Buddhist teachings and practices are intended to be available for everyone who has interest in them. The recommendations given below are for Gaia House trust to improve accessibility for people who cannot afford to go to Gaia House. They are also of relevance to anyone involved in the running of Dharma centres in the west in any Buddhist tradition.
​
Gaia House is the main UK centre for non-sectarian Insight Meditation. It offers a high standard of teaching and an excellent environment which is very conducive to Dharma practice. It provides opportunities for people who are beginning meditation practice through to experienced meditators wishing to commit to lifelong practice. Gaia House was set up in 1983 and for many years provided a very simple environment which was financially accessible for most people in our society. It therefore offered the opportunity for people to engage in lifelong practice.
The following proposals would make it possible to re-engage with a vision of making Insight Meditation more widely available:
​
-
To create a Code of Conduct which provides an ethical underpinning for everyone involved in the running of the organisation. This would facilitate a culture of transparency with regards to financial accessibility to retreats. It would provide a framework for skillful communication which would enable issues of accessibility to be discussed. It would ensure that Gaia House resources are used for the benefit of all.
-
For Gaia House trustees to have a long-term and ongoing personal commitment to attending Insight Meditation retreats. This would ensure trustees have a knowledge of what Gaia House provides and the implications of their decisions on the future of the Insight Meditation tradition. It would ensure trustees have an appreciation of the value of Insight Meditation retreats so they would be motivated to promote accessibility.
-
By implementing the two recommendations above, Gaia House trust would have the causes and conditions required to then develop a strategy to promote accessibility. This would consider the needs of people who cannot go on retreat due to financial constraints; the wishes of people who would only go on retreat if they have more comfort; and the needs of many people who cannot go on retreats at Gaia House because they are fully booked.
​