Retreats
All Retreats are included within membership.
RETREATS
Whether you attend for the whole of a retreat or just a couple of sessions on a given day, retreat is a rare opportunity in our modern busy lives to take time out to let go of our normal physical, verbal and mental activities, in order to focus on spiritual practice and find true inner peace and happiness.
Open to All
Everyone is welcome and if this is your first time attending a retreat, there will be plenty of experienced meditators present who will be only too pleased to help and advise you.
Guided Meditation Sessions
In these guided sessions the Teacher will give a short talk and advice on the meditations we will be doing. These sessions are very similar to the general meditation class except that there is more time spent in meditation. So, this is a great opportunity to further develop our practice in the peace and tranquillity of KMC Plymouth.
You may attend as many or as few of the sessions as you choose. The more sessions you can attend the more benefit you will gain so you could try attending a full day if you are new to retreats. Our coffee shop will be open between sessions for light refreshments and there are plenty of cafes on Mutley Plain if you would like to go out for lunch.
Please note: not all retreats or sessions are guided but these will be labelled as “unguided”. Please see individual event details below for further information.
Fees
£3 per session unless otherwise stated
Members: Free (all sessions)
No need to book
Schedule
Please see the details below.
Purification Retreat
Sunday 7th December 2025
This retreat is a wonderful opportunity to learn to rely on Vajrasattva, the Buddha of purification, and practice a special meditation to free ourselves from all of our negative karma.
We spend all our time and energy trying to avoid problems by making changes to our external world. However, our unhappiness and difficulties are not caused by the external world but are the result of the negative karma we have created in the past through our own harmful actions.
By relying on Vajrasattva, all our experiences will be positive, we will have a peaceful, pure mind and will easily remove obstacles to our spiritual development.
Attend all, or as few or many of the sessions as you wish.
Schedule
Sunday 7th December
Session 1: 10am Wishfulfilling Jewel Prayers with offerings^
Session 2: 12noon with guided meditation*
Session 3: 2.30pm with guided meditation*
Fees
*Advanced Booking or Purchase On the Door: £3 per session
Day Ticket: £4 (all 3 sessions – includes free prayers session at 10am)
KMC Plymouth Members: Free (all 7 sessions). To become a member, CLICK HERE
^ Wishfulfilling Jewel Prayers on Sunday: Attendance is free to all
Please note that should you book for a single session but decide to stay longer for more sessions, you’ll be very welcome to do so. Just see a member of the team in our Coffee Bar.
New Year Retreat
This is a FREE event.
Wednesday 31st December 2025 and Thursday 1st January 2026
Start the new year inspired! Everyone is welcome to join us for this 24-hour retreat receiving the blessings of Tara, which are especially powerful for helping those in difficulty. Each session is about an hour long and you can come at any time and to as many or few sessions as you choose.
No previous experience required, there will be plenty of people to help and advise you if this is a new event for you, and as always, everyone is welcome.
Schedule
Wednesday 31st December: 7pm (Introduction) & 11pm
Thursday 1st January: 3am, 7am, 11am & 3pm
Fees
This is a free event – everyone is welcome! No need to book, just come along.
January Retreats
January is a traditional time to engage in meditation retreats; a rare opportunity in our modern busy lives to take time out to let go of our normal physical, verbal and mental activities, in order to focus on spiritual practice and find true inner peace and happiness.
Short retreats provide the ideal opportunity to contemplate the teachings we have received and deepen our understanding and familiarity with them. Aa an oasis of calm in the city, KMC Plymouth provides an ideal location to engage in retreat. Between sessions you can enjoy a drink and something to nibble in our World Peace Café, discuss the teachings with fellow attendees or enjoy our meditation space for quiet reflection and contemplation.
Guided Retreats
These include short teachings and guided meditations – simply follow the instructions given by the teacher.
Self-Guided Retreats
These retreats do not have teachings or meditations led by a teacher but offer the time and space for you to engage in your own meditations and practice. If you are unfamiliar with any particular meditation practices, there will be plenty of helpful people on hand who will be only too pleased to assist and advise you.
Highest Yoga Tantra (HYT) Retreats
Whilst everyone is welcome, please be aware that you must hold a HYT empowerment to attend this retreat. Please contact the centre if you are unsure if this event is appropriate for you. There will be no teachings or guided meditations during the sessions.
Solutions For Daily Life – Guided Retreat
Saturday 3rd and Sunday 4th January 2026, Various Session Times
This retreat is suitable for beginners and those with meditation experience. Join us for the whole weekend, or as few or many sessions as you would like to, exploring true solutions to our daily problems. This is a practical event to give us the skills and knowledge to start discovering, through our own experience in meditation, truly powerful and reliable solutions to the problems of daily life.
We all seek happiness. We want to experience pleasure and avoid pain, experience the people, places and things we like and avoid the ones we do not like or want. No matter our individual preferences, if we examine closely, our motivations and desires are all leading us to seek only happiness and the avoidance of unhappiness. And why not? This is a perfectly normal human wish is it not.
