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Abhidhamma Retreat with Lama Mark Webber, NZ, 2027

We are delighted to announce this opportunity to attend a four-month Abhidhamma retreat with Lama Mark Webber (Lama Chokyi Gyaltsen) in New Zealand in 2027:

  • Dates: Feb 1st 2027 – May 31st 2027 (four months total)
  • Locations:
    • First 3 months of teachings / transmission — Nelson, NZ
    • Last month (silent retreat): Wangapeka Retreat Centre
  • Retreat cost = NZ$13,800 + dana per person. This covers living costs (accommodation & food) for the duration of the retreat, course costs and resources including reference books, and a contribution to living and travel costs for the Lama. It excludes dana to Lama Webber.
  • Retreat deposit = NZ$500 — required to secure your place, you will be asked to pay this upon acceptance of your application.

Registration

If you would like to attend this retreat, we invite you to fill out the following online form:

https://forms.gle/F14hPiHW4WUkWmQQ7

Note spaces are limited and your application will go through a review process before acceptance is confirmed. Once accepted you will be asked to pay a $500 deposit to secure your place. The deposit is non-refundable unless the retreat is cancelled.

For those coming from out of town, we would encourage you to start researching flights, etc. However, please do not make any travel arrangements until you have been advised that your application has been accepted.

We will also be looking to come up with a payment plan to help with budgeting for the retreat. Full payment will be required by the start of the retreat — this is to avoid impact on the retreat process.

More about the venues

Please contact the retreat organisers if you would like more information about the retreat venue in Nelson.

More detail on Wangapeka Retreat Centre here: https://wangapeka.org/about

The course organisers will be allocating accommodation once we have the final attendance numbers.

More about the budget / Financial Support

We appreciate the retreat fee is a significant sum of money and may not be easily within the reach of many, especially due to loss of income while on retreat. A scholarship fund has been established to provide financial support to people who wish to attend teachings and retreats with Lama Webber. It is primarily intended for those who would be unable to attend without financial assistance. To be eligible, you must be a NZ citizen or permanent resident. Funding is limited and preference is generally given to those who have attended teachings with Lama Mark Webber in the past. It may not be necessary that Lama Webber is your main Dharma teacher, however a good connection is helpful. Funding is subject to an application process and is awarded at the discretion of the funding committee. Other terms and conditions apply.

More about Abhidhamma

The Abhidhamma (Pali for “Higher Laws” or “Higher Phenomena”, Sanskrit: Abhidharma) is one of the three-baskets (collections) of the Buddha’s teachings. In the Theravadin tradition, the Patthana, “The Great Book” of the Abhidhamma, interdependent causal relations is considered to be the pinnacle of the Buddha’s illumination. So many of the great masters throughout all Buddhist traditions beginning with Sariputra undertook Abhidharma training and periods of reflection and meditation. It is the basis underlying all the ancient and modern vipassana-wisdom traditions, including the great meditation manuals of the Path of Freedom and the Path of Purification. The great Mipham Rinpoche, a dedicated practitioner of Abhidharma wrote in his commentary on Abhidharma:

“By the power of gaining certainty in these ten topics (aggregates, elements, sources, dependant origination, the correct and incorrect, the faculties, time, the truths, the vehicles and conditioned and unconditioned things), you will be freed from the delusion of unwholesome views that should be abandoned, such as banishing the ten types of self-orientated views and so forth and you will increase the wisdom of things as they are and of all that exists.”

From the perspective of the Buddha’s penetrative Insight, Abhidhamma is a deep study and series of meditative investigations into mind and form, states, meditative concentration, realms of being, mental processes — cognition, stages of liberation, path factors, emptiness, interdependent origination and the causality/emptiness teaching of the interdependence of all phenomena (Patthana).

Abhidhamma studies combined with meditation guidance and themes are essential for a richer understanding of the whole of the Buddhist teachings and meditations. The three-month transmission, involving classes, workshops, study groups, cognition labs, modern science related to ancient sciences, reviews and meditation assignments will be followed by a one-month classically taught silent vipassana retreat, with individual guidance from Lama Webber. This rich journey, given from the perspectives of the three-turnings of the Buddha’s teachings and the Lama’s deep background in modern science is highly recommended for practitioners who are or will teach and aspire one day to skillfully guide people in Dharma and meditation.

Intro to Abhidhamma — A talk by Lama Mark Webber:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/6Jj0geSiQn4R3R7McaUuHi

Questions & further information

Please contact Jonathan & Aaron with any questions:

e: info@NYBC.NZ
p: 021 1860 476 — Jonathan

We look forward to welcoming you to Nelson for this very rare and precious Dharma opportunity!

Warmest Regards,
Team Abhidhamma (Jonathan, Aaron, Lara & Lekshe)