Dear friends, As we approach the end of our year long online programme exploring the "Art of Concentration", we have two really nice open events coming up before Christmas to end the year with. Introducing the Bramhaviharas - Online Weekend Retreat This is a weekend online intensive retreat introducing "The 4 Immeasurable States", of Love, Compassion, Appreciation and Equanimity. As the authentic expression of enlightened mind, these practices lie right at the heart of the Buddha's Dharma and...
5 days ago • 1 min read
Dear friends, I thought would write personally to you this month with a brief update on what's been happening and what's coming up at AoM. We have just finished our first Thangka Drawing and Devotional practices retreat in Portugal. It was a really special and unique event and something I will definitely be repeating next year as it gave me an opportunity to share teachings that I don't often have the chance to share. The combination of devotion, art and meditation proved to be a profoundly...
about 2 months ago • 2 min read
Dear friends, Now that summer is in full swing, we would like to update you on our schedule for the rest of the year at our amazing new retreat venue, Brahma Vihara, in Portugal. One aspect to the vision behind opening this dedicated retreat centre is to create new opportunities to work in a more intimate environment than our large UK based retreats can offer. In particular we are hoping to appeal to those wishing to connect and develop a deeper connection to their practice and the healing...
3 months ago • 3 min read
Dear friends, This September we will be hosting a very special and unique retreat experience in Portugal. Retreat date - 4th - 13th September 2025Venue - Brahma Vihara, North PortugalGroup size - max 12 people During his rehabilitation from brain trauma over the last few years, Burgs found that engaging in art, calligraphy and various other crafts extremely helpful in resetting his system from a 'fight or flight' mode to one which was more settled and grounded. His experiences with this has...
4 months ago • 1 min read
Dear friends, I am sorry that I haven't been in contact with you all more over recent weeks. We have been very busy getting our new retreat space set up. But we are now up and running and I have have a little more time. I have been reflecting much over the last couple of months about why it was I had to unpublish so much of the material I had shared over recent years and how sad I felt about that when now seems to be such an important time to be offering support, guidance, inspiration and...
5 months ago • 3 min read
Greetings everyone. I hope this update from me finds you all well. I am writing to you to tell you about our plans for the summer ahead and to announce the opening of 'Brahma Vihara', our beautiful and magical new retreat centre in North Portugal. It has been my aspiration for many years to one day be able to create a dedicated "Seat of Dharma" that could become the centre point of the work we do at AoM to give people an authentic opportunity to immerse themselves in Dharma practice and...
6 months ago • 2 min read
Dear friends, Last year I ran a new online retreat called “The Energetics Spiritual Self-care”. It is a theme that I have felt emerging with greater importance over the past few years and one that I feel has become fundamental to not just our spiritual path but our whole life more broadly. During the course of this year, I could see that those coming to sit and learn meditation with me were all in need of these teachings, and so I wish to share them again, as I feel that they are so relevant...
6 months ago • 2 min read
Dear friends, As part of our focus this year on developing concentration through meditation and other supportive practices, we are excited to announce a special retreat where we will be combining the use of art and meditation to help develop serenity and a more devotional attitude to our meditation practice. On this retreat Burgs will teach various devotional meditation practices, while you learn how to paint the Buddha using traditional Tibetan sacred geometry and the history and symbolism...
6 months ago • 1 min read
Dear Friends, Starting 10th May 2025, Burgs will be offering the second part of our journey into the "Art of Concentration". Having developed the preparatory skills in concentration practice through anapana (meditating on the breath), session 2 will move on and develop further the subtlety and stability of our concentration as well as the flexibility and malleability of our mind through learning a whole series of detailed meditations on the body. These wonderful practices not only serve as a...
6 months ago • 2 min read