However, our desires and attachments can very often lead us to experience the very opposite of the things we wish for. This is because we have not understood the true causes of real, lasting happiness and the actual causes of our unhappy states of mind.
In this guided retreat, Gen Kelsang Dragden, Resident Teacher at KMC Plymouth, will provide an overview of selected aspects of the Stages of The Path (also known as Lamrim), what it is and why it is so important in building the permanently happy, peaceful minds we aspire to achieve.
The Stages of The Path is a special presentation of Buddha’s teachings that includes all of the essential instructions and meditations of the stages of the path to enlightenment. This special presentation is easy to follow and put into practice and is particularly suitable for our modern busy lives – a solution for the problems of our daily life.
The sessions in this retreat will include short teachings and plenty of time to enjoy guided meditations to enable a deeper and more focused experience of this very special meditation cycle.
Schedule
Saturday 3rd January
Session 1: 9am with guided meditation*
Session 2: 11am with guided meditation*
Session 3: 2pm with guided meditation*
Session 4: 4pm with guided meditation*
Sunday 4th January
Session 1: 10am with Wishfulfilling Jewel Prayers and Offerings (Free to attend for all)
Session 2: 12noon with guided meditation*
Session 3: 2.30pm with guided meditation*
Our World Peace Café will be open during the break serving hot and cold drinks, delicious home-made cakes and a variety of snacks.
Fees
*Advanced Booking or Purchase on the Door: £3 per session
Saturday Day Ticket: £10 (all 4 sessions)
Sunday Day Ticket: £4 (all 3 sessions – includes free prayers session at 10am)
Weekend Ticket: £14 (all 7 sessions)
KMC Plymouth Members: Free (all 7 sessions)
Wishfulfilling Jewel Puja on Sunday 4th: Free for all to attend
Please note that should you book for a single session but decide to stay longer for more sessions, you’ll be very welcome to do so. Just speak to a member of the team.
To become a member, CLICK HERE
Please note that should you book for a single session but decide to stay longer for more sessions, you’ll be very welcome to do so. Just see a member of the team in our Coffee Bar.
Wisdom For Daily Life – Guided Retreat
Saturday 10th and Sunday 11th January 2026, Various Session Times
This retreat is suitable for beginners and those with meditation experience. Whether you attend the whole weekend or as few, or many sessions as you would like to, this retreat will offer a clearly explained and deepening opportunity to explore the profound wisdom we can bring into our daily life, bringing us joy, contentment and inner peace.
With teachings and guided meditations, we will start discovering through our own experience in meditation, how developing our wisdom can elevate our lives beyond our normal experiences to life-changing, profound level of understanding of our reality. These are very practical tools we can take with us into our daily lives after the retreat.
From a Buddhist perspective, wisdom is a meaningful object, a type of mind which functions to remove our misunderstandings, and in particular, functions to dispel our misunderstanding of the nature of how things exist.
Everything comes from mind and when we start to understand how our mind affects our experiences of the people, places and things we encounter in our daily lives, we will discover how our current understanding can cause us to experience problems and difficulties. Through clear and accessible meditations, we can start to develop an ever-deepening understanding and experience of the mind of wisdom, transforming our lives by holding a true and dependable understanding of how things actually exist.
Applying wisdom in our lives allows us to live on an even keel, holding a peaceful, happy mind no matter what may come our way. In turn, our daily life will be full of meaning, bringing joy to ourselves and others.
The sessions in this retreat will include short teachings and plenty of time to enjoy guided meditations to enable a deeper and more focused experience of these profound, life-changing meditations.
Schedule
Saturday 10th January
Session 1: 9am with guided meditation*
Session 2: 11am with guided meditation*
Session 3: 2pm with guided meditation*
Session 4: 4pm Offering To The Spiritual Guide Prayers with Offerings
Sunday 11th January
Session 1: 10am Wishfulfilling Jewel Prayers with Offerings
Session 2: 12pm with guided meditation*
Session 3: 2.30pm with guided meditation*
Our World Peace Café will be open during the break serving hot and cold drinks, delicious home-made cakes and a variety of snacks.
Fees
*Advanced Booking or Purchase on the Door: £3 per session
Saturday Day Ticket: £7 (all 4 sessions)
Sunday Day Ticket: £4 (all 3 sessions – includes free prayers session)
Weekend Ticket: £11 (all 7 sessions)
KMC Plymouth Members: Free (all 7 sessions)
Wishfulfilling Jewel Puja on Sunday 11th: Free for all to attened
Please note that should you book for a single session but decide to stay longer for more sessions, you’ll be very welcome to do so. Just speak to a member of the team.
To become a member, CLICK HERE
Solutions For Daily Life – Self-Guided Retreat
Saturday 17th and Sunday 18th January 2026, Various Session Times
These sessions are FREE for all to attend.
This retreat is suitable for beginners and those with meditation experience but please note there will be no teachings or guided meditations during the sessions. Instead, you will have the time and opportunity to build on your insights and direct experience of the precious meditations of The Stages of the Path, in this self-guided retreat.
Attend all or as many or as few of the sessions as you would like to. We always advise however, to try attending as many sessions as possible, to gain the most benefit.
