Every Spring and Autumn the Happy Farms in Upper, Lower and New Hamlet offer Happy Farm retreats. We practice service meditation during the retreat on the Happy Farm when we enjoy bringing mindfulness to our organic farming work. During these retreats we share and experience together what it means to bring mindfulness to work. We also enjoy Plum Village mindfulness practices such as sitting meditation, walking meditation and “Dharma / Farmer sharing” during the week alongside specially curated themed workshops combining relevant themes with the Dharma. At the end of the week, we like to celebrate together to say thank you for your presence and practice with us. These retreats are organised and facilitated by the lay members of the Happy Farm team with the support of the monastic community.
Once a year the Upper Hamlet Community and Happy Farm offer this special two-week immersive retreat based centred on Mindfulness, Sacred Ecology, Rewilding and Nature Connection. Here is some information on that retreat.
“We are living through incredible times. Collectively on our planet as a human and ‘more than human’ family we are in the midst of a climate emergency, and an ecological emergency. As a human family, we are also in the midst of a social emergency. As a species, we have become disconnected from the natural world. We have forgotten how to live with our ‘original instructions’, in harmony with the earth and all those we share her with. This triple emergency is the root of deep suffering for so many. In this two-week immersive experience in Upper Hamlet, Plum Village, we will explore these themes together.
Whilst we acknowledge there is ill-being and suffering, we also acknowledge that there is a path to well-being and healing set out by the Buddha and continued by Thay. Together we will dive deep into these teachings supported by the Upper Hamlet community and the Happy Farm family. We will take refuge in nature. We will spend time exploring and experiencing the regenerative cultures and practices of the Happy Farm during our service meditations. We will spend time out and on the 20 hectares of wild land of Plum Village that we are rewilding. Together through practices, workshops, and service meditations we will bear witness to the teachings that this wild land is offering us that run in parallel with the teachings of Thay and the Buddha which lead to healing, transformation, and regeneration.
Healing, transformation, and regeneration for the land. Healing, transformation, and regeneration for ourselves.
We were born for these times.”