When spring arrives, we will have the opportunity to attend a silent meditation retreat with Ajahn Nitho. The retreat center is located outside Skinnskatteberg, about 2-3 hours northwest of Stockholm.

The retreat is flexible. Individual/free practice is mixed with common program items during the day. The program includes Dhamma talks, silent and guided meditation, personal guidance, and free/individual practice. The retreat is suitable for both beginners and experienced practitioners, everyone is welcome!

Here you will have the opportunity to deepen your practice in silence, which means that we observe silence and do not talk to each other other except during the question-and-answer session and personal guidance with the teacher. Of course, if you run into any problems or need help with anything, you are still welcome to talk to the retreat leader or teacher.

The teaching is mainly given in English, but Ajahn Nitho understands Swedish well and can give instructions in Norwegian to individuals.

Ajahn Nitho is a bhikkhu in the forest tradition, born in 1970 in Western Norway in Norway. Before becoming a bhikkhu, he studied at the University of Bergen and earned a master’s degree in business administration from the Norwegian School of Economics, worked for several years as CFO and spent a few years backpacking before traveling to Australia in 2007 to be ordained by Ajahn Brahm. He was later ordained a bhikkhu in 2009. He studied for more than ten years in Australia and several stays with Ajahn Ganha in Thailand.

Ajahn Nitho returned to Norway as a senior monk and co-founded the Buddhist Society of Norway (DNBF) in 2021. He is today the spiritual leader of DNBF and supports the development of Nordic Buddhist associations in the forest tradition, both with us in the Swedish Dhamma Association and our sister organizations in Finland and Denmark.

His teaching is simple, warm and direct. Ajahn Nitho’s teaching spreads a lot of inspiration and makes meditation and your own practice joyful. He is one of the few teachers in the English-speaking network for forest tradition who regularly teaches in Scandinavia.

Here you can see an approximate program, but it can be adjusted. The program is optional and a suggestion for a daily structure, but you can spend your time on the retreat as you wish.

06.00 – 07.00 − Voluntary group meditation
07.00 – 08.00 − Breakfast
08.00 – 09.00 − Teaching
09.00 – 11.00 − Free/individual practice
11.00 – 12.00 − Lunch
12.00 – 15.00 − Free/individual practice
15.00 – 16.00 − Guided meditation
16.00 – 17.30 − Free/individual practice and private guidance
17.00 – 18.00 − Light evening meal
19.00 – 19.45 − Group meditation
20.00 – 21.00 − Questions and answers

The retreat is held at Shambala Gatherings, a retreat farm outside Skinnskatteberg in Sweden. The center is located on a lake and is surrounded by forest, and the peaceful environment helps us find peace of mind.

We rent the entire center, so that we can use the meditation rooms, the dining room, the common areas, the sauna and the surroundings undisturbed. This helps to create ideal conditions for learning and development in meditation.

Address: Shambala Gatherings, Borntorpet 1, 739 92 Skinnskatteberg

Accommodation: The accommodation is simple. Everyone gets their own room with a shared toilet and shower.

Accessibility: The buildings have three steps at the entrances. There is an accessible toilet in the student residence. If you have any questions or there may be problems for you to participate, please contact post@svenskadhamma.se and we will find out together what might work best and check what is possible to solve.

Meals consist of breakfast and lunch, and a light evening meal will also be available in the afternoon. The food is vegetarian with eggs and dairy products.

If you have any special dietary requirements or allergies, please let us know as soon as possible via post@svenskadhamma.se

If you have any questions or problems helping you with your dietary needs, we will contact you to see what can be arranged.

We aim to keep your workload as low as possible so that you can fully focus on our practice. However, you may be asked to help with a task, such as cooking or simple cleaning, to ensure that the retreat goes smoothly.

Participants provide their own transport to and from the centre. However, we can help coordinate carpooling with other participants for those who wish, and if necessary, help with transportation the last leg to the center.

Train and bus: The nearest bus stop is Borntorpet, about 1.3 km from the center. If it is not possible to travel all the way there, it is also possible to take the train/bus to Skinnskatteberg station. From Arlanda or Stockholm C, the journey takes about 3 hours. You can search and book a ticket on www.sj.se.

If you need pick-up from Borntorpet or Skinnskatteberg station, please contact us well in advance of the retreat starting at post@svenskadhamma.se

Car: If you come by car, the address is Shambala Gatherings, Borntorpet 1, 739 92 Skinnskatteberg. Information about carpooling will be sent out as the retreat approaches.

The participation fee is SEK 5000. We are planning a smaller retreat with about 16 people, where everyone will have their own room.

The participation fee is self-cost for the retreat. It is possible to make a contribution to the society’s activities or to be able to give a reduced price to someone with limited finances. If you are unable to pay the full participation fee due to your financial situation, please contact us. In cases where we have financial room, we can provide a reduced participation fee.

This is a non-binding pre-registration for the Shambala Gahtering 7 days retreat in Sweden. Fill in your name and contact information, and you will be contacted when final registration is possible: