Czech Republic, August 2026
A 10 day Longde retreat. Amazing!
That was my first impression when I saw the announcement on Norbunet. I think all Longde enthusiasts saw this as being a great opportunity to deepen our practice and dedicate a nice amount of time for it.
Indeed, since there was an abundance of time, Oliver has chosen a mild pace for the studying that allowed for simultaneous development of both theoretical and practical knowledge. In the beginning, only the most basic explanations were given, sufficient for us to commence our practice, and as the days progressed and we had more concrete experiences of the practice, the explanations deepened as well. The generous time span that we had for the practice really allowed us to relax the mind deeply and encounter our real state in a more profound way. The local Gekö, who took care of our accommodations and meals, remarked that our state changed noticeably during the retreat.
The participants displayed a nice and open attitude towards each other which allowed for the profound sharing of experiences on a deep level that helped to overcome different kinds of conceptual limitations and expectations about the practice, formation of authentic trust and bonds that made the retreat feel homey, caring collaboration in all our daily tasks and for the implementation of our dear masters’ constant reminder, to have fun & enjoy!
The venue for the retreat was Phendeling which is located in southern Bohemia in the Czech Republic, a pastoral place surrounded by forests, open fields and lakes (one participant remarked that it looks like Czech Tuscany, while we were observing an eclipse from a hill). The place was very comfortable for both those who were staying in the dormitory rooms and for those that were camping outside, since August seems to be a hospitable time of year for that region, not too hot during the day, and not too cold during the night. The Gekö made sure to feed us with healthy fresh food, and together with all other conditions of the place, gave us a very stable support for our practice and the possibility to profoundly relax
We, as a group, wish to deeply thank Oliver Leick for his dedicated and generous approach in transmitting to us the knowledge about the practice, and for the meticulous work he did in collecting different transcripts of the teachings and clarifying and expanding on their more complicated points. Also we wish to thank him for the kind and light way in which he addressed all the different questions and issues that arose during the retreat.
We wish to deeply thank Phendeling, Gekö & Gakyil, for hosting us and giving us stable and comfortable conditions so that this retreat could happen. Their work and attitude was received as being very generous, caring and tireless.
In short, thank you for the games, thank you for the laughs, thank you for the dances, the walks in the forest, the parties, and thank you for being present 🙂
Sincerely,
A very grateful participant
