About our workshops and retreats:
The Workshops
These events have been running since the mid 1990s under the skilled leadership of Ananda and Manjusvara. Since Manjusvara tragically died in June 2011, Satyalila has been working with Ananda to design a new programme of workshops, and since Ananda's retirement in 2015 others have joined the team. Wolf at the Door events focus primarily on encouraging and developing the imagination. Without imagination it is very hard to motivate ourselves to be creative through all the inevitable distractions and setbacks that life puts in our way. So our workshops address the question: how can we awaken our imagination and bring its energy and insight into our daily lives? This is achieved partly by being in a beautiful environment with others who are embarked on a similar quest. But we help this process along with writing exercises, some ritual and guided discussion aimed at achieving an atmosphere of trust and openness to experience.
The Workshops
These events have been running since the mid 1990s under the skilled leadership of Ananda and Manjusvara. Since Manjusvara tragically died in June 2011, Satyalila has been working with Ananda to design a new programme of workshops, and since Ananda's retirement in 2015 others have joined the team. Wolf at the Door events focus primarily on encouraging and developing the imagination. Without imagination it is very hard to motivate ourselves to be creative through all the inevitable distractions and setbacks that life puts in our way. So our workshops address the question: how can we awaken our imagination and bring its energy and insight into our daily lives? This is achieved partly by being in a beautiful environment with others who are embarked on a similar quest. But we help this process along with writing exercises, some ritual and guided discussion aimed at achieving an atmosphere of trust and openness to experience.
Longer retreats
On the longer retreats (at Dhanakosa) there will be study sessions to look at how published writers make their writing effective. We will look at how stories and poems are put together and discover how few words are necessary to create their effect. Throughout all these activities the emphasis will be on exploration of the inner process rather than achieving a finished, finely polished piece of work (not that we don’t value the latter, but that comes later in the process). As well as the scheduled workshops we hope you will also make friends and enjoy your creative journey together. In the afternoons there will be free time for personal work and socialising. You will not be expected to have any prior knowledge of writing and there is no obligation to read out or present your work to the group or to the tutors.
On the longer retreats (at Dhanakosa) there will be study sessions to look at how published writers make their writing effective. We will look at how stories and poems are put together and discover how few words are necessary to create their effect. Throughout all these activities the emphasis will be on exploration of the inner process rather than achieving a finished, finely polished piece of work (not that we don’t value the latter, but that comes later in the process). As well as the scheduled workshops we hope you will also make friends and enjoy your creative journey together. In the afternoons there will be free time for personal work and socialising. You will not be expected to have any prior knowledge of writing and there is no obligation to read out or present your work to the group or to the tutors.
Meditation
On the residential retreats (presently held at Dhanakosa) each day will begin with a group meditation in the shrine-room, and there will be a short devotional ritual (puja) later in the day. We would ask that you attend these activities, as they allow the mind to go deeper and integrate your emotional and conceptual experiences. For this reason we ask that you will already have a meditation practice, and specifically that you know the basic Triratna practices, as we do not normally give meditation instruction as part of the course.