Our core values form the foundation of everything that we are doing. They are the guiding principles both for how we live our daily life, and for how we work towards our vision for the future

Meditation comes first

We believe that liberation is possible and we aim to support you on your path towards that goal. Any resources we have will be used primarily for this purpose and we expect you to respect this by practising meditation with sincerity and dedication during your stay.

We are run on a purely donation basis

We believe that access to the Dhamma is your right, not your privilege. As such we will not exclude anyone, either directly or indirectly, based on finance.
We believe that the Dhamma is priceless, of incomparable value, and under no circumstances will we sell it. Instead we welcome you to contribute to the community in whatever way feels right to you.

The door is open to you

We believe in non-discrimination and inclusiveness, and as such we welcome you just the way you are. As long as you are not disturbing others, and are keeping our community rules, you can stay with us for as long as you like.
We believe that we all have our weaknesses and we have all made mistakes in the past, and we encourage you to join us in practising tolerance and loving-kindness, living and growing together in the Dhamma, rich in our diversity.

We will strive to live in harmony with our natural surroundings

We believe that our natural environment is important and as such we should treat it with care and respect. We aim to minimise any negative impacts and maximise any positive impacts we may have by seeking environmentally friendly solutions to meet our daily needs.
We encourage you to live with us in simplicity, keeping consumption of natural resources to a minimum, whilst practising contentment and gratitude for what has been provided.

Our vision for Sandiṭṭhika is set out over three distinct community spaces: our caves in Almeria, our retreat centre in Granada, and our long-term practice centre in the Almeria hills.

All three spaces will fully embody our core values – as spaces where meditation comes first, where we live purely by voluntary donations, where we are living in harmony with the natural environment, and where everyone is welcome.

Our caves in Almeria will continue to function as an open and fluid community space, at which meditators can find refuge and a simple humble space to practice. Meditators are welcome to stay at the caves for a few days or a few years, living in harmony and practising the Dhamma.

Our community space in Granada will function primarily as a retreat centre. We will host dana-based retreats from ten to thirty days, with the aim of establishing meditators in a practice that they feel confident with. The community will be designed around permaculture principles with the aim of developing sustainable systems that build biodiversity and positively impact the land. We will also house a small resident community, with some space available for long-term meditators and volunteers.

Our long-term practice centre in Almeria will be a space dedicated to long-term deep meditation practice. Meditators will be required to stay for a minimum of one month, and will be allowed to stay indefinitely. High quality personalised meditation guidance will be available to all residents, and practice will be combined with a few hours each day working for the community. Through water-retention landscaping and other permaculture methods, we aim to gradually re-wild this semi-desertified land. We hope this can provide an example to the region of environmentally beneficial, high quality living.

Our guiding mission across all three of these spaces is to create conditions in which meditators can thrive, experiencing the full depth and beauty of the Budhha’s teachings, in harmony with the natural environment around them, and in harmony with each other.