Residential Kum Nye Retreats
Below is a list of all the Kum Nye in-person Retreats we currently have coming up. For single day online retreats, click HERE.
Please note the course cost covers the residential cost and the travel expenses for the tutors. The teachings are offered freely according to the Buddhist tradition. Voluntary donations to support the teachers can be given separately at the end of the retreat. There is more information on dana at the bottom of this page.
Please note we also offer a discount for the One Year Residential Training, which consists of attending four individual weekly retreats (it’s £80 cheaper to book 4 retreats). Please see HERE for more information.
The retreats are listed in date order, with the soonest retreat listed first.
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Kum Nye - Summer, Fire Element - Anger & Forgiveness (June 2025)
DATES: Sunday 1 June - Friday 6 June 2025
VENUE: Karuna Dartmoor, TQ13 7TR
TUTORS: Cheryl Allen & Maura Sills (Founder, Karuna Institute)
COSTS: WAGED £520 (with a deposit of £200) / UNWAGED £390 (with a deposit of £200)
Plus dana for the tutors.
Arrival will be at 5pm on the Sunday, and aiming to be leaving Karuna Dartmoor by 1.30pm on the Friday.
RETREAT DESCRIPTION
We are linking each of our Four five day Retreats to the Seasons including the Elemental Qualities and how they manifest in our embodied presence including particular Qualities of Being.
Fire relates to the impulse before action and a quality that can reveal as Vitality. It also relates to a Clarity or Insight, a cutting through of confusion. This quality is called Vajra, a diamond like quality that cuts like a thunderbolt. This Vitality is a necessary aspect of the awaking process, Energy, Virya.
The Brahma Vihara and Parami or Paramitas offer into the holding field of each Retreat.
Please note: The cost of the training only covers the residential, administration costs and travel expenses for tutors, therefore, dana for the tutors is welcomed.
You need to feel comfortable with silent retreats.
We may be able to offer payment plans to spread the cost of the course over a longer time. If this is something you would be interested in please let us know once you’re accepted onto the course.
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Kum Nye - Autumn, Earth Element & Paramitas (October 2025)
DATES: Sunday 26 October - Friday 31 October 2025
VENUE: Karuna Dartmoor, TQ13 7TR
TUTORS: Maura Sills (Founder, Karuna Institute) & Grainne Delaney
COSTS: WAGED £520 (with a deposit of £200) / UNWAGED £390 (with a deposit of £200)
Plus dana for the tutors.
Arrival will be at 5pm on the Sunday, and aiming to be leaving Kauna Dartmoor by 1.30pm on the Friday.
RETREAT DESCRIPTION
We are linking each of our Four five day Retreats to the Seasons including the Elemental Qualities and how they manifest in our embodied presence including particular Qualities of Being. Earth Element can open us up to how the body holds fear and the opportunity to transform this and connect with courage.
The Paramita, essential qualities of heart support the enquiry in this and subsequent Retreats. During this retreat we will include practices from Kum Nye and Mindfulness that help us cultivate generosity; discipline; patience; diligence; concentration and wisdom. The Buddha spoke about ten perfections or parami. Later these were described as six perfections within Mahayana Buddhism. Whether ten or six, these qualities were recognized as needing to be cultivated in order to become fully self- awakened
Please note: The cost of the training only covers the residential, administration costs and travel expenses for tutors, therefore, dana for the tutors is welcomed.
You need to feel comfortable with silent retreats.
We may be able to offer payment plans to spread the cost of the course over a longer time. If this is something you would be interested in please let us know once you’re accepted onto the course.
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Kum Nye - Winter, Water Element - Holding On & Letting Go (January 2026)
DATES: Sunday 25 January 2026 - Friday 30 January 2026
VENUE: Karuna Dartmoor, TQ13 7TR
TUTORS: Maura Sills (Founder, Karuna Institute) & Cheryl Allen
COSTS: WAGED £520 (with a deposit of £200) / UNWAGED £390 (with a deposit of £200)
Plus dana for the tutors.
Arrival will be at 5pm on the Sunday, and aiming to be leaving Kauna Dartmoor by 1.30pm on the Friday.
RETREAT DESCRIPTION
We are linking each of our Four five day Retreats to the Seasons including the Elemental Qualities and how they manifest in our embodied presence including particular Qualities of Being.
Water Element may have a quality of Holding on. Deepening into this response offers opportunities to become curious of the energies and and processes that constellate this response, in what can we rest, in what can we trust. Our collective field further supports this enquiry. Returning to the possibility of flow.
