Retreat Options
For those with the background and seeking a deeper meditative experience, the retreat wing provides a place of serious spiritual purpose.
There are six single rooms available for retreats; each room provides a comfortable space for practice and meditation. The retreat wing also has a small shrine and prostration room, a kitchen, bathrooms and a private retreat garden.
There are two types of retreats that you can undertake.
For anyone new to the House or Buddhism, we recommend staying in the main House and participating in meals, meditation sessions, and other practices before undertaking a retreat. Find out more >>
For experienced practitioners, you can book a solitary retreat room for a full or semi-retreat.
- A ‘full retreat’ means spending time in complete solitude with meals brought to one’s room.
- A less intense alternative is a ‘semi-retreat’ – you meditate in your room but join the residents in the main house for meals and the morning and evening pujas.
Contemplative walks and sitting in the dedicated retreat garden are available for either type of retreat.
Occasionally, we hold teacher-led retreats. Please check our events page to see if any are currently scheduled.
Retreat Guidelines
To maintain a meditative atmosphere and assist visitors in their spiritual practice, the use of electronic devices is strictly prohibited in the house or retreat area. Gossip is actively discouraged.
As with all visitors, retreatants adhere to the basic precepts of Buddhism and follow the guidelines posted on the notice board.
For either kind of retreat, it’s necessary to have a letter of recommendation from your Buddhist teacher.
The guidelines given by Kyabje Chime Rinpoche for the benefit of retreatants are posted on the notice board in the main house.
All retreatants at Marpa House follow these guidelines, and you can see a copy of these guidelines on this page.
Prices from 1st April 2025
£44 per night
Includes three vegetarian meals.
Discounts for pre-booked and pre-paid longer retreats:
- 1 – 4 weeks
£265 per week - Over 4 weeks
£255 per week - For a full 3-month retreat
£220 per week
Marpa House Retreat Fund
Making Retreat Possible for Everyone
Retreat at Marpa House is a wonderful experience – an opportunity to settle the mind and deepen our spiritual practice. It is not always easy to finance a retreat and we are very keen that money should not be an obstacle to doing retreat at Marpa House.
“Retreat is an opportunity to come to a deeper understanding of the nature of the mind.”
by Kyabje Chime Rinpoche
ADDRESS
Marpa House,
Rectory Lane, Ashdon,
Saffron Walden, Essex
CB10 2HN
United Kingdom
CONTACT
T: +44 (0) 1799 584 415
E: mail@marpahouse.org.uk
“One sky, one mind”
Kyabje Chime Rinpoche
Marpa House is conducted by The Dharma Trust, a company limited by guarantee (no. 04332473) and registered with the Charity Commission (no. 1090628).
Photographs © The Dharma Trust or Kyabje Chime Rinpoche unless stated. All rights reserved. Not to be reproduced without permission.
