A six day metta retreat with Marjó Oosterhoff

This retreat is suitable for meditators of any experience, including beginners, and is a wonderful opportunity to develop loving-kindness while enjoying the sunshine and beautiful natural scenery of our centre in the south of France.

Cost (includes 3 vegetarian meals a day):

€180 indoors / €150 camping + Dana (concessionary rate: €100 camping)

Metta meditation

Metta, or loving-kindness meditation, is the other main practice coming out of the Buddhist tradition of Southeast Asia. This particular form of Buddhism is also called Theravada Buddhism, or ‘the School of the Elders', which draws on the original teachings by the Buddha. These were written down in the Pali language for the first time about 200 years after the Buddha died, as until then the Buddha's discourses were passed on from memory, being recited during various council meetings. During the early times only legal documents were written down, as they were only of temporary importance and not worth while to memorize.

We all have the ability to love fully and unconditionally. Many of us, however, experience a lack of love for ourselves, or feel that we are not able to love others as fully as we would wish. In metta meditation (metta means loving-kindness in Pali, maitri in Sanskrit) we can develop a deep, unconditional love, for ourselves and others, that transcends our normal limitations. The practice of metta offers us the opportunity for healing low self-esteem, or even self-hatred, that cause us so much sadness and frustration, and block our natural feelings of love towards others.

In metta meditation we develop an attitude of unconditional love for ourselves and for others. We see ourselves as we are, not as we would like to be, and with acceptance and non-judging we learn to open our hearts to the predicament we and all living beings face. By systematically developing this attitude of friendliness and benevolence, life becomes easier, we become lighter, and we will begin to feel the interconnectedness of all that lives. By practising in this way we plant kammic seeds of happiness and inner well-being.

Marjó Oosterhoff

Marjó Oosterhoff started to practice meditation more than 20 years ago and has trained and practiced in Western meditation centres as well as in Asian monasteries and nunneries. She ordained as a temporary nun on three occasions for the traditional rains retreats in a monastery in Burma. Temporary ordination for both men and women is quite normal in the Theravada Buddhist tradition of Thailand and Burma. For Marjó it is a time of renunciation and reflection, connecting with the long tradition of the Buddha's followers who have practiced and taught his teachings for more than 2,500 years. Of course one doesn't need to ordain to practice meditation, or even to be a Buddhist, but for Marjó it helps her in her commitment to waking up, feeling the inspiration of all the monastics who have gone before her, and of those who are still practising today. It is about letting go of the small self, and being part of a bigger lineage, a bigger community. Inspired by metta teachings from Burmese and Western teachers, Marjó is now also offering instruction in metta or loving-kindness meditation in an intensive retreat setting. She will also give guidelines on how to integrate meditation practice in daily life.