Amitabha Centre has a residential community of 11 people, including monks and lay people living together as a spiritual community to help each other learn and practise Buddha’s teachings. Buddhism is a way of life here. We know the benefits of using these methods to keep a peaceful and happy mind and we want to share our understanding. Weekday afternoons and Fridays are the times we can most easily host groups. We try to be open for anyone to visit every day between 11am and 4pm. We offer Buddha’s teachings freely, but to help us provide the facility we request a donation of £1 per person for visiting groups staying for an hour or so. If you want to stay for a few hours and go in to more depth and detail, that can be arranged. We can provide simple refreshments if wanted. Contact Gen Kelsang Chonden at visits(AT)meditationinbristol.org for more details.

We can visit you

Alternatively we can visit you to give a talk, guide some meditation or just answer questions on whatever you might be interested in. If you have a particular area of interest, perhaps related to a curriculum, we will be happy to talk about how we can help. We don’t charge to send someone to your school however donations are welcome.

Classes for Religious Education (RE) Teachers

We would be happy to help RE teachers understand Buddhism better. If you are interested let us know and we’ll try to arrange something mutually convenient and free of charge.

Classwork for children

There is a brilliant on-line glossary of Buddhist terms and a wealth of other useful information in The Learning Zone at the bottom of the glossary page.

Some comments from visitors

‘It was much easier to understand Buddhism’.

‘The Centre was calm and peaceful’

‘Today was very insightful and I’m glad that I came. It was nice to see what we are meant to be learning about, so hopefully I will remember it easier. They were all really nice and helpful. My fav bit was the meditation – maybe I’ll try it again!’

‘I liked meditating. It was calming so I shall try it when I get home’.

‘I enjoyed today. I learnt a lot and I think that the Centre is a very good idea to go to learn for GCSEs’

‘The nun and other staff were all extremely welcoming. Peace radiated throughout the Centre. I found the meditation and question and answer sessions very interesting. The food and refreshments were excellent. My only regret is that the day had not lasted longer. I would love to go for a weekend.’

‘It was a once in a lifetime experience. I have gained lots of information’

‘I like the Shrines and meditating’

‘This experience was interesting and I enjoyed it. I learnt a lot about their beliefs and views’.

‘When the lady discussed those questions with us audience participation was excellent. It made me listen more when we were involved in doing stuff’.

‘It is interesting to note how many of the students enjoyed the meditation and wanted more of it’

‘I think I can safely say that all our staff and students enjoyed the day very much and learnt something new. The members of the community were very welcoming and open with our students’.