Dzogchen Beara

At nine each morning, the day's first session begins: Calm Abiding, or shamatha, from 9 to 9.45am, seven days a week. It is a drop-in practice open to everyone, new or experienced. There is no need to register and no charge, though donations are welcome. The centre describes it as a way to be mindful, aware and spacious, letting the mind settle into a state of natural peace.

Dzogchen Beara, at Garranes, Allihies, in Co. Cork, has been a place of spiritual refuge and inspiration since 1980. It is a Buddhist meditation and retreat centre and a proud member of the One Rigpa Network. Its programme is led by Rigpa's teachers and by other teachers primarily from the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. On weekdays a Loving Kindness session follows from 2.15 to 3pm. Online meditations run on Tuesdays (Calm Abiding) and Thursdays (Loving Kindness), 9.15 to 10am.

The retreat programme runs all year, onsite and online. An autumn weekend, Finding Unshakeable Certainty, is rooted in the lineage of Longchenpa and Mipham Rinpoche. Connected Educators is a six-week online course for teachers. A strand of spiritual care sits alongside the teaching: monthly mini-retreats such as Deep Listening and Exploring Compassion, and Authentic Presence Immersion, skills training in a contemplative approach to end-of-life care. A Rigpa retreat, The Most Important Moment, offers time to prepare for dying.

Visitors can wander the gardens and walks, the temple and sacred monuments, and use the café and gift shop. On Saturdays there is a guided temple tour. Guests stay in self-catering clifftop cottages, in twin and double rooms in the Spiritual Care Centre, or in the farmhouse hostel. Dzogchen Beara Trust is a registered charity, and concession rates are available.