Conducted Retreats December 2023
Mervyn Croft | Weekend | 1-3 December
This retreat will provide an opportunity to explore two aspects of Buddhist meditation practice - the gradual development of calmness and peacefulness in our mind; and the practice of awareness, in order to live with more clarity and more centredness in the present moment. This foundation of calmness helps us to meet our confused thoughts and emotions with more acceptance and kindness and leads to a deeper understanding of the nature of our minds. The retreat will create a gentle and relaxed space in which to explore the benefits of spending time quietly with ourselves.
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Charisse Louw | Weekend | 8-10 December
If you suddenly and unexpectedly feel joy, don’t hesitate. Give in to it - Mary Oliver
We will play with the energy we are - exploring qigong, tapping, yin yoga, free dance, sunning, breath work, shaking, and meditation techniques, while exploring creative expression through movement and stillness, the written word and art. This is an invitation to heal in Nature through mindfulness and co-creation. Everyone is welcomed to a compassionate and open-hearted space for remembering who we are.
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Ingrid Adams and Lungelo Ncebo | 4 days | 11-15 December
Shibuie is the ancient Japanese concept of Accidental Beauty in which the artist is just one ingredient in a number of dynamic interacting natural processes, the outcome of which is delightfully unpredictable, but strangely beautiful. Ingrid will teach the classical Japanese brush painting techniques - Sumie - as these are applied to traditional subjects, such as landscape, bamboo and flower studies - as well as contemporary subjects - using traditional materials: solid pine-soot ink, a hollowed-out slate to liquefy it, a deer-hair bamboo-stemmed brush and absorbent mulberry paper. Lungelo will offer the Raku and explore various glazing and firing techniques. Each retreatant will receive a bisque-fired tea bowl to sumie-decorate and glaze. The kiln will be fired up, after which we will watch the magic as the bowls emerge triumphantly from the scorching heat! A traditional Chinese Tea Ceremony will be held on the final evening.
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Bruce van Dongen | Weekend | 15-17 December
The aim of this workshop is to develop the tools that enable us to arrive gently and lucidly in the present moment, being aware of the ebb and flow of our moods and emotions and learning to be mindful instead of reactive in our interactions with others. Using the techniques presented, we will learn to train our minds to be centered on the present so that we can flow with the river of life instead of fighting against the current of our conditioning. There is great joy in being present, no matter what is happening. We will explore Kundalini yoga, which is a combination of stationary and dynamic poses and qigong (chi kung) techniques. This is a meditation-centered practice - not a physical yoga practice.
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Tsunma Tsondru | 4 days | 22 -26 December
Imagine! Imagine all the people, living life in peace - John Lennon
Christmas is a time of the giving of gifts. All birthdays are honoured with gift-giving. Usually these gifts are of ‘things’. Yet the very best gift we can give is not anything tangible or material. It is to definitively take away the suffering of oneself, and of others. And this, after all, is the reason why we give material gifts in the first place. It’s also the reason why we do the myriad things we do in our lives. It’s because we are constantly in pursuit of this (seemingly unattainable) state of being: peace, happiness, contentment, an absence of ‘niggle’. The unlimited and ultimate gift would be to be happy without end, at peace without end, to give happiness and peace to all, without end. The Four Immeasurable Gifts are the ultimate gift. They are boundless equanimity, loving kindness, compassion, and joy.
The retreat will be held in an atmosphere of introspection and silence.
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Tsunma Tsondru | 4 days | 29 December- 2 January 2024
The spiritual life is first of all a life. It is not merely something to be known and studied, it is to be lived - Thomas Merton
New Year is a good time of the year to take stock and contemplate our moment-to-moment, here-and-now reality in all its fullness. It’s a traditional time for clarifying our motivations, and for starting afresh with new intentions. Give yourself the gift of time over this New Year period to collect the Three Wise Medicines of gratitude, ahimsa and contentment, to reflect on the past year, and uncover how you can best live your life in the coming year. During this time together we will let our body, speech and mind fall silent through the practice of meditation and silence. There will also be time for writing and contemplation, walking and ceremony especially outside in nature. We will welcome the New Year with a lantern-lit ceremony in the Zendo, chanting, ringing out the old year with an ancient Chinese temple gong. The retreat will be held in an atmosphere of silence and introspection.
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Think peace over pressure and serenity over stress. Enjoy some time at the BRC mid-week, with nourishing vegetarian meals, sunrise meditation and nature's healing embrace to colour the mood of your day. There is no better place than the BRC to rejuvenate the body and mind to guide you into presence and stillness.
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