Thangka Art & Meditation Intensive Retreat
Brahma Vihara, North Portugal
4th - 13th September 2025
REGISTRATION OPENING SOON
This 10 day retreat will be a very special and unique event giving students an immersive and nourishing
experience while learning new skills whilst simultaneously working at your meditation practice.
Learning to draw the Buddhas we will be using the ancient grids, geometry and proportions that have been passed on for centuries to help our creations become sacred art. Buddhist practitioners not only find this retreat extremely therapeutic but they will surely also notice that this week of Dharma based art will deepen their practice at a number of levels.
A Introduction from Burgs…
While I was working to heal my brain from the traumatic effects of my brain trauma I found art, calligraphy and various other crafts to be extremely therapeutic in helping me to reset my brain from the fight or flight setting it had got locked into in response to the trauma.
Hand on heart I can say that when my brain was really misfiring and struggling to find its balance, these things were as, and if not more important in my recovery that even my meditation. I learned so much from this experience, and as a result during our long winter retreat this year I incorporated painting and other crafts into the programme because of the special role they can play in helping an over active brain slow down.
The role they can play in helping to build patience, serenity as well as sustained and focused concentration I feel is enormous. And especially since they are easier to learn and engage in than meditation. What is more, anyone who already knows how to partially quieten their mind through meditation will also find such arts and crafts to be tremendously healing and helpful. There are even greater depth to these activities that we can discover as meditators with some foundation in concentration. For many of us it might give us the first experience of genuine absorption, and because they require such concentration as to engage us sufficiently to quieten the egoic mind to give an experience of ‘No Self ’ that approaches absorption.
I myself have for a long time wanted to learn the Art of Tibetan Thangka painting, and I recently had two of my most precious statues re-guilded and painted by a renowned thangka painter called Carmen Mensink.
A little bit about Carmen…
Carmen Mensik (trained with Andy Weber for many years) has worked with many students without any previous art experience and they are always happily surprised at the outcome of their work. During the retreat she gives a lot of personal guidance and works to bring everyone up from their current artistic level.
Born in the Netherlands, Carmen is an internationally renowned painter of thangkas, the traditional Tibetan scroll paintings of Buddhas and Mandalas. She is the founder of the School for Tibetan Buddhist Art, which offers classes both online and on location. Carmens website is tibetanbuddhistart.com
In addition to completing her studies at the Academy of Arts, Carmen studied for twelve years with Andy Weber (one of the first Western thangka painters) and has been teaching Tibetan Buddhist art, meditation and philosophy for over two decades at her classes and lectures in museums, universities and Buddhist centers throughout Europe, Asia and the United States.
Through the dedication and joy she expresses in her retreats and passes on to her students, Carmen has guided and inspired thousands of people on the path of Buddhist art and philosophy.
The retreat is suitable people of all ‘artistic’ levels.
Outline of the retreat
Day 1: Retreat will begin in the early evening. Carmen will introduce herself and give a discourse on the art of thangka painting and its history and purpose.
Day 2: Students will learn how to draw the Face of the Buddha. Traditionally this is the subject that all people start with, you could say, the doorway into thangka.
Day 3-9: Learn how to draw The Buddha (Buddha Shakyamuni), the historical Buddha of our time, including the offerings in front of him and how to create a landscape around him. Receive lectures during which you'll get to know everything about the Buddha’s background and iconography, and you will learn the Buddha's mantra and how to work with it. With the addition to the meditations it makes it a very deep immersive experience.
Day 10: The retreat finishes at 12 noon on 10 day. We will have the morning to finish some last touches on our drawings, and Carmen will go around to answer all your questions and if your work is not finished she will make sure you know how to continue at home. The morning ends with a wonderful little exhibition showing all artworks, followed by a dedication ceremony.
However, each day will comprise of two painting sessions, various meditations, lectures and discourses,
an exercise session (chi kung/yoga) as well as downtime to go for
walks in the beautiful countryside and use of the pool and sauna (afternoons).
Entry Requirements:
Applicants will have needed to have done one of the following to attend: any online course or online weekend retreat; a weekend retreat with Burgs (Reset or Just Let Go), attended a residential retreat with Burgs.
Students will not need to have any art experience.
Venue Details
Surrounded by olive and almond trees, this venue is a hidden gem nestled in the gentle rolling hills of northern Portugal. The quiet surrounds lends itself perfectly for deep meditation and spiritual practice. Providing an intimate, secluded environment with capacity for a maximum of 18 people, offering all ensuite bedrooms, single or twin sharing. With easy access to Porto (2hrs by car) and the Spanish border.