The Buddhafield Story

MANY of you will have heard of Buddhafield, a summer celebration held each year in the Blackdown Hills. Less well-known is that Buddhafield runs many other outdoor events in the Southwest, operates a mobile Buddhafields Cafe and is developing a 20-acre woodland site for retreats.

This summer, Buddhafield celebrates 10 years of both running outdoor camping retreats, and running the Buddhafield Cafe, which travels the summer festival circuit.

Over this time, Buddhafield has been involved in, among other things, political activism, permaculture and club nights. It has inspired a musical collective to produce a CD and others to become market traders - whatever their interest, after connecting with Buddhafield, people seem to develop the confidence to follow what excites them most in their lives, say the organisers.

Buddhafield runs a variety of retreats from Spring until the end of September, using tents and benders for shelter, sleep, meditation, ritual and ceremony.

"Going on retreat, whether alone or as part of a group, is immensely valuable to emotional and spiritual growth," says Varabhadri, Buddhist order member and retreat leader.

"We literally retreat from the jarring, everyday noise of phones, traffic, machinery and the dictates of clock-watching, from ‘doing’ mode into simply ‘being’.

"A retreat offers conditions which allow us to access a fuller, deeper experience of ourselves, our thoughts and feelings, and a richer awareness of other people and our surroundings."

The Buddhafield Cafe, which they take to festivals over the summer, raises income, but also allows them to share their ideas about Buddhist practice, outdoor living and healthy ethical food.

"We run it mainly with volunteers," says cafe manager Mumukshu. "All the food is vegan and organic, with as much fresh locally-sourced produce as possible. We also use only fair-trade tea, coffee and sugar and chocolate, and only environmentally-friendly cleaning products.

"We carry a massive tent, tables and seats, carpets and decorations in our van - making it all look beautiful and then taking it all down again a few days later is a good regular teaching of impermanence!"

Buddhafield first acquired land at Broadhembury, near Honiton, when it won four acres of scrubland in a Devon ‘living arts’ festival in 2001. A year later, the adjacent 20-acre site of mixed woodland became available and they borrowed money and set up an appeal to buy the land.

Buddhafield say they’ve long had a strong connection to working with the elements in a sustainable way, and over the winter months the vision has started to take shape at Broadhembury.

Buddhafield say they hope that the gradual sustainable development of the land will provide "both a context for people to engage in working together and a piece of land that inspires people, through its beauty, to greater depths in their spiritual development".

"We are expanding in many different directions at once - only occasionally biting off more than we can chew! We welcome help in the summer months."



WANT TO KNOW MORE?
For more info on retreats, call 01647 24539, or email retreatsinfo@buddhafield.com.
To offer help, email helpers@ buddhafield.com.