Shamatha Meditation Teaching Retreat

• Upon arrival, our expert guide will meet you at the Indira Gandhi International airport to drop you comfortably at your hotel in Delhi. Complete your check-in formalities, enjoy a lovely dinner, and relax for the night in the hotel.
• Meals: Dinner is provided

• Start early in the morning and attend an introduction session with your fellow travellers. In the afternoon, enjoy a delicious lunch and board the cab for a quick tour of the city. We will visit the National Museum which is one of the largest in India. Established in the year 1949, the museum houses numerous marvellous articles ranging from the prehistoric era to the modern works of intricate craftsmanship. One of the biggest attractions of the museum are the relics of Buddha presented aesthetically inside the premises within ornamental caskets. These Buddha relics retrieved from Kapilvastu are a popular attraction for the Buddhists and everyone else who admires Buddha for his lifetime spiritual teachings and awe-inspiring preachings. Towards the evening, we will drop you at the hotel for a well-rested night.
• Meals: Breakfast is provided

• Start early in the morning with a lovely breakfast and quickly complete your check-out formalities. Board the cab to reach the airport and catch your flight to Ladakh. You will have a sensational journey to Ladakh as you fly over famous mountain ranges like Nanga Parbat, Gasherbrum, K2, and Nun Kun massif. Our tour guide will meet you at the Ladakh airport to drop you comfortably to your hotel. Complete your check-in formalities, relax, unwind, and enjoy some tasty meal in the hotel. You may require some time to accustom yourself to the change in weather as you fly from relatively low elevation to a height of almost 11,000 feet from the sea surface. Spend the evening in the hotel admiring stunning landscapes and acclimatizing yourself to new weather conditions.
• Towards dusk, you will meet your spiritual tour teacher and other fellow participants. Spend a restful night at the hotel after the meeting session.
• Meals: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner are provided

• Start your day early at 6 am with a brewing cup of delicious medicinal Tibetan herbal tea. Enjoy a relaxing 45 minutes session of prayer and guided breathing meditation. Enjoy a lovely breakfast and proceed to board the cab for a drive to Hemis monastery and Thiksey Monastery.
• We will start our journey in the morning with an amazing drive alongside the stupa-lined road to the Hemis monastery. The famous Hemis monastery is nestled deep inside a gorge. The monastery is primarily famous for its festival to celebrate the birth of Guru Rinpoche or Padmasambhava who is remembered as the second Buddha. You will learn sacred mantras of Guru Padmasambhava as taught by your teacher underneath an imposing statue. The commemoration marks the celebration  of the attributes of stability, peace, healing, protection, and transformation. You will also attend a lesson depicted within the monastery on the Wheel of Life.
• In the afternoon, we will reach the Thiksey Monastery located on a rock-strewn hill. It resembles the Potala situated in Tibetan capital, Lhasa. You will find a huge statue of Maitreya Buddha inside the monastery. It is believed that a mere gaze of the pure statue invites silent meditation and reflection.
• In the late evening, you will participate in a special healing session guided by a Tibetan female Shaman or the Oracle. At night, we will drop you at the hotel for a restful sleep.
• Meals: Breakfast, lunch, and Dinner are provided

• Start a fresh morning with a warm cup of refreshing Tibetan herbal tea. Participate in a 1-hour session of prayer and guided meditation. Enjoy a marvellous breakfast at the hotel. Quickly complete your check-out formalities and board the cab for a drive to Choglamsar Retreat Centre.
• Complete your check-in formalities at the Choglamsar Retreat Centre. For the next three days, you will be attending a special mindfulness meditation course for silence retreat on the Samatha Meditation.
• Samatha Mindfulness Meditation helps you practice and cultivate a more clear, focused, and calm mind. Such mindfulness practices are essential to heal and subdue an agitated, unruly mind. During the course, you will be introduced to the qualities for a peaceful mind. You may require some practice before you can put them into daily living. You will learn about the tools you can use as well as the obstacles you will need to overcome.
• The guided meditation sessions will help you explore and experience the various techniques used in Shamatha meditation. These techniques include mindfulness breathing sessions, settling one’s mind in a natural state of peace, and being aware of awareness.
• Proper guidance by your spiritual guru and regular practice will help you learn to combine and incorporate Shamatha meditation techniques into your daily life as a tool for everyday application. The entire course will be guided by the Tibetan monks in English. You do not require to have a prior experience or knowledge of meditation to take the course. Everyone can benefit from the course irrespective of whether you are completely new to meditative practices or are an experienced meditator.
• Your course schedule for the day will include lunch followed by an introduction talk and dinner at night. After dinner, you will receive your very first session on Samatha meditation. Enjoy a restful sleep in the retreat centre.
• Meals: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner are provided

