With astonishing wisdom, originality and directness, Meister Eckhart invites us to let go of all our conceptions of God and enter the groundless-ground in which we are one with God and all creation.

Why? To manifest this oneness in a life of love and compassion.

For Eckhart, the spiritual life is inseparable from the ethical life: “If a person were in an ecstasy as St Paul was, and if they knew of a sick person who needed a bowl of soup from them, I would consider it far better if you were to leave that rapture out of love and help the needy person out of greater love.”

Recognised today as one of the greatest mystics of the Western Christian tradition, Eckhart has much to say which can help us greatly in meeting many pressing contemporary issues. Eckhart had a profound sense of the equality of all human beings, and despite living within a male-dominated Church and society, he was deeply influenced by women.

When it comes to the urgent need to protect our planet, Eckhart had a profound sense of the essential goodness of creation, that each of us and every created thing bears witness to the invisible source of all life:

“Someone who knows nothing but creatures would never need to attend to any sermons, for every creature is full of God and is a book.”

For Eckhart, God is the ever-present ground of all creation, the oneness in which “we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28).

The extraordinary gift of his teaching, is how it can help us cultivate awareness of this oneness, that we, like him, might come to see God in all things and all things in God.

The central focus of this experiential silent retreat will be meditation practice.

Through a flow of talks and extended meditation practice, we will explore the teaching of Meister Eckhart, focusing in particular on:

• Releasing into the oneness of God
• How a spiritual life is inseparable from an ethical life
• Radical equality
• Parallels in the teaching of Meister Eckhart and Buddhism
• The realisation of oneness as the deepest basis for compassion and justice, for our care of each other and of our precious world.

The retreat will be relevant and accessible to anyone searching for truth and peace, regardless of their faith, beliefs or previous experience of meditation.

The retreat begins on Friday at 4:30pm with an orientation talk and refreshments, followed by a period of silent meditation before dinner.
Talks across the weekend will be balanced with periods of silent sitting meditation, walking meditation, conversation, time for private reflection and enjoyment of the beautiful grounds. Opportunities for short private meetings with the retreat leader, Chris Whittington, will be available. The retreat will finish after lunch and a closing conversation on Sunday.

Our group will have exclusive use of the newly refurbished Maribel Centre, which combines contemporary design with the tranquillity of the Convent, and a light-filled chapel. Numbers are limited to 23 people so please book early if you would like to secure a place.

Comments following a recent residential retreat at the Maribel Centre

"It was pure magic. I’ve been going on a variety of retreats over the last 20 years, some silent, individually led and others. However, this has by far been the most valuable. It has helped enormously to grasp more deeply the essence of the practice. I loved the group chemistry and practising together was so encouraging. The venue was the perfect setting for our retreat and the food was delicious."

“The fact that this retreat was a silent retreat gave me the time and space to develop a greater interior silence, as well as the unique (to me) experience of the silence surrounding me. The unhurried, silent yet communal way of being, and being with others, has been a very precious gift for which I am so grateful."

"Being immersed in the practice for a whole weekend was hugely enabling and encouraging for my personal spiritual journey. The environment of shared silence in such a special venue was extraordinarily precious and intimate. The teaching was incredibly accessible to a wide audience and deeply engaging, shared with passion, integrity and overwhelming openness and honesty. The venue at St. Mary’s was wonderful - the food excellent, rooms spotless and the grounds most lovely - especially the water garden and all the ancient apple trees.”

Accommodation, meals and costs

There are four types of room available. The costs below are per person, include accommodation, full-board and the retreat programme:

- Single en-suite room: £310 total cost per person for the retreat
- Twin en-suite room: £290 total cost per person for the retreat
- Single room with a shared bathroom: £280 total cost per person for the retreat
- Twin room with a shared bathroom: £260 total cost per person for the retreat

Rooms will be available on a first come, first served basis. Two single en-suite rooms have disabled access - please contact us before booking should you require one of these. All meals and refreshments during the retreat are freshly prepared on site and included within the price above. If you have any special dietary requirements, please let us know when booking.

If your income is limited, please don't hesitate to get in touch and inquire about whether we have any bursaries available.

Retreat schedule

A detailed schedule will be provided nearer the date of the retreat. Access to the Maribel Centre will be from 4:00pm on Friday, ready for the first session of the retreat at 4:30pm and we will depart shortly after 3pm on Sunday.
 
Travelling to the retreat

The Maribel Centre is located at the Convent of St Mary the Virgin, Denchworth Road, Wantage, Oxfordshire, OX12 9AU. Note that the postcode is a little unreliable when locating the convent and, if you are using Google Maps, please search for 'St. Mary's Convent Wantage'.

- By train: Didcot is 8 miles away from St. Mary's with good rail links to Reading, Oxford, London and Cardiff.
- By bus: there are good bus links to nearby towns. Stagecoach West provides the main service between Wantage and Oxford with frequent buses. Thames Travel provides bus services between Wantage and Didcot via Harwell Campus and East Hanney.
- By car: Wantage is accessed via the A338 from the North and South, the A417 to the East and West. The nearest motorways are the M4 to the South and the M40 to the North.

Retreat leader

Chris Whittington is the founder of the School of Contemplative Life. He was introduced to contemplative practice at the age of 19 during a period of formation at the Benedictine monastery of Prinknash Abbey, after which he studied at the Dalai Lama’s monastery in India. Chris regularly delivers talks, workshops and retreats across the UK. For more information about Chris' formation, please click here.

Terms

Please refer to our website for the terms and conditions associated with an event.

If you need to cancel for whatever reason after booking, please get in touch with us as soon as possible and we will try to find a solution. In the event that we cannot fill your place, the cost may not be refundable.

Please only book onto an event if you are able to fully commit to the event schedule.  If, after booking, something arises which means you will be  distracted and unable to commit to following the retreat programme (i.e you will need to be working on your computer during periods throughout
the event or be in regular contact with a family member), please let us know so we can considering offering you a refund and allocating your ticket to someone who may be on the waiting list.

Many thanks to the Community of St. Mary the Virgin, Wantage, for allowing us to use their image of the Maribel Centre.