Lam Rim Buddhist Centre, Wales

• Date: Fri 20th to 23rd November 2026

• Times: Joining with a welcome Friday evening, ending Monday afternoon

• Format: In Person or Online

Overview

Why do we get so caught up in things? Why can one small problem take over our whole day? And why do anxiety, stress or dissatisfaction sometimes remain even when, on the surface, life seems to be going well?

Buddhism suggests that much of our unease comes not simply from what happens to us, but from how we see things. We tend to experience people, situations and even ourselves as fixed, solid and independent. Yet when we look more closely, everything exists through a combination of causes, conditions, relationships and changing circumstances.

Drawing on his book Tsonkghapa’s Praise for Dependent Relativity, a commentary on the verses that Je Tsongkhapa (1357 - 1419) wrote immediately after realising emptiness for the first time, Geshe Losel will introduce the Buddha’s profoundest insight, the wisdom that liberates from all suffering.

This may sound philosophical, but its implications are very down to earth. If things are less solid and permanent than we imagine, then our problems, identities, relationships and emotional reactions can also become much more workable. We can begin to hold life a little more lightly, respond with greater flexibility, and create space between what happens and how we react.

Over the weekend, Geshe Losel will guide us through these ideas with teaching, meditation, reflection and discussion, helping to connect Buddhism’s deepest wisdom with the challenges and experiences of ordinary life.

This teaching is organised in collaboration with BuddhaWeb, Czech Republic and so will be available to join online for anyone who wishes to join.

We will explore:

• Why Buddhism says our way of seeing things matters so much.

• How everything depends upon causes, conditions and relationships.

• How our exaggerated assumptions about ourselves and others create stress.

• How a different way of seeing can reduce attachment, frustration and anxiety.

• The connection between dependent relativity and emptiness.

• How these insights can help us live with more openness, flexibility and compassion.

This retreat will be hosted at Lam Rim Buddhist Centre Wales but the teachings can also be joined online.

About the Teacher

Geshe Tenzin Losel was born in mid-20th century Britain. He first met Buddhist teachings in England thanks to the exceptionally kind efforts of Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa, reaching out to westerners. He left for India in 1990 for further studies and received full ordination as a Buddhist monk in the Tibetan tradition from His Holiness the Dalai Lama in 1994. He is one of the handful of Westerners trained for two decades in the traditional Tibetan way as a geshe. While a student at the Institute of Buddhist Dialectics in Dharamsala, he attended many public teachings by His Holiness there. In 2006 he received his geshe degree from Drepung Loseling, the monastery where the late Geshe Damcho, founder of Lam Rim Wales also trained. After returning to Britain to care for his parents in their last years, he moved in 2018 to Nalanda Monastery in France. As well as teaching, he has been involved in translating vinaya materials, which deal with ethical conduct and vows, especially for monastics. In fulfilment of Geshe Damcho’s request to him to teach in his centres, he is now associated with Lam Rim Wales and Lam Rim Bristol.

Who Should Join?

No previous knowledge of Buddhism is required. Anyone interested in meditation, religious life, and inner development, Buddhist practitioners of all levels.

Schedule

• Arrivals from 5pm Friday, with supper at 6:30pm and a short course welcome starting 7:30pm

• Retreat closing after lunch on Monday 23rd Nov 2026

Who Should Attend

Anyone interested in meditation, religious life, and inner development, Buddhist practitioners of all levels.

Lunch & Refreshments

We are pleased to provide complimentary refreshments throughout the course, with breakfast, lunch and a evening meal. Please advise of any dietary requirements on the booking form.

Location

Teachings will be onsite at Lam Rim Buddhist Centre, Pentwyn Manor, Penrhos, Raglan, Usk, Wales, NP15 2LE - directions here >

Visiting by public transport, more information here >

Residential Accommodation

To understand more about residential accommodation and the various rooms available, click here >

Tickets & Donation

Everyone is welcome to attend Buddhist teachings freely, with no donation required. However, the Centre relies on the kindness and generosity of the community to remain open and continue offering teachings and retreats. We offer two main suggested donation levels to help make attendance accessible to as many people as possible, and we kindly encourage those who are able to contribute at the higher rate to do so.