If you are not familiar with the meditations of The Stages of the Path, there will be plenty of experienced meditators on hand who will be only too pleased to help, advise and assist you during the sessions.
You do not need to have attended the “Solutions for Daily Life” retreat earlier in January 2026 to attend the sessions in this weekend retreat, but for those without previous experience it will be helpful to have done so.
Schedule
Saturday 17th January
Session 1: 9am
Session 2: 11am
Session 3: 2pm
Session 4: 4pm
Sunday 18th January
Session 1: 10am with Wishfulfilling Jewel Prayers and Offerings (Free to attend for all)
Session 2: 12pm
Session 3: 2.30pm
Our World Peace Café will be open during the break serving hot and cold drinks, delicious home-made cakes and a variety of snacks.
Fees
This weekend event is FREE for all to attend. There is no need to book for this retreat.
Highest Yoga Tantra – Self-Guided Retreat
Saturday 24th and Sunday 25th January 2026, Various Session Times
This is a FREE to attend event.
Whilst everyone is welcome, please be aware that you must hold a HYT empowerment to attend this retreat. Please contact the centre if you are unsure if this event is appropriate for you. There will be no teachings or guided meditations during the sessions.
These sessions will use self-guided mediations and the prayers, “Quick Path to Great Bliss” – the extensive self-generation practice of Vajrayogini, the female enlightened Deity of Highest Yoga Tantra who is the manifestation of the wisdom of all Buddhas.
By relying on this practice sincerely, with a good heart and a mind of faith, it is definitely possible to attain full enlightenment. But to accomplish such results we must practice this sadhana regularly, and study authentic instructions on Quick Path, such as those found in the text by the Kadampa Buddhist meditation master, Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso Rinpoche, “New Guide to Dakini Land”.
These sessions will not be guided. FREE to attend.
Schedule
Saturday 17th January
Session 1: 9am
Session 2: 11am
Session 3: 2pm
Session 4: 4pm
Sunday 18th January
Session 1: 10am with Wishfulfilling Jewel Prayers and Offerings (Free to attend for all)
Session 2: 12pm
Session 3: 2.30pm
Our World Peace Café will be open during the break serving hot and cold drinks, delicious home-made cakes and a variety of snacks.
Schedule
Saturday 24th January
Session 1: 9am
Session 2: 11am
Session 3: 2pm
Session 4: 4pm
Sunday 25th January
Session 1: 10am with Wishfulfilling Jewel Prayers and Offerings (Free to attend for all)
Session 2: 12pm
Session 3: 2.30pm
Fees
This weekend event is free for all to attend. No booking required.
Long Life Retreat
Free Day Retreat
Saturday 14th February 2026, 9:00am – 5:15pm
To enjoy a meaningful human life, we need a long life and wisdom. Buddha Amitayus, the Buddha of long life, wisdom, and merit, has the power to bestow upon us immeasurably long life, profound wisdom and great good fortune. During this one-day retreat, we will engage in beautiful chanted prayers, meditations, and mantra recitation requesting blessings for ourselves and others to enjoy a long, happy and meaningful life.
It is traditional for Kadampa centres across the world to engage in short retreat on this beautiful practice early in the year and everyone is welcome to any or all of the sessions. No previous experience required.
For those with no previous experience, there will be plenty of experienced practitioners present who will be happy to advise and help you.
Schedule
Saturday 14th February
Retreat Session 1: 9am
Retreat Session 2: 11am
Retreat Session 3: 2pm
Prayers Session: 4pm – Wishfulfilling Jewel Prayers (without offerings)
All retreat sessions are unguided and will include prayers and a meditation, each lasting approximately 75minutes. The Wishfulfulling Jewel Prayers at 4pm will also last approximately 75minutes.
Our Coffee Bar will be open during the break serving hot and cold drinks, delicious home-made cakes and a variety of snacks.
Fees
This event is FREE to attend for everyone, and everyone is welcome! There is no need to book for this event, simply turn up on the day for any or all of the sessions.
Nyungnay Purifying Ritual Practice
Tuesday 14th and Wednesday 15th April 2025 – Various Times
This special fasting and purification practice is traditionally done by Kadampa Centres worldwide around the anniversary of Buddha’s Enlightenment on 15th April.
Within the practice of Mahayana Precepts, this retreat involves fasting and making three sessions of prostrations, with the prayer booklet, ‘Drop of Essential Nectar’, over two days.
Everyone is welcome at this free event but please contact the centre if you have not engaged in the practice before.
Schedule
Please note there is a slight difference in the schedule for the third session on each day:
Tuesday 14th April: 6.30am, 7am, 9am, 2pm
Wednesday 15th April: 6.30am, 7am, 10am, 2pm
Fees
This practice is free to attend for everyone, and everyone is welcome. There is no need to book, simply turn up on the day but please read the important notes below.
Important Notes
All attendees, whether attending for one day or both, must attend and undertake the Precepts session at the start of each day in order to attend the other sessions on that day.
Please use the doorbell to gain entry for the sessions running before 10am each day if the front door is locked.