Tue 23rd - Sat 27th December 2025
Special Christmas Retreat with Gen-la Kelsang Khyenrab and Kelsang Tharlam

On this relaxing holiday retreat we can follow advice on this vital topic coming from Je Tsongkhapa's heart as presented in his Three Principal Aspects of the Path. He clearly explains the correct view of emptiness and how to meditate on it. Gen-la Kelsang Khyenrab will offer teachings and discussions and Kelsang Tharlam will offer the guided meditations with lots of time for rest and relaxation over these few days.

Everybody is welcome to join all or part of this retreat!

2nd January - 15th February 2026
Venerable Geshe-la’s name mantra Close retreat, including empowerment of Buddha Shakyamuni with Gen-la Kelsang Khyenrab

This is an opportunity to draw closer to our Root Guru through the recitation of Venerable Geshe-la’s name mantra. Those who wish may collect 100,000 mantra recitations to complete a close retreat of numbers. In each session, following the Hundreds of Deities of Joyful Land According to Highest Yoga Tantra, we meditate briefly on Lamrim, Lojong and the two stages of Highest Yoga Tantra while slowly reciting the prayer Request to the Lord of All Lineages. Then we engage in the actual practice of Mahamudra.

Throughout this retreat, Gen-la Kelsang Khyenrab will share special oral instructions on Guru Yoga, how to rely on the Spiritual Guide, that he received directly from Venerable Geshe-la himself.
Everybody welcome!

Also available on a week by week basis for those who want to attend a part of the retreat. 

January 5 - 31, 2026 (whole month or individual weeks)

Tara International Kadampa Retreat Centre is hosting this Highest Yoga Tantra retreat in a secluded meditation room within Ashe Hall, for qualified practitioners.

On a short close retreat of actions of Vajrayogini we recite the three-OM mantra one hundred thousand times. After completing this, we can purify all mistakes by performing the burning offering (fire puja). Once we have completed a close retreat of actions and a fire puja we are qualified to perform self-initiation (using Feast of Great Bliss sadhana). With this practice, we can renew and strengthen our Tantric vows and commitments and purify our negativities, including our Tantric downfalls. It is important to practise this regularly to maintain our vows and commitments.

Fri 20th - Sun 22nd February 2026
In-Depth Retreat with Gen Kelsang Losel

This annual retreat is an opportunity to focus on the meditation practice of Amitayus, the Buddha of Immeasurable Life, which is a special method for increasing our lifespan, wisdom and merit.

The retreat will include an Introduction on Friday night and then two days of meditation practice of Amitayus.

Mon 9th - Fri 13th March 2026
In-Depth Retreat

This retreat provides a special opportunity to explore and deepen our mind of refuge, which is our actual protection from pain and problems.

Our actual refuge is the medicine of Buddha’s teachings, which prevents the sufferings of our body and mind. Buddha is the doctor who provides us with this medicine and encourages us to take it, and the Sangha are our pure spiritual friends who assist us in our practice. These are the three jewels of refuge, to which we turn for both temporary and ultimate protection.

Through practicing refuge, we gain confidence and strength to make authentic spiritual progress. Through this we build stable peace, joy and freedom within our own heart that we can then share with others.

Sat 14th March 2026 | 10:00am - 5:00pm
Silent Retreat with Maria Healey

Unplug for a day of silence at Tara International Kadampa Retreat Centre and enjoy developing some mental peace.

This day retreat will include 4 sessions of guided meditation and advice for taking care of our mind. The break times will be silent throughout the centre. There is plenty of space for you to relax with a book or a cup of tea. Everyone is welcome!

Fri 20th - Wed 25th March 2026

with Gen-la Kelsang Khyenrab

Avalokiteshvara is the Buddha of Compassion and receiving this rare blessing empowerment will stimulate our natural seeds of compassion so that we can make quick progress in this life-changing method.  When our mind is governed by compassion we are always happy; it is an essential and powerful practice for everyone.

Powa (or transference of consciousness) is a special method whereby accomplished meditators can transfer their own or others' consciousness to a higher rebirth or a Pure Land; it was first taught by Buddha Vajradhara in various Tantric texts and a living tradition of these teachings still exists to this day. We will learn how to do this practice and in this way, we can definitely help those beings who are dying or have recently died. 

This will be followed by a short guided retreat with Gen la Kelsang Khyenrab in which we can increase our familiarity with this profound practice following the sadhana Powa Ceremony, by Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso Rinpoche. 

Everybody is welcome to join in and no previous experience or commitment is required.

Sat 28th March 2026 | 10:00am - 5:00pm
Day Retreat with Maria Healey

Tara is a female Buddha who protects us from internal and external dangers and provides us with the conditions we need for our spiritual training. Through relying on her with strong faith, she will fulfil all our wishes through guiding and blessing us to develop and maintain a peaceful, happy mind whatever happens.

In this day retreat we will contemplate inspiring stories about Tara, growing our faith in her ability to help us quickly, and we will gain familiarity with relying on her through engaging in the delightful and powerful prayers 'Liberation from Sorrow'.

