Celebrate Buddha’s enlightenment day with us! Nyungne is a beloved practice to honour and remember Buddha’s enlightenment.

This special purification and fasting practice is performed together with prayers and prostrations to the Thousand-armed Avalokiteshvara, the Buddha of Compassion. It is very powerful for purifying negativity and strong delusions such as desirous attachment and anger. It is also a special method for receiving blessings and improving our experience of love, compassion, and bodhichitta.

The day begins by taking the eight Mahayana Precepts which must be attended by those engaging in the retreat day.

What are precepts?

The practice of taking and keeping the eight Mahayana precepts is a special practice of moral discipline that is performed with bodhichitta intention, the compassionate wish to realise our spiritual potential for the benefit of all beings. The essence of this practice is taking eight precepts and keeping them purely for twenty-four hours. When we take precepts, we explicitly promise to abstain for twenty-four hours from eight actions which include: (1) killing; (2) stealing; (3) sexual activity; (4) lying; (5) taking intoxicants; (6) eating after lunch (meaning we only eat lunch); (7) sitting on high or luxurious thrones or seats; (8) wearing ornaments, perfume, singing & dancing.

We abstain from all meals apart from lunch at 12.30pm.

Schedule

Wednesday 15th April

Mahayana precepts: 6.30am (Must attend)

Session 1: 7.15 – 8.15am

Session 2: 10am – 11.00am

Session 3: 2 – 3.15pm

Offering to the Spiritual Guide: 6 – 7:45pm