• Standard Rate - Contributes to running costs and a little more to help sustain the Centre. Ticket includes food and accommodation at Lam Rim for the duration of the course.

• Basic Rate - Contributes to the very basic running costs of the course. Ticket includes food and accommodation at Lam Rim for the duration of the course.

• Attendance Only - For those who wish to attend the event but stay in nearby accommodation. Ticket includes lunch and supper for the duration of the course.

• Support Rate - Contact us via lamrimwalesmanagers@gmail.com if the above rates are too high for you where we can discuss further subsidised options, including open entry.

• Date: Fri 27th to Sun 29th November 2026

• Time: Arrive Friday evening, closing Sunday late afternoon

• Format: Residential, Onsite at Lam Rim Wales

Overview

The art of Buddhist reasoning and dialectical inquiry traces its roots back to ancient India, to renowned educational centres such as the great Nalanda Monastery of India. After Buddhism spread to Tibet, formal debate involving thesis, signs, and consequences, was embraced by the monastic community as a means of developing both personal knowledge and inner wisdom.

This weekend's retreat brings the foundations of that method of inquiry to Lamrim Wales. Over the weekend you'll be introduced to the essential building blocks of Buddhist logic and debate, with an emphasis placed on developing your own path of reasoning on the debate ground.

Debate is a lively occasion and no prior experience is needed to join. For those with any interest in Buddhist philosophy, debate is far more accessible than may appear, so please do consider giving this a go!

Key Learning Topics

• Purpose of debate

• Challenger & defender roles

• Overview of phenomena

• Definienda & definitions

• Language & phrasing

• Thesis & Syllogism

• Consequence

• Comparing phenomena

About the Teacher

Paul is a graduate of Nalanda Monastery, France, where he trained in Dudra under the guidance of Geshe Tenzin Losel and Geshe Jamphel Gyaltsen before taking his own place there leading debate classes. In the three years since leaving Nalanda, he has continued to teach debate to an international audience, and now brings that experience home to Lamrim Wales for this weekend course. Paul is the founder and lead tutor of Foundation of Buddhist Logic & Debate (learn more)

Schedule

• To be announced

Who Should Join? 

This course is for anyone drawn to meditation, philosophy, or contemplative study who wishes to bring greater clarity and rigour to their own thinking. It suits established practitioners and complete beginners alike.

No prior experience of debate, logic, or Tibetan philosophy is required, only curiosity and a willingness to be challenged.

Lunch & Refreshments

We are pleased to provide complimentary refreshments throughout the day, lunch and supper. Please advise of any dietary requirements on the booking form.

Tickets & Donation

Everyone is welcome to attend Buddhist teachings freely with no donation. However, the Centre does rely on donations to stay open, which are gratefully received. We offer two main rates to enable as many people as possible to attend our teachings. Please consider paying at the highest rate that you are able. Your generosity is vital in supporting the Centre.

• Standard Rate - This includes a donation to help sustain Lam Rim Buddhist Centre, and to cover costs and teacher expenses. Includes accommodation & food.

• Basic Rate - This covers the very basic costs of running this course. Includes accommodation & food.

• Attendance Only - For those who live nearby or wish to attend but stay in alternative nearby accommodation. Ticket includes lunch and supper for the duration of the course.

• Support Rate - Contact us via lamrimwalesmanagers@gmail.com if the above rates are too high for you where we can discuss further subsidised options.

• Thursday 3 & Friday 4 December 2026

• Lam Rim Buddhist Centre, Wales

Join us for two special days at Lam Rim, bringing together Buddhist practice, community and time in the beautiful countryside.

Come along for Lama Tsongkhapa Day on Thursday, our community Winter Walk on Friday, or stay overnight and join both events!

Everyone is warmly welcome, whether you're a regular visitor or joining us for the first time.