Fri 3rd - Mon 6th April 2026
Beginners Meditation Retreat with Gen Kelsang Dema

Do you ever wish life could be simpler with less going on in your mind, less to do, fewer possessions to manage, and with more joy and contentment? It often feels that our life just gets busier and more complicated as time passes bringing more problems and less happiness.

On this retreat we will explore how to overcome this stress in our life and experience a joyful and light mind that is peaceful and happy whatever our circumstances. Immerse yourself in the beautiful, tranquil environment of Tara IKRC and enjoy being guided into an experience of real inner peace and contentment, through meditation.

Sun 12th April 2026 | 10:00am - 1:00pm
Half-Day Retreat with Edward Degg

In this busy modern world, we can often struggle to be patient. Much as we might try to practice patience, it can feel like people, places, and things, are stacked against us.
At times it seems as if everything is testing our patience!
Once we start to understand that the causes of impatience are to be found within our own minds, we can learn to approach life in a new way. It is remarkable what can then happen as we begin to see things differently. With a changed perception we can develop a mind that can help us finally achieve calm and patient acceptance in our lives.

Mon 13th - Wed 15th April 2026
In-Depth Retreat with Gen Kelsang Losel

Nyungnay is one of our most precious Kadampa Dharma jewels and as a centre practice it comes around just once a year – on Buddha’s Enlightenment Day.

We can spend two days with thousand-armed (eleven-faced) Avalokiteshvara – ‘Mahakaruna’ – the nature of our Guru’s great compassion, making exquisite offerings, praises and prostrations and thereby accumulate huge merit, purify vast negativity for ourself and others and receive the most powerful blessing to propel ourself swiftly along our path to enlightenment.

Wrapped within the practice of Mahayana Precepts, it involves fasting and making three sessions of prostrations, with the sadhana ‘Drop of Essential Nectar‘, over two days. Usually the second day is accompanied by a full fast, although strongly recommend, this is not compulsory.

Sun 19th April 2026 | 10:00am - 1:00pm
Half-Day Retreat with Maria Healey

In this half-day course we will discuss the importance of patience in dealing with life’s challenges and uncertainties. We will emphasize the need for patient acceptance in transforming adversity into opportunities for spiritual growth and inner peace. By embracing life’s challenges and maintaining a peaceful mind, we can learn valuable lessons and develop virtues such as compassion, ultimately turning adversities into powerful spiritual teachers.

Fri 1st - Mon 4th May 2026
Beginners Meditation Retreat with Kelsang Naljor

A good heart always gives good results. Good heart means virtuous minds of love and compassion.
If we cherish others if we value others happiness and freedom from suffering then we naturally wish for others to find happiness and freedom from suffering. When this strong wish or intention arises within our mind our mind become peaceful, and we become a good person. We have so much potential for goodness and happiness within us.

In this retreat we will learn how we cultivate that potential , the good heart and develop a peaceful mind, beneficial intentions by gradually improving love and compassion for others. Through understanding Buddha’s teachings we learn how to apply them to the people with whom we spend time everyday. Then our training in developing a good heart and a peaceful mind will be grounded in our daily experience.

Sat 9th May 2026 | 10:00am - 5:00pm
In-Depth Retreat with Maria Healey

Join us for this special retreat where we will engage in a powerful purification practice to remove obstacles, deepen our faith in Dharma, and make progress on the path to enlightenment.

The retreat will include a brief explanation of the practice, followed by lightly guided meditation, prayers, and prostrations.

All are welcome, and the practice is suitable for all physical abilities.

Sun 10th May 2026 | 10:00am - 1:00pm
In-Depth Retreat with Maria Healey

Join us for this special retreat where we will engage in a powerful purification practice to remove obstacles, deepen our faith in Dharma, and make progress on the path to enlightenment.

The retreat will include a brief explanation of the practice, followed by lightly guided meditation, prayers, and prostrations.

All are welcome, and the practice is suitable for all physical abilities.

Mon 11th - Fri 15th May 2026
In-Depth Retreat

Guru Yoga and Mandala offering retreat combines two of the four great preliminary guides that we need to practice if we want to gain Mahamudra realisations – the quick path to enlightenment.

We all wish for spiritual realisations, but these depend upon creating certain inner conditions such as purifying negativity, accumulating merit, and receiving blessings.

In this retreat we focus on the preliminary practices of accumulating merit and receiving blessings. Making mandala offerings is the gateway to accumulating the collection of merit and attaining an enlightened pure land and Guru yoga is the gateway to receiving powerful blessings of all the Buddhas of the ten directions through our Spiritual Guide.

29th May - 5th June 2026
with Kadam Morten Clausen

Following on from the NKT-IKBU International Spring Festival at Manjushri KMC in England, Kadam Morten Clausen will lead a retreat based on the teachings and commentaries received at this Festival. During this retreat, Kadam Morten will guide us in meditations on transforming adverse conditions. We will learn how to train our mind to respond to any difficulty with peace and positivity— strengthening either our wisdom or our compassion. In this way, we become resilient and invulnerable to challenging situations. To support this inner training, we will also engage once a day in the powerful meditation practice of Buddha Amitayus – the Buddha of long life, wisdom and good fortune.