Updated BRC Newsflash - June 2023

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The Buddhist Retreat Centre

Ixopo, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

For people of all religions

BRC Newsflash: June 2023

Dear Retreatants,

Bodhi Is Light - Impressions of The BRC

“Bodhi Is Light” - A Documentary Film Celebrating The BRC

THE FOUR REFUGES

I take refuge in the valley - in the ancestral stillness, in the nearness of song.

I take refuge in the mist - in that harbinger of emptiness, from which the myriad things come.

I take refuge in the hill – in this vision of peace, of friendship and risen bread.

And in this beautiful, beautiful film. - Antony Osler Poplar Grove

When I arrived in rural Zululand in 1969 and envisaged creating a Buddhist Centre, I never imagined 53 years later that anyone would want to tell its story…..

Renowned film maker Richard Pakleppa has done that. Chrisi and I would like to thank and honour Richard and his colleagues who have produced an evocative documentary on the BRC. “Bodhi Is Light” - Impressions of the BRC has just been released.

Moved by his experience of a silent retreat, Richard shares impressions of South Africa’s first Buddhist Retreat Centre in Ixopo, Kwazulu Natal. Through his camera lens and his ‘inner eye’, he has captured the spirit of place and people and the heartbeat of the Ixopo valley. The film’s authenticity is a stirring tribute to the BRC as a space of spiritual friendship and soothing silence, far removed from everyday life. In Richard's words, the film "has many layers - focusing on Louis van Loon’s personal journey, the journey of creating the space of the BRC, the fellow travellers and their take on the deep and far-ranging fundamentals of a Buddhist world view and practice". The visual narrative follows nature and the ever-changing elements to touch moments when the mind is awakened to discover its own nature. Observing the mist rising and the dew falling, the film takes us into what happens when we choose to take refuge in silence. “Bodhi is Light” is a celebration of the many women and men who built and sustained this unique place over the last forty-three years.

Those who have previewed the film have been deeply touched….. “This is a beautiful film and a beautiful tribute to Louis and to all that passed through him. So many minds, hearts and bodies tuning into the Old Way.” - Antony Osler

" You are completely immersed and really enjoying yourself. I love the film. I want to go on a silent retreat right now." Leo Regan - Irish Film Maker

We include the trailer as a taster - view the trailer - and hope that those who share a history and a deep connection with the Centre will support the film. If you would like to view the whole film, please apply for the link  at:  and consider making a donation of R200 or more in order to preserve the ongoing work of the Centre. We enclose banking details. Please reference with your Name/ Film.

All funds raised from this film will be allocated towards ensuring the longevity and welfare of the Centre into the future. Please help us to realise this goal.

With Metta,

Louis

Now And Zen: Reboot, Recharge And Retreat

There is no better place than the BRC to rejuvenate the body and mind with nature, meditation and movement to guide you into presence and stillness.

There are still a few spaces left on the following May retreat:

From Self-Care To World-Care: Widening The Circle Of Compassion

Lucy Draper-Clarke | Weekend | 26-28 May

“When you cultivate love and compassion for all beings, that means every being, including yourself.” Chamtrul Rinpoche

Have you been feeling overwhelmed, disillusioned or fearful recently? You’re not alone. The first noble truth acknowledges the existence and inevitability of suffering in our lives. Yet, within every human heart is an innate and profoundly sustaining capacity for compassion. This capacity allows us to acknowledge the suffering of ourselves and others, and to respond with kindness and understanding rather than judgment or avoidance. Compassion is both an individual and collective practice that can transform the world around us.
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Conducted Retreats June 2023

 indicates retreats held in Noble Silence

Sacred Union: Integrate The Divine Masculine And Feminine Energies, And Shift Into Your Authentic True Self

John Homewood and Michelle McClunan | Weekend | 2-4 June PART 1
John Homewood and Michelle McClunan/ |Weekend | 4-6 June PART 2

John Homewood and Michelle McClunan bring their combined thirty-seven years of facilitating experience to this retreat, providing you with a gentle, yet powerful process that will nourish you. Relax, recharge, rejuvenate and reawaken through presence, nature and art. The retreat will integrate the Masculine and Feminine energies, combining transformational spiritual teachings of Presence, Awakening and Creative Art Processes, helping you clear blockages that may have prevented you from living a healthy and abundant life. You will leave with a deeper sense of peace and a more focused sense of life purpose and rekindled joy.

Mindfulness And Movement For Life

Kerri Martinaglia and Chrissi Preuss | Weekend | 9-11 June
We often spend our lives trapped in a striving cycle of stress and anxiety, so taking time out to deliberately connect to our inner resources may help us navigate life’s challenges a little easier. Mindfulness offers the invitation to come into the freshness of the present moment: knowing what is happening, while it’s happening. The experience of this moment can include the thoughts and feelings in our heart-mind, awareness of the sensations in the body, and our connection with nature and the world around us. We will use the practices of meditation and vinyasa yoga, as well as the joy of being in nature as a way of learning to rest the mind in the present moment. This retreat is suitable for those completely new to mindfulness as well as those seeking to reconnect with it. We will also look at ways to establish a sustainable and gentle daily practice and the obstacles that can arise when trying to find time to meditate daily.
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Cultivating Mind-Heart Resonance Through Emotional Intelligence And Mindfulness

Shanil Haricharan | 3 days | 15-18 June
The past few years have highlighted the volatile, uncertain, complex, ambiguous and unequal world we live in. To understand this world and resolve its problems, we must understand ourselves and our relationships; after all, the world is a projection of ourselves. Over this weekend, you are invited on a journey of really getting to know thyself, starting with confronting your conditioning which has created who you are today. As Jungian psychologist and author, James Hollis, observes: “What we have become is frequently the chief obstacle to our journey - an assemblage of defense mechanisms and anxiety management systems”. In this journey we will probe the state of our mind, heart, body and spirit towards finding balance and harmony, through understanding emotional intelligence and mindfulness.
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Come As You Are: Secular Buddhism, Existential Philosophy And Psychotherapy. Can Buddhism effectively treat the struggles we face in life?

Jason Ross | 5 days | 23-28 June
It is often our personal struggles that bring us to a retreat setting. But, is Buddhism meant to serve as a form of therapy? This retreat will explore the potential meeting place between Secular Buddhist practices, Existential Philosophy and Psychotherapy. We will explore methods such as Vipassana and Korean Zen meditation as a means of better understanding the nature of our own minds and the relationships we have formed with the struggles we are facing. The retreat will include yoga, meditation, philosophical reflection, therapeutic discussion and short periods of essential noble silence.
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Saying Yes To Life -Taking Refuge In The Three Jewels

Richard Chippindal | Weekend | 30 June- 2 July
Refuge refers to a place of shelter and protection from danger. What danger? ‘Buddhists’ and ‘non-Buddhists’ alike seek shelter from the challenges of life - the passions that jerk us around, from feeling distressed and broken, from pain and suffering, from the fear of death. We seek shelter from the wheel of samsara, the cycle of death and rebirth. In our desperate search for shelter, we are inclined to erect barriers to the pain by resorting to false refuges such as material wealth and addictions to activities and substances. While distractions such as these may afford us some temporary relief, the gnawing pain and our sense of isolation persists.

To become a Buddhist is to take refuge in the Three Jewels – the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha. In taking refuge in the Buddha, the depth of our awareness grows, enabling us to really savour the deeper dimensions available in every experience. Life then feels more “alive” making it possible for us to transform anger into compassion. Taking refuge in the Dharma, the true nature of reality, we learn to transform delusion into wisdom. Taking refuge in the Sangha - the community of fellow seekers of the truth, our capacity to love grows and we learn to transform desire into generosity. By taking refuge in the Three Jewels, we can open up to and be with difficulties rather than erect barriers and in doing so close down.

In this weekend retreat we will have the opportunity to gently explore the rocky terrain of life, and realise that the Jewels are none other than the enlightened Buddha nature that is already inside us. The retreat will be held in an atmosphere of silence and introspection.
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A Personal Retreat: Walk Into Stillness

People often yearn for an opportunity to recalibrate their lives and to spend some time in quiet reflection among like-minded people. The BRC provides such a refuge - where silence is a precious commodity. Treat yourself to a personal retreat.
Resident staff members Venessa Muller and Nelson Alvares will be in situ to offer guided meditation.
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About the BRC

Perched on a ridge at the head of a valley in the Umkomaas river system in KwaZulu-Natal, the Buddhist Retreat Centre looks out on a vista of indigenous valleys, forests and rolling hills receding like waves in the blue distance. Here, for forty two years, people of all religions and none have come to experience peace and tranquillity. It is a gentle, sympathetic space where one can be still and get in touch with oneself and reflect on the things that crowd one's life.

The BRC was voted by CNN as one of the ten best meditation centres in the world.

CNN Travel awarded another feather in the BRC’s cap by voting it as one of the ten best spiritual centres in South Africa, recently.

The BRC was awarded Natural Heritage status in 1995 under the auspices of the Department of Environmental Affairs and received a certificate to that effect signed by President Nelson Mandela for turning an eroded farm into the natural paradise it has become - thousands of indigenous trees were planted by retreatants under the supervision of Mervyn Croft - with 160 species of birds, including the Blue Swallow, otter, deer, antbear and indigenous forests. The Centre was also given the special status of “Custodian of the Blue Swallow” for its work in preserving the breeding areas of this endangered bird.

Recently, Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife granted the BRC “Private Nature Reserve” for the conservation of the rare Blue Swallow and Mistbelt Grassland.

The BRC facilitated the founding of Woza Moya, the community-based NGO, located in Ufafa Valley, twenty-two years ago, on the estate. Their vision is for all people in the community to be healthy and.productive, to live in a safe and clean environment, with good access to services and social justice. The Centre continues to support the organisation by showcasing their crafts in the shop and sponsoring their trainers and consultants.

We have been very touched by your appreciative letters, emails and friendship towards the BRC - your spiritual home from home.

We are deeply grateful for your generous gifts to the Centre in the form of PUY and Monthly contributions, new beds and bases, office chairs and a desk, a new refrigerator, microwave oven, bathroom towels, indigenous trees and seedlings, books for our library, a generator, garden benches, towels and linen, clothing and Dana for our staff, an inverter and beautiful antique scrolls and Imari platters and ceramics, framed prints and Thankas, new table cloths and serviettes - and so much more. Thank you to all of you who continue to support our work in Ixopo with monthly and Paid Up Yogi contributions and donations, with gifts, or with skills and time. And, of course, to everyone who comes to the Centre - you keep us open and viable - and to our teachers who keep the Dharma wheels turning. We are deeply grateful for your generosity towards us; it encourages us to continue Louis’ beautiful vision and legacy for the future.

Please continue to support the BRC by becoming a friend of the Buddhist Retreat Centre (a registered non-profit organisation) and find out more about the BRC's Paid-Up-Yogi and Sangha Friends’ projects.

Chrisi

Visit our website for further information, directions, image gallery etc.

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