Day 1 – Lama Tsongkhapa Day: An Afternoon of Prayer & Practice

• Thursday 3 December

• 2:30pm–6:30pm (with refreshment breaks)

• 6:30pm - Supper

Join us for a special afternoon of puja, mantra recitation and peaceful meditation in celebration of Lama Tsongkhapa Day (Ganden Ngamchoe), one of the most auspicious days in the Tibetan Buddhist calendar.

This special day commemorates the parinirvana of Lama Tsongkhapa (1357–1419), the great Tibetan Buddhist master and founder of the Gelug tradition. His profound teachings on wisdom, compassion and the path to enlightenment are the main source of guidance and direction for Lam Rim Wales.

We will come together to honour Lama Tsongkhapa's extraordinary life and teachings, engage in traditional practices, accumulate merit and dedicate our prayers for the benefit of all beings.

Afternoon Programme

An afternoon of practice with refreshment breaks, including selections from:

• Ganden Lha Gyema (Hundred Deities of the Joyful Land) – Traditional Lama Tsongkhapa Guru Yoga practice, with mantra recitation and peaceful meditation.

• Prayers of Lama Tsongkhapa – Songs of the Stages of the Path and In Praise of Dependent Relativity.

• Avalokiteshvara & Manjushri Practice – Prayers, mantra and meditation to cultivate compassion & wisdom.

• Dedications – Dedicating the merits of our practice.

Stay for Supper

Following the afternoon's practice, you're warmly invited to stay for supper and enjoy time with Dharma friends.

Who Should Join

Everyone is warmly welcome, whether you're a regular practitioner or new to Tibetan Buddhism. This is a wonderful opportunity to come together in practice, deepen your connection with Lama Tsongkhapa's teachings and share in an afternoon of wisdom and compassion.

Day 2 – Lam Rim Winter Walk: A Community Day Out

• Friday 4 December

• Morning to Evening - Exact times TBC

Join us for a friendly community walk – a lovely opportunity to meet fellow Buddhists, make new friends, enjoy the outdoors and spend time together in good company.

The day will be informal and relaxed, with plenty of opportunities to walk, chat and get to know one another.

• Join for all or part of the walk – whatever suits you.

• Everyone welcome – newcomers and regulars alike.

• Walk at a relaxed pace – enjoying the countryside and good conversation.

• Location and route – To be confirmed, with the Forest of Dean among the possibilities.

• Transport – Lifts will be available, although please bring a car if you have one.

Our previous community walks have been great fun, so please do come along, enjoy some fresh air, connect with like-minded people and strengthen our wonderful Lam Rim community!

Walk Difficulty

The walk will be easy to moderate in difficulty, so a reasonable level of fitness is recommended. You're welcome to join for the full walk or just part of it, depending on your ability and preference.

Lunch & Refreshments

Please bring a packed lunch and water for the walk.

Who Should Join

Open to everyone looking to connect with the Buddhist community, meet like-minded people, make new friends and enjoy the outdoors together.

Join for the Day or Stay Overnight

You are welcome to attend Lama Tsongkhapa Day, the Winter Walk, or both events, with or without overnight accommodation.‍ Please explore registration options below.

Registration & Donations

Registration helps us manage numbers, food and accommodation. You are welcome to attend Lama Tsongkhapa Day, the Winter Walk, or both events, with or without overnight accommodation.‍ ‍

Donations towards overnight accommodation help cover the Centre's running costs. Any additional contributions on the day are always warmly appreciated.

Please note that overnight accommodation may be shared depending on demand.

We look forward to welcoming you for two days of wisdom, compassion, and community!

• Date: Fri 29th to 31st January 2027

• Times: Joining with a welcome Friday evening, ending Sunday afternoon

• Format: Residential retreat

Overview

During this weekend we will be looking at a detailed commentary on Tsongkhapa’s Great Stages of the Path (Lamrim Chenmo) taught by Geshe Lhundup Sopa, one of the greatest Buddhist masters to come out of Tibet in the mid-twentieth century. A supreme expert, he was known as a teacher’s teacher.

