Hello!

We are Jesse, Cailin, and Llew, and together we founded Black Mountain Meditation in 2022. Our aim has been to create spaces for people to learn and practice meditation together that are welcoming, healing and authentically rooted in Buddhist teachings across different traditions.

Since the beginning, it has been very important to us that our retreats and events are financially accessible. As young dharma practitioners, we've often struggled to afford retreats to support and deepen our practice. We didn’t want to create that same barrier for others, and so we have been offering our time, energy, and spirit to Black Mountain Meditation voluntarily and freely. It has been a true labour of love, and the gatherings have enriched our own lives hugely.

This year, we’ve made the decision to pause from organising to rest, reflect, and nourish ourselves. In August, we’ll each be attending meditation retreats as participants. Jesse will join the BuddhaDharmaSangha Camp—an immersive, community-based retreat where she will be camping with her sons under the stars in beautiful Dartmoor. Llew will go to the Mind and Life European Summer Research Institute in Austria, to be immersed in the interface between Buddhism, science and philosophy. Cailin will travel to Plum Village in France for the Wake Up retreat, a gathering of younger adults in the tradition of Thich Nhat Hanh. These retreats are ones we’ve long hoped to attend. They offer us the opportunity to make connections with other dharma communities, learn from the ways they nurture practice spaces, and to release the role of organiser / facilitator in order to be held ourselves.

We’re reaching out for support to help towards the costs of attending these retreats. We're hoping to raise £250 for each of us (£750 in total) to go towards travel and contributions to the retreat centres and teachers.

If you’ve benefited from Black Mountain Meditation, believe in the value of collective practice, or simply want to support us as friends —we would be incredibly grateful for anything you can offer.

With love and gratitude,

Jesse, Cailin & Llew