Shabad Aur Dhyaan — A Poetic & Meditative Inquiry into the Self

with Sadia Saeed & Shabnam Virmani
September 9 – 12, 2026

With shabad (mystic songs) as signposts and dhyaan (meditation) as our guide, we will take a journey into the city of the self. While exploring the delusory nature of our minds and gently inquiring into our sorrows and attachments, we may also glimpse our capacity to be in a state of non-dual ecstasy. Each day will begin and end with songs of Kabir, Sufis and the mystics, listening and learning to sing some of them.

Daily Schedule:
Retreat starts from 9:00 AM on 9th September
AM
06:30 – 07:30: Personal Meditation Practice in Teaching Hall (not on first day – 9th September)
07:30 – 09:00: Breakfast, Personal Time
09:00 – 10:15: Session 1
10:15 – 10:30: Refreshment / Bio Break
10:30 – 12:00: Session 2

PM
12:00 – 02:30: Lunch, Personal Time
02:30 – 04:00: Session 3
04:00 – 04:30: Refreshment / Bio Break
04:30 – 06:00: Session 4
06:00 – 07:30: Dinner, Personal Time
07:30 – 08:30: Personal Meditation Practice in Teaching Hall

About the Facilitators:
Sadia Saeed is a psychologist, somatic therapist, and mindfulness meditation trainer with over 25 years of experience supporting emotional healing and inner transformation. She is the founder of Inner Space, a psychotherapy and meditation center, dedicated to integrating psychological wellbeing with contemplative practice.
Alongside her therapeutic work, Sadia has been a long-time meditation practitioner, with years of personal immersion in Vipassana retreats and the study of Advaita, Buddhism, and contemplative wisdom traditions. Over the past 15 years, she has facilitated numerous mindfulness courses, meditation retreats, and self-awareness programs across individual, non-profit, and corporate spaces, offering environments for deep inquiry, compassion, and embodied presence. Her teaching is grounded not only in professional training, but also in lived practice — bringing warmth, depth, and authenticity to the spaces she facilitates. She is the author of the book You Are Simply Perfect, which reflects her approach to self-awareness, compassion, and wholehearted living.
You can know more about her here: https://innerspacetherapy.in/clinical-psychologist-sadia-saeed

Filmmaker, writer and artist Shabnam Virmani initiated the Kabir Project journeys in 2002 and has since been exploring the philosophy of Kabir and other mystic and Sufi poets through a deep engagement with their oral folk music traditions. Her inspiration and joy in this poetry and its wisdom have taken the shape of a series of award-winning documentary films, books, urban festivals, rural yatras, a digital archive called Ajab Shahar (www.ajabshahar.org), a school program called Shabad Shaala, and singing and performing widely herself. Her film Kabira Khada Bazaar Mein won the Special Jury Prize at the National Film Awards, 2011.  She has worked on two books I Saw Myself: Journeys with Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai (Penguin, 2019) and Burn Down Your House: Provocations from Kabir (Speaking Tiger, 2023). www.shabnamvirmani.com

By donation | Stay and Meals at Actuals
For queries, registration & accommodation, please email: info@buddhapada.in