Lamrim literally means “stages of the path.” A spiritual path or any of its stages is a special kind of realization. Tsongkhapa’s Lamrim Chenmo shows us how to develop all the realizations required to accomplish the entire path to enlightenment. Among these gradual realizations, the only one that can uproot our inner source of suffering is the wisdom that sees emptiness, the ultimate reality. A full explanation of how to develop the perfection of wisdom is provided by Geshe Sopa in the insight volume of his commentary.

Dechen Rochard first received teachings from Geshe Sopa in 1984. She soon became a nun and entered the geshe studies programme at the Institute of Buddhist Dialectics, Dharamsala. Later she returned to the West as a lay-person to embark on a PhD and was blessed to study under the guidance of Geshe Sopa again, working hand-in-glove with him on his insight volume, which she considers “the jewel of my life.”

It would be a delight to share with you the treasure trove of Geshe Sopa’s profound teachings on the insight into emptiness. Here we will focus on the main points that Geshe-la presents in the introduction and first chapter of his commentary, especially the root of suffering and the awakening mind, topics that recur throughout the text. We will engage in periods of teaching, discussion, and meditation. All questions are welcome.

To prepare for this week-end, it would be helpful if you could purchase a copy of the text, however copies of key pages will be provided:

• Geshe Lhundub Sopa with Dechen Rochard, Steps on the Path to Enlightenment, Volume 5: Insight (Wisdom Publications, 2017).

Schedule

• Arrivals from 5pm Friday, with supper at 6:30pm and a short course welcome starting 7:30pm

• Retreat closing on Sunday, 3:30pm

Who Should Attend

Anyone interested in meditation, religious life, and inner development, Buddhist practitioners of all levels.

Lunch & Refreshments

We are pleased to provide complimentary refreshments throughout the course, with breakfast, lunch and a evening meal. Please advise of any dietary requirements on the booking form.

Location

Teachings will be onsite at Lam Rim Buddhist Centre, Pentwyn Manor, Penrhos, Raglan, Usk, Wales, NP15 2LE - directions here >

Visiting by public transport, more information here >

Residential Accommodation

To understand more about residential accommodation and the various rooms available, click here >

Tickets & Donation

Everyone is welcome to attend Buddhist teachings freely, with no donation required. However, the Centre relies on the kindness and generosity of the community to remain open and continue offering teachings and retreats. We offer two main suggested donation levels to help make attendance accessible to as many people as possible, and we kindly encourage those who are able to contribute at the higher rate to do so.

• Standard Rate - Contributes to running costs and a little more to help sustain the Centre. Ticket includes food and accommodation at Lam Rim for the duration of the course.

• Basic Rate - Contributes to the very basic running costs of the course. Ticket includes food and accommodation at Lam Rim for the duration of the course.

• Attendance Only - For those who wish to attend the event but stay in nearby accommodation. Ticket includes lunch and supper for the duration of the course.

• Support Rate - Contact us via lamrimwalesmanagers@gmail.com if the above rates are too high for you where we can discuss further subsidised options, including open entry.

• Date: Fri 12th to 14th February 2027

• Times: Joining with a welcome Friday evening, ending Sunday afternoon

• Format: Residential retreat

Overview

Welcome to Lam Rim Wales for a weekend making tsatsas. Tsatsas are small images of Buddhas or sacred symbols in relief, or they can be stupas that are fully three-dimensional. They are relatively simple for everyone to make because they are formed using moulds. Excellent tsatsas full of beauty and detail can be made fairly quickly and easily. Traditionally the moulds are metal and softened clay is pushed or pounded in to the mould and left to dry. Nowadays the moulds are often silicon and tsatsas are made of a modern version of plaster. We will use a modern plaster that is quick-setting, and which becomes very hard and captures every detail . Painting them will be part of the fun.

Making them is not just fun and not just artistically fulfilling. Working with Buddha images in this way is a way of purifying negative karma and accumulating merit and we transform what we make into sacred objects. This is by means of the prayers and practices we do before and during the process of making them.

