A deep silent meditation retreat provides a rare opportunity to benefit from the sustained silence and stillness of meditation over an extended period.
During a deep silent retreat you’ll notice that your minds themselves begin to slow down, to calm down, to become more clear and we begin to discover the natural state of the mind.
And this isn’t related to any particular special experience. It’s simply discovering what the mind can be like when it is freed from the kind of compulsive and continuous stimulation that we give our minds.Â
For those who are already practicing meditation a silent retreat offers a unique opportunity to join with other practitioners and go to a deeper and simpler place – together in solitude into the ‘great silence’.
A Typical Day
There are seven daily periods of meditation, times of contemplative walking and a 15-minute personal session with one of the leaders of the retreat. Apart from a short morning teaching by the retreat leader and the contemplative Eucharist in the evening there are no spoken prayers or readings.Â
Many who have done it – once or annually – say it has re-simplified them and reminded them that they had not lost their innate capacity for inner peace and clarity.
Bonnevaux, Centre for Peace
The beauty and peace of Bonnevaux´s 65 hectares (160 acres) reflects the contemplative life lived here from its foundation as a Benedictine monastery in 1119 until the French Revolution. The land has over 20 different plant habitats, some of which are of heritage value. The community see themselves as stewards of this fertile place.
Deep Silent Retreats in 2025
The next Deep Silent Meditation Retreat will be led by spiritual leader and teacher Liz Watson in Bonnevaux, 25th January to 2nd February 2025. Read on and register here.Â
