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Detailed List of Retreats

Make Life Your Guru: An introduction to Buddhism and meditation

Teacher: Louis van Loon
Cost: 2 days' accommodation + R. 150 surcharge
Dates: Friday 19 May 2017 - Sunday 21 May 2017

louis_van_loonIn a world where many traditional beliefs and superstitions have disappeared, we have become rudderless and cynical. Life is often not much more than a meaningless journey from birth to certain death.  Whilst it lasts, we try to acquire some happiness and to avoid suffering.  Is that all there is to it? Or does life happen “when we are busy making other plans”, as John Lennon so memorably said?  Buddhism maintains that we are not living realistically: we are missing some fundamental truths about ourselves and the world we live in that distort and obscure what is really going on in our lives. Shouldn’t we try and find out what life is about before we die?

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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.