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Detailed List of Retreats

Sitting Quietly - Doing Nothing: A taste of sustained meditation

Teacher: Louis van Loon
Cost: 3 days’ accommodation + R. 150 surcharge
Dates: Friday 14 April 2017 - Monday 17 April 2017

louis-van-loon-smlWe tend to associate a fulfilling and engaged life with a busy mind.  If we are not actively fretting or thinking about something or other, we will seek diversion through entertainment to occupy our minds.  Even at night we will helplessly enter yet another world of fantasy, memory and mental projection: we dream. Buddhist meditation puts us in touch with a deeper sense of awareness from where this frantic mental activity can be seen for what it is: a bubble bath of sensations and emotions. Except for some instructions and fire-side chats in the evening, we will cultivate a state of sustained calmness and clarity in an atmosphere of Noble Silence. This retreat is a foretaste of what traditional, longer, silent retreats are like. The retreat includes mindful walking, periods of rest and reflection, and a traditional Chinese Tea Ceremony.

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Louis van Loon lectured in Buddhist philosophy at the Universities of Cape Town and Durban-Westville for 22 years.  He established the Buddhist Retreat Centre in 1980 and, along with his wife, Chrisi, directs its affairs. Both were involved in the compilation of the BRC’s popular recipe books “Quiet Food”, “The Cake the Buddha Ate” and “Plentiful:The Big Book Of Buddha Food”. His interest lies in the psychology of meditation and in the relationship between art, science, religion and philosophy.  He is an architect and consulting civil and structural engineer in private practice in Durban. He teaches Sumie, Japanese brushwork painting, and sketching in Durban, Cape Town and Ixopo.