• Wake up early in the morning and start your day with a warm cup of refreshing, medicinal, cleansing Tibetan herbal tea. Attend an unwinding 45 minutes session of silent meditation in the meditation hall. Enjoy a lovely breakfast.
• Your first session of the day will start at 8 am. You will have a short break between 9:30 to 10 am followed by the second session. Have your lunch in the break between 11:30 am to 1:00 pm. Proceed to attend the 3rd session until 2:30 pm. Participate in a session of walking meditation till 3:30 pm. You will have a tea break in the evening between 3:30 to 4:00 pm followed by the 4th session of Samatha meditation.
• Enjoy a lovely dinner between 5:30 to 7:00 pm. At night, attend your 5th session of the day for questions and answers. Spend a comfortable night at the retreat centre.
• Meals: Breakfast, lunch, and Dinner are provided

• Start your day early at 5:45 am with a warm cup of Tibetan herbal tea followed by an unwinding session of silent meditation in the meditation hall. Enjoy a lovely breakfast. Proceed to attend your first session of the day between 8 am to 9:30 am followed by a short break. The second session of the day will start at 10 am. Have a lunch break between 11:30 am to 1 pm. Your last session of the day will start after lunch and end at 2:30 pm. You will receive advice on how to practice meditation in your day to day routine. 
• Quickly complete your check-out formalities after the last meditation session and board the cab for a drive back to Leh. Our tour guide will drop you at your hotel in Leh. Complete the check-in formalities and enjoy a restful night at the hotel.
• Meals: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner are provided

• Start your morning with a warm cup of medicinal Tibetan herbal tea followed by a 45 minutes session of prayer and guided meditation. Enjoy a lovely breakfast, complete your check-out formalities and board the cab to reach the Alchi monastery in the Sham valley. The small village is famous for its ancient monastery in Ladakh. Alchi temple is a national heritage popularly known for its magnificent collection of well-preserved ancient wall paintings from the 11th and 12th century. It is built in an Indo-Himalayan style.
• We will drop you at the Ule ethnic resort. Quickly complete your check-in formalities, relax for some time and board the cab again after 2 hours for an amazing drive to a nunnery and Rizong monastery. Established in the year 1831 under the order of Gelukpa by the Lama Tsultrim Nyima, the Rizong monastery, also known as the paradise of meditation, is noted worldwide for its prime standards and extremely strict rules. 
• The nunnery, also called the Chulichan or Chomoling, is situated 2 km from the Rizong monastery. At present, the nunnery is home to 30 nuns. You will participate in the Tara Puja at the nunnery. In the evening, attend the pilgrimage review session and walking meditation near the banks of the sacred Indus river. At night, we will drop you at the resort for a comfortable sleep.

• Start afresh in the morning with a warm cup of medicinal Tibetan herbal tea followed by a relaxing session of prayer and teachings on compassion meditation. Enjoy a lovely breakfast before you board the cab to reach the Lamayuru monastery. Lamayuru is a Kagyu lineage of the Tibetan Buddhism in Ladakh. It is also the largest monastic institution of the Drikung Kagyu found in Ladakh.
• We will also visit the Lamayuru meditation centre which is a beautiful valley confining a small community of Buddhist yogis who practice tantric meditation as practised by the great yogis like Naropa and Milarepa in the ancient Tibet. You will get a chance to interact with the amazing yogis and participate in a special Chod prayer session. Enjoy a delicious lunch at the meditation centre. In the evening, we will return to the resort for a well-rested night. Enjoy a session of pilgrimage review followed by group discussion before you proceed to sleep.
• Meals: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner are provided

• Start afresh in the morning with a warm cup of medicinal Tibetan herbal tea. Attend a 45 minutes session on compassion meditation. Enjoy a lovely breakfast and quickly complete your check-out formalities. Board the cab for a return drive to Leh.
• Enroute we will visit the Basgo castle and enjoy a hot lunch at Leh. In the afternoon, you are free to explore the place for some extravagant shopping. Pick some souvenirs as a memory of a great spiritual journey to Leh. In the evening, reach your hotel for an amazing farewell dinner. Spend a relaxing night at the hotel.
• Meals: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner are provided

• Start your day with a lovely breakfast and quickly complete your checkout formalities. Board the cab to reach the airport for your return commute. Our tour guide will meet you at the Delhi airport to drop you comfortably at your hotel in Delhi. Take some rest at the hotel. After lunch, we will take you for a mesmerising tour to the Lotus temple.
• In the evening, we will transfer you to the International airport to board your outbound flight late in the evening. Depart from Delhi with amazing memories of your trip.
• Meals: Breakfast provided

Points to note

• Hotel prices can be adjusted for higher or lower categories on request. Featured hotels are subject to availability during booking, and you will be notified of any deposits when booking.
• Domestic airfares are quoted based on averages and are subject to change. The most convenient flight is booked and final price confirmed once tickets are issued based on the class of seat and availability.