Open Heart, Radiant Mind 2027

Open Heart, Radiant Mind: Exploring Buddhist ethics, meditation and wisdom

Led by: Kamalanandi, Shraddhasiddhi and Aryarakshita
Location: Bowerwood, Nr. Broadhembury, E. Devon
Deposit amount: 
Experience level: 6 months of meditation experience in any tradition
Age group: All LGBTQIA+ Adults
Total suggested cost (excluding deposit): standard: £350, supported:£250, donation tier (helping others to come on retreat):£650
Vehicle Pass: Car: £15, Live-in- 6m and under: £30, Live-in- over 6m: £30

See our FAQ for an explanation of the deposit/dana/donation tier system. Please read this if you think you will not be able to afford the retreat, or if you are not sure about the deposit/dana/donation tier system in any way. We have suggested donation amounts to guide; they are structured to reflect what it costs us to run a retreat. However, you are free to give as little or as much as befits your circumstances.

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Join us for 7 days of queer community nestled into a Devon hillside, exploring the Buddhist 3-fold path of ethics, meditation and wisdom.

As we tune in with our hearts and minds to the natural environment and to our experience of living on the land together, we aim to create a space for deepening our collective practice. There will be meditation practice and reviews, talks and discussion, ritual and devotion, as we allow our natural wisdom to emerge together. A space for deepening, nourishing and practice within queer community.

What is this retreat and who is it for?

This retreat is for anyone who identifies within the LGBTQIA+ umbrella and has at least 6 months meditiation practice in any tradition. Meditations that take place during the teaching/practice sessions will be led, the one that takes place early in the morning will be held with a bell marking the beginning and end, but no guiding to allow for you to do your own meditation. This retreat assumes some understanding and practice of Buddhism, but if you don’t consider yourself a Buddhist but are interested in attending then do get in touch so we can support you to assess if this is the right retreat for you.

What to expect

The retreat will have a daily routine and we invite you to participate in as much as you can so that you can benefit from what is on offer and feel part of the temporary community that forms on retreat. We will ask all those who are physically able to participate in a daily work session where we support the smooth running of the retreat camp. The daily timetable will be something like this:

7am- Meditation
8am- Breakfast
9–10.30am- Morning circle and work period
11am–1pm Teaching and practice session
1pm- Lunch
4-5.45pm- Teaching and practice session
6pm- Dinner
8-9pm- Evening session

Looking for a longer experience?

This retreat and our Total Immersion are running back-to-back in 2026. If you would like to book for over three weeks’ worth of retreat, that’s wonderful, and we warmly invite you to do so. There is a one-day gap between the events. If you are staying for both and would like to support the retreat team with preparation and setup, we will gladly accept your help and host you for free. If you’d like to stay for the day but continue doing your own practice and activities, we are still happy to feed and host you, but would ask for an extra Dana contribution of around £10 per day to cover costs. In either case, we would ask you to continue to stick to the retreat behavioural guidelines during the gap.

Click here to find out more and to book the Total Immersion 2027

Things to note

• We have an extensive Retreat FAQ page here. Please read this thoroughly and, if you have a question that isn’t answered, get in touch.
• If you are bringing a vehicle to a retreat and it is staying on-site, you need to buy a vehicle pass. This helps us to manage the number of vehicles on our sites as space is very limited. Please do not bring a vehicle if the relevant pass is sold out. Please liftshare where possible or use public transport.
• We offer pick up from Honiton train station for this retreat.