By the end of the weekend people will have learned practically how to make tsatsas and how to produce them as holy objects suitable for the altar or as gifts. Each participant should be able to make their own small collection of a few tsatsas to take away, painted in gold and maroon. Small amounts of other precious substances or ashes of a departed loved one can sometimes be added to the tsatsa. The latter is a way of commemorating loved ones and benefitting them in future lives.

• Have fun learning how to make beautiful tsatsas: materials and methods, making and painting.

• Take home your own tsatsas that you make yourself

• Learn the spiritual benefits of making tsatsas and how to make them as sacred as possible!

Images: Show previous tsa tsa making occasions at Lam Rim Wales.

Schedule

Friday Evening

• 6.00pm – Supper

• 7.00–8.00pm – Welcome, introduction to tsa tsas and meditation

Saturday

• 7.30am–8.15am – Morning meditation (optional)

• 8.15am – Breakfast

• 9.30am–12.30pm – Making tsa tsas (with break)

• 12.30pm – Lunch

• 2.30pm–5.30pm – Making and painting tsa tsas (with break)

• 6.30pm – Supper

Sunday

• 7.30am–8.15am – Morning meditation (optional)

• 8.15am – Breakfast

• 9.30am–12.30pm – Making and painting tsa tsas, finishing touches (with break)

• 12.30pm – Lunch

• 2.00pm–3.00pm – Conclusion and closing meditation

About the Teachers

Bessie

I have been practising and studying for over thirty years and have been coming to Lam Rim Centre since the 90s. A few years ago I was advised by of one of my teachers to make a large number of tsa tsas and spent many months doing this. I found it a very powerful practice, producing the phyisical form of the buddha and working with the earth element. I feel it is a profound practice and is very healing for the world to create the image which symbolises the qualities of enlightenment for the benefit of all, which we can aspire to develop and embody.

I found it inspiring and healing for my own body to spend time looking more closely at the shapes of, and painting the physical buddha form.   I have heard that tsa tsa making is encouraged for the healing of one’s own and others’ physical problems.

Geshe Losel

I received full ordination as a Buddhist monk in the Tibetan tradition from His Holiness the Dalai Lama in 1994. I studied for seventeen years at the Institute of Buddhist Dialectics in Dharamsala and received my geshe degree from Drepung Loseling Monastery in 2006. More recently I have been staying at Nalanda Monastery in France and now I am helping out more regularly at Lam Rim Centre Wales. The tsatsa moulds we will be using on our tsatsa weekend in Wales were produced at Nalanda and I learned about tsatsa making there. I made the Je Tsongkhapa tsatsa in the picture from beeswax sourced from Nalanda bee hives!

Who Should Attend

Anyone interested in meditation, religious life, and inner development, Buddhist practitioners of all levels.

Lunch & Refreshments

We are pleased to provide complimentary refreshments throughout the course, with breakfast, lunch and a evening meal. Please advise of any dietary requirements on the booking form.

Location

Teachings will be onsite at Lam Rim Buddhist Centre, Pentwyn Manor, Penrhos, Raglan, Usk, Wales, NP15 2LE - directions here >

Visiting by public transport, more information here >

Residential Accommodation

To understand more about residential accommodation and the various rooms available, click here >

Tickets & Donation

Everyone is welcome to attend Buddhist teachings freely, with no donation required. However, the Centre relies on the kindness and generosity of the community to remain open and continue offering teachings and retreats. We offer two main suggested donation levels to help make attendance accessible to as many people as possible, and we kindly encourage those who are able to contribute at the higher rate to do so.

• Standard Rate - Contributes to running costs and a little more to help sustain the Centre. Ticket includes food and accommodation at Lam Rim for the duration of the course.

• Basic Rate - Contributes to the very basic running costs of the course. Ticket includes food and accommodation at Lam Rim for the duration of the course.

• Attendance Only - For those who wish to attend the event but stay in nearby accommodation. Ticket includes lunch and supper for the duration of the course.

• Support Rate - Contact us via lamrimwalesmanagers@gmail.com if the above rates are too high for you where we can discuss further subsidised options, including open entry.

Note: A slight addition to the typical Lam Rim Wales suggested donation levels is added in order to cover costs for materials.