What are we trying to do?

Anyone who has participated in some kind of residential retreat knows that it provides a great opportunity to recharge and reset, and to find a fresh perspective on our lives. This might be a Buddhist meditation retreat or one of a number of different activities. Finding an affordable opportunity to participate in these kinds of activities, close to Glasgow, isn’t always easy. As a not-for-profit organisation, this is what we’re hoping we can provide.

Why now?

There are a number of reasons why this is a great time to start open a retreat centre. Firstly, our city centre is now very well-established and has shown that there are plenty of people who value the opportunity to participate in Zen Buddhist practice. We’ve proved we can run a space effectively, balance the books and manage a not-for-profit organisation. At the same time, this has been such a challenging time for in so many ways that there is great demand for courses and activities which can help people to move on from the challenges and stresses of the past 18 months or so.

What will the retreat centre offer?

The idea of the retreat centre is really twofold:

1. To provide a space where Sangha members can participate in a range of Zen Centre activities, including short-term stays, periods of residential training and more intensive retreats among other things.

2. The retreat centre will also provide a wide range of activities aimed at the general public – yoga, tai chi, mindfulness meditation among other things. In this way, it can have an impact on the mental health and wellbeing of a much wider group of people.

What has happened so far?

We started by researching different aspects of the project to get a clear sense of what it will involve. Given everything we now know, we’ve established that £100,000 could be sufficient to cover everything we need to get this project off the ground. This is a substantial sum of course but it’s achievable. And if we can provide the kind of space we’re hoping to offer, long-term it will prove to be money well-spent! We've now reached the point where we close to this target and will soon be able to start looking for a specific location/space we could purchase.