Resources

Meditation Retreat Centres

United Kingdom

  • Amaravati Monastery, Hemel Hempstead — Thai Forest

  • Chithurst Monastery (Cittaviveka), West Sussex — Thai Forest

  • Gaia House, Devon — Heavily insight-focused / Theravāda Buddhism

  • Satipanya Retreat, Wales — Mahāsi Sayādaw lineage

  • Vajraloka, Wales — Retreats across the main schools of Buddhism

Thailand

  • Wat Ram Poeng, Chiang Mai

  • Wat Chom Tong, Chiang Mai — Ajahn Tong lineage (Mahāsi “noting” practice)
    Great food, clean and well-maintained facilities, excellent teachers and guides. Intense practice schedule.

  • Wat Pah Nanachat, Ubon Ratchathani

  • Wat Phra That Doi Suthep, Chiang Mai

  • Indriya, Koh Phangan

International

  • Vipassana Centres (S.N. Goenka tradition) — 10-day silent retreats worldwide

India

  • Tushita, Dharamshala

  • Thosamling, Dharamshala

  • Deer Park Institute, Bir
    Such a wonderful place where many international teachers host all sorts of retreats.

  • Buddha Pada Institute, Kalimpong

  • Root Institute, Bodh Gaya

Malaysia

  • Sāsanārakkha Buddhist Sanctuary (SBS), Taiping, Perak

Books

  • Seeing That Frees — Rob Burbea (a golden book on emptiness, clever title)

  • The Direct Path — Greg Goode

  • The Power of Now — Eckhart Tolle

  • The Dhammapada — Eknath Easwaran

  • Satipaṭṭhāna: The Direct Path to Realization — Bhikkhu Analayo (a must read for those interested in Satipaṭṭhāna)

  • Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha — Daniel Ingram

  • The Untethered Soul — Michael A. Singer

  • Idappaccayatā — Buddhadāsa Bhikkhu

  • The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha (Majjhima Nikāya) — Bhikkhu Bodhi

  • Wake Up To Your Life — Ken McLeod

  • The Way of the Shaman — Michael Harner

  • Plant Spirit Shamanism — Ross Heaven & Howard G. Charing

  • The Cosmic Serpent: DNA and the Origins of Knowledge — Jeremy Narby

  • DMT: The Spirit Molecule — Rick Strassman

  • Breaking Open the Head: A Psychedelic Journey into the Heart of Contemporary Shamanism — Daniel Pinchbeck

  • Ayahuasca: The Visionary and Healing Powers of the Vine of the Soul — Joan Parisi Wilcox

  • Supernatural: Meetings with the Ancient Teachers of Mankind — Graham Hancock

  • The Antipodes of the Mind: Charting the Phenomenology of the Ayahuasca Experience — Benny Shanon

  • The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge — Carlos Castaneda

  • The Way of Liberation — Adyashanti (any of his books)

  • Aghora III: The Law of Karma — Robert Svoboda

  • Spinal Breathing — Yogani (effective way to raise Kundalini energy)

  • Kriya Yoga Supreme, The Secret Power of Kriya Yoga, Turiya — Santata Gamana

  • Jhana Training Manual — Tomas Piskacek

  • Dzogchen Non-Meditation — Keith Dowman

  • Beyond the Threshold of Death — Paul Diamond, Tantraya

  • Be Here Now — Ram Dass

  • The Tibetan Book of the Dead — Chögyam Trungpa

  • The Flight of the Garuda — Keith Dowman

  • Primordial Grace — Robert & Rachel Olds

  • Be As You Are — Ramana Maharshi

  • Right Concentration — Leigh Brasington

  • Meeting the Shadow: The Hidden Power of the Dark Side of Human Nature — Connie Zweig & Jeremiah Abrams

  • Hidden Journey (Ma) — Andrew Harvey

  • The Science of Enlightenment — Shinzen Young

  • King, Warrior, Magician, Lover — Robert Moore & Douglas Gillette

  • Deep Meditation — Yogani

  • Multidharma — Pierce Salguero

Podcasts

  • Guru Viking

  • Deconstructing Yourself — Michael Taft

Buddhist Suttas

  • Dhammatalks.org — excellent translations and talks by Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu