BRC Newsflash - October 2024

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The Buddhist Retreat Centre
Ixopo, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa		For people of all religions
BRC Newsflash: October 2024 Dear Friends,

Buddha in Zululand		Image: Andrew Brown
Spring Unfolds As spring unfolds, we are reminded of the beauty of new beginnings and the profound connection between nature and spirituality. This season of renewal invites us to reflect on the cycles of life, encouraging us to shed the old and embrace new opportunities for growth. Just as the blossoms emerge, we too can cultivate our inner selves through mindfulness and compassion. Let’s honour this vibrant time by nurturing our spiritual practice and celebrating the awakening of life around us, finding inspiration in every leaf and flower. There may be the tendency to sideline our spiritual well-being, but that is a short-sighted particularly in times of change and renewal. The Buddha’s teachings help us to engage and interact creatively and heroically with life. The Retreat Centre is a space that gives us an opportunity to find our spiritual core. We hope that our spring and summer retreats will inspire you to seize the days in Ixopo With Metta, Chrisi

Reconnect with nature
The BRC Needs Your Help The BRC has faced challenging times before and we have found that with the help of our BRC Friends and Supporters we have been able to continue to offer the Centre as a place for self-reflection and spiritual growth. We are again facing challenging times, and we need your help. With unavoidable maintenance costs to rethatch the 3 chalets which were leaking over the rainy season as well as punitive borehole repairs, compounded by the low attendance of our retreats over the last 4 months the Centre is under serious financial constraint. Being a non-profit organisation reliant on income from donations and retreat accommodation we need to break even each month to cover our expenses. We are not doing that at the moment. We are fervently appealing to you, our Friends and Supporters, who care deeply about the Centre, to help us keep the doors open. These are the many ways you can help us through this difficult time. Please support us by: ● Booking for a retreat as we step into spring and summer - we have a wonderful range of interesting retreats on offer until June 2025 ● Offering a donation ● Pledging a monthly contribution of R50 or more ● Joining our Paid Up Yogi scheme which involves paying a contribution forward whereby your credit can be used at any time in the future towards a retreat, with a 10% discount ● Gifting a voucher to a friend or family member ● Supporting our film “Bodhi Is Light” ● Purchasing our popular recipe books ● Organising a group visit midweek: we have an in-house yoga and meditation instructor ● Booking the BRC facilities for your next corporate team-building event The continued existence of the Centre as a sanctuary for Buddhist philosophy and teachings is dependent on the goodwill and support of our Sangha. It would be a sad day if the Centre were to close in our 45th year of operating.
Our banking details Bank deposit: Account: Buddhist Institute of S.A. Bank: FNB Branch: Ixopo (No: 220223) Account No: 52555029829 For international payments: Swift Code: FIRNZAJJ or FIRNZAJJ824 Please use your NAME and DONATION as reference on your payments E.g.NameDonation

Spring entrance		Image: Andrew Brown
Looking Ahead Our programme for the first half of 2025 has been set and we have much to look forward to. We are blessed to have celebrated teachers, local and abroad, from secular and monastic traditions, leading retreats during the first quarter of 2025. Don’t miss this opportunity to practise with these iconic teachers. Vipassana retreat with Jonathan Preboy and Anna Scharfenberg from 13-23 January Mindful Compassion with Ven Choden from 31 January-2 February Blossoming Into Joy with Patti Good from 4-6 February Mindfulness with Ajahn Jutindharo from 13-18 February Tibetan Yantra Yoga and Meditation with Max Weier from 14-16 March The Way Of Dao Qigong with Max Weier from 18-20 March The Power Of Ancestral Wisdom Through Storytelling with Dr Gcina Mhlope from 4-6 April Open The Heart And Still the Mind with Sue Cooper over Easter from 17-24 April Beginner’s Mind Quiet Mind with Tsunma Tsondru from 28 April-1 May

Sunbird in flight		Image: Andrew Brown
There are still a few spaces left on the following September retreats: We are offering a 10% discount. Thoughts, Words, Breath And Blood - A Story Writing Retreat Dorian Haarhoff \| Weekend \| 13-15 September How do thoughts and words affect our body? How does the body in a meditative state help us choose the thoughts and words that will nourish us and give us life? How does this dance affect the constant self-talk that happens inside our heads and inside our mouths? Come and explore how a consciousness of story can help us to choose a path of grace. Read more Write Away At The BRC Dorian Haarhoff \| 2 days accommodation \| 15-17 September Are words and ideas stuck in your head? Want to shake them loose? Need inspiration and writing company? Create a word space? Befriend words/let words befriend you? Then this retreat is for you. Create a piece or craft one in process. So come away to the BRC to write away. In this retreat you’ll find encouragement and safe support. Breathe in the hills, dam, trees and walking paths. Read more Somatic Movement - Ease of Being Lisa Firer \| Weekend \| 20-22 September Join Lisa for a deeply relaxing and nourishing weekend of mindfulness-based Clinical Somatic Movement. Slow down and learn gentle practices to help release chronic muscle tension that underlie pain and stress in body and mind. Develop your inner awareness and bring comfort and ease to your body. Basic Mindfulness practices and meditations will be woven throughout the retreat. All bodies welcome! Read more Chi Kung - Standing Like A Tree To Power Up Your Chi Paul Dorrian \| 2 days \| 24-26 September ‘Standing like a Tree’ chi kung is unlike most other chi kung styles, in that with the exception of changing from one static posture to the next, the practitioner remains absolutely still, whilst developing a mind like still water. Regarded by many contemporary Masters as the most powerful of all chi kung practices, it opens all of the nine energy portals in the body and encourages one’s chi (life force) to flow powerfully throughout one’s entire being. Read more Somatic Movement Relaxation Lisa Firer \| Weekend \| 27-29 September This weekend offers a blend of practices for body, mind and heart - with gentle somatic movement to release muscle tension, dance sessions to cultivate vitality and mindfulness meditation to hold all of our experience in loving awareness. If you need to move, feel more connected and at ease in your body, cultivate vitality and joy, this is the weekend for you. Read more

Grey headed Bush Shrike		Image: Andrew Brown
Conducted Retreats October 2024 ☸ indicates retreats held in noble silence The Moon In The Water Stephen Coan \| Weekend \| 4-6 October Many religions and philosophies come across as men-only affairs, Buddhism is no exception: male voices dominate, reflecting gender and cultural biases both past and present. During this retreat we will hear the voices of the many women in the Zen Buddhist tradition, from the first millennium to the modern day, including the first female Zen Master Chiyono from the thirteenth century (she dropped a water bucket and found her life) to more recent Zen teachers such as Maurine Stuart. Their thoughts and their luminous poetry will shine a light on our daily lives and support us in our practice throughout this gentle Zen-style silent retreat, which will include sitting and walking meditation, a discussion period, and time to enjoy the beautiful grounds of the Buddhist Retreat Centre. Read more A Yoga, Breathwork And Mindfulness Retreat Marrion Clarke and Carey Would \| 3 days \| 10-13 October Nature's classroom will help us land, grounded in the loving arms of Mother Earth where the wise old trees sway gently in the breeze, whispering secrets of patience, perseverance and presence. Through gentle yoga, breathwork, mindfulness practices and communing with nature, we will explore with curiosity how to cultivate peace and be fully immersed in each moment's beauty. When we water our soul's garden, we create fertile ground for grace to flourish within us. Read more Finding Meaning And Purpose - Buddhist Insights Into The Nature Of Mind Ven Khenpo Jamyang Gompo \| Weekend \| 18-20 October We all wish to have happiness and avoid the uncomfortable feelings that seem to dominate our daily life; feelings of dissatisfaction, unease, anxiety that keep us awake at night, our agitation with loved ones and anger towards others. It is times like these that create uncertainty and a feeling of helplessness; we want to be happy, contented and have a sense of peace in our hearts. Khenpo Jamyang Gompo will gently guide participants to a deeper understanding of how these emotions arise and how we can find a sense of meaning and purpose in whatever circumstances we find ourselves. Read more Buddhanalysis: What If Buddha Was Your Psychoanalyst? Jason Ross \| 3 days \| 25-28 October Through a merging of concepts from Existential Psychoanalysis and Secular Buddhism, this retreat explores Buddhism as a form of therapeutic living. The retreat will take us from the concept of inherent “lack” (sunyata), through “longing” (tanha), to “love” (metta). Along this journey, we will consider the implications of the Buddhist notion of “non-self” (anatta) for the practice of psychotherapy and its practical application to our everyday lives. This retreat involves philosophical discussion, therapeutic engagement, a variety of sitting practices, walking meditation, basic yoga (no experience needed), written reflection and group discussion. It is an ideal retreat for those interested in a practical, therapeutic and atheist (non-soteriological) approach to Buddhism. Read more A Self Retreat Midweek: Think Peace Over Pressure And Serenity Over Stress For those who would like to book for a personal retreat, Krishia Schilz, a resident member of staff, is offering daily yoga, pranayama and meditation. Enjoy some time at the BRC midweek, with nourishing vegetarian meals, sunrise meditation and gentle yoga and nature's healing embrace. Read more

Happy smiling faces	Image: Andrew Brown
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-four 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. 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, pillows, towels and linen, geyser insulation blankets, clothing and Dana for our staff, an inverter and beautiful antique scrolls and Imari platters and ceramics, framed prints and Thankas, new tablecloths and serviettes, a brand new Magimix, signage for our forest paths - 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.
www.brcixopo.co.za \| 066 395 4682 \| 082 579 3037 Share: \| Follow us:
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