration, awareness walks and activities, listening to pieces of classical music, and others. Get a taste of the exercises and activities through the following pictures.

Group walks with Jo (London Centre), Ioannis (Athens Centre), and Scott (Melbourne Centre). This is Jo's group.

Beautiful scenery was in abundant supply. The image to the right shows a walk we took to the property's lake.

Partial group shot by the lake.
L-R: Stefan, Elisabeth, Peter, Mattias, Igor, Jared, Elisabeth, Alexander, Andrew, Steve, Scott, Babs, Carol, Tina, Roy, Martijn, Rajia, Vadim, Sean, Jannecke, Claudia, Maria, Peter

We had a dedicated practice room to use throughout the retreat. We used it for everything ranging from mantras to Astral Projection practices, to listening to beautiful pieces of classical music and trying to tune in to their spiritual qualities. A noticeable spiritual energy built up in the practice room as the retreat went on.

We started out by doing all of our practices sitting up, so that we could focus better...

...and once that was in place, we did some practices lying down as well.

One of the particularly interesting things we did during this retreat was to investigate how to remain aware of ourselves and the environment around us while playing some games - either hackysack or football (soccer). This went hand-in-hand with our goal to learn how to interact in our everyday lives more consciously.

The football team was led by Scott from the Melbourne Gnostic Centre in Australia, and they played a solid game.

The hackysack team was led by Jo Jameson from the London Gnostic Centre in the UK, and we also had a fun game.

In addition, both teams sat down and reflected on how they went with being aware while playing the games. This helped us really get the most out of the activities.

Students practising the Yoga Asanas, an exercise taught on the retreat. Extra exercises that can add a bit more variety to students' practice routines are often taught on retreats.

Conversation and Eating

Conversations and meals were also a chance for us to practice awareness and coming back to the present moment. This helped us get experience that we could readily use back in our daily lives. It also made conversations more relaxed and enjoyable.

The main room was a great environment for conversation; the chairs and couches in were uncommonly comfortable

The dining room and great food also inspired conversation.

Special Treats

We had a couple special treats this retreat as well; they were quite inspiring.

A couple nights before the nightly Astral Practice, we watched this inspiring slideshow of Stonehenge. You can't see it in the picture, but it also had a very nice musical accompaniment.

There was also a piano performance; Peter and Ioannis played us some great classical music pieces, live.

The Biggest Treat - Play by the Athens Centre

Perhaps the biggest surprise of the retreat was the night when the Athens Centre performed a play that it produced, entitled Exploring...; Venia, Labros, Ioannis V, Christos and Leonidas played Fannie, Timos, the Old Man, the narrator, and the animals (Leonidas was multi-talented in this performance!).

The play was both entertaining and inspiring, conveying the core messages of Gnosis in a way only a presentation of this sort - and probably only one by Greeks - could. The play was originally presented in the Athens Centre, so we were the second audience to see it.

Scene on left: Timos and Fannie needed to get rid of their random, uncontrolled thoughts to help their friend, the horse, get better.
Scene on right: After difficulties along the journey, Timos and Fannie resolve their differences and become friends again.

All these activities really made for a stellar retreat; we never got bored, and things were always varied enough to not get stale.

The image below is a close-up of one of the small frogs/tadpoles that we found in the grass. The proximity to nature overall was amazing.

And finally, the much-anticipated group shot with the retreat attendees!

L-R, top-bottom: Trent, Tina, Jared
Christos, Venia, Igor, Alexander
Peter, Maria, Elisabeth, Roy
Stefan, Steve, Mattias
Labros, Rajia, Babs, Claudia, Clare
Peter, Sean, Anne Linn, Andrew, Scott, Julia
Jo, Jannecke, Vadim, Martijn
Leonidas, Ioannis S, Ioannis V, Kevin

If you have thought about going on a retreat, but haven't been sure, then I hope this gives you an idea of what it's like. There's certainly the aspect of getting away from daily life and into some quiet and all, but doing all this with a group is where the real strength of a retreat lies.