Spiritual Places

What is it about the monastery here that makes it a spiritual place for you?

Partly the surroundings, the Temple, partly also the community, for me it’s very important to live in spiritual community because it’s difficult, meditation is difficult, it’s an acquired taste and so we need a lot of encouragement to practise. So for me,
living with other people who have a similar interest and aspiration is a very important part of it.

Cloisters at the Amaravati Monastery

How long has the monastery been here?

Almost 20 years.  We came in August 1984 – most of the buildings were already here.  They were built around 1939/40 as a kind of a camp, a refuge for children being evacuated from London during the war.  However the big building you see opposite is the Temple, which was completed in 1999 – that and the cloister have been built quite recently.

Abbots Teacher

Also we have facilities for people to stay with us for short periods of time anything from one night to two or three weeks if they wish, occasionally longer. We also have a Retreat Centre, where people can come on retreat for a weekend or ten days. The retreats follow a specified programme and are pretty much always fully booked, there’s a long waiting list.  At any one time there can be anything from 50 to maybe 100 or more people here.

Guardian deities at the monastery

Our encouragement is to find peace and quiet no matter what’s going on around us – this is actually a very important part of our practice, so while I can say that sometimes I long for quiet and to be alone without anybody around me, I can also enjoy the presence of a great many other people and particularly when I see how much joy it brings them. 

The Temple at the Amaravati Monastery

Why do people come here on retreat? What sort of people would come here to find solace or strength?

Really it’s a place for anybody who is interested in understanding why life as a human being is difficult, in understanding suffering, [anybody] who has an interest in cultivating a way of living that leads out of that suffering or stressful state. So I’m very much gladdened when people from all walks of life come. We have doctors, lawyers, nurses, school teachers, university teachers, builders, craftsmen, craftswomen and artists, people who have a real a very strong commitment and interest, an aspiration towards peace, both peace within their own hearts and peace in the world.

Inside the temple

Do you feel that with the monastery nestled here in the beautiful Hertfordshire countryside - that being surrounded by nature, cradled almost by nature - helps as well?

Most definitely – I realise that I’m incredibly privileged to be able to live in such surroundings. When people come on retreat and  the time comes for them to go back to their homes and their families, I always encourage them to visit regularly and I also encourage them to find time to be in nature to be among trees, to be by water, streams, fountains, wherever they can.