Please note: The cost of the training only covers the residential, administration costs and travel expenses for tutors, therefore, dana for the tutors is welcomed.
You need to feel comfortable with silent retreats.
We may be able to offer payment plans to spread the cost of the course over a longer time. If this is something you would be interested in please let us know once you’re accepted onto the course.
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Kum Nye - Spring, Air Element, Desire & Desirelessness (March 2026)
DATES: Sunday 1 March - Friday 6 March 2026
VENUE: Karuna Dartmoor, TQ13 7TR
TUTORS: Maura Sills (Founder, Karuna Institute) & Cheryl Allen
COSTS: WAGED £520 (with a deposit of £200) / UNWAGED £390 (with a deposit of £200)
Plus dana for the tutors.
Arrival will be at 5pm on the Sunday, and aiming to be leaving Karuna Dartmoor by 1.30pm on the Friday.
RETREAT DESCRIPTION
We are linking each of our Four five day Retreats to the Seasons including the Elemental Qualities and how they manifest in our embodied presence including particular Qualities of Being.
Air Element relates to Thought and Movement also the process of dispersal. There is a heartfelt quality of Compassion which has its physical home in the heart. Generosity, Patience and Kindness support connection and relatedness with the possibility of a deepening sense of belonging.
Please note: The cost of the training only covers the residential, administration costs and travel expenses for tutors, therefore, dana for the tutors is welcomed.
You need to feel comfortable with silent retreats.
We may be able to offer payment plans to spread the cost of the course over a longer time. If this is something you would be interested in please let us know once you’re accepted onto the course.
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Kum Nye - Summer, Fire Element - Anger & Forgiveness (May 2026)
DATES: Sunday 3 May - Friday 8 May 2026
VENUE: Karuna Dartmoor, TQ13 7TR
TUTORS: Maura Sills (Founder, Karuna Institute) & Grainne Delaney
COSTS: WAGED £520 (with a deposit of £200) / UNWAGED £390 (with a deposit of £200)
Plus dana for the tutors.
Arrival will be at 5pm on the Sunday, and aiming to be leaving Karuna Dartmoor by 1.30pm on the Friday.
RETREAT DESCRIPTION
We are linking each of our Four five day Retreats to the Seasons including the Elemental Qualities and how they manifest in our embodied presence including particular Qualities of Being.
Fire relates to the impulse before action and a quality that can reveal as Vitality. It also relates to a Clarity or Insight, a cutting through of confusion. This quality is called Vajra, a diamond like quality that cuts like a thunderbolt. This Vitality is a necessary aspect of the awaking process, Energy, Virya.
The Brahma Vihara and Parami or Paramitas offer into the holding field of each Retreat.
Please note: The cost of the training only covers the residential, administration costs and travel expenses for tutors, therefore, dana for the tutors is welcomed.
You need to feel comfortable with silent retreats.
We may be able to offer payment plans to spread the cost of the course over a longer time. If this is something you would be interested in please let us know once you’re accepted onto the course.
Guidelines for Dana
Dana means “generosity” and “giving” in Pali, the language in which the Buddha’s teachings were originally recorded. The Buddha regularly emphasised in his teaching the value of generosity and sharing what we have with others, as an essential practice of cultivating happiness and wellbeing.
Dana is a foundation principle underlying the running of Retreats, and also at other Insight Meditation centres and Buddhist monasteries, around the world. This follows a two and a half thousand year-old tradition in the transmission of the dharma.
In order to make this opportunity to practice as accessible as possible, Karuna Dartmoor seeks to keep costs to a minimum. The charge you paid to attend this retreat covers only the ongoing costs of running the centre, including: food; heating; electricity; water; administration etc. The teachers serve and support your retreat out of kindness and generosity: they are not paid for the work they do.
As your time here comes to an end, you have the opportunity to support the teachers who have supported your retreat.
The Buddha encouraged dana and generosity, in recognition of our interdependence, and as a wholesome practice which helps release the heart and mind from greed and negativity. In receiving with gratitude, and giving with generosity, we become more fully conscious participants in the interconnected web of life that supports us all.
Take it as a practice: there is no expected “right amount”, so please listen to your heart and give what you are moved to offer, while also respecting your practical circumstances. Your dana ensures the continued transmission of the dharma teachings, and their accessibility to all who wish to receive them.
The Directors and Teachers at Karuna Dartmoor deeply appreciate and thank you for your kindness and generosity.
Thank you.