Detailed List of Retreats

If The Buddha Found His Soulmate: Finding A Loving Relationship On A Spiritual Path

Teacher: Natascha Prussen and Warren Shaw

Cost: 2 day's accommodation + R400 surcharge

Dates: Friday 27 October 2023 - Sunday 29 October 2023

Beyond ideas, there is a field,
Will you meet me there?
Will you see me - without filters or fixations or illusions?
Don’t make me special, Just see me, understand me, be with me.
Experience the passing moments by my side - Rumi

The Buddhist teachings provide a wonderful foundation to understand why relationships work - and why they don’t. This helps us to develop an ability to live in the present moment - because only then can we truly flourish. Our exploration of vital, loving relationships will include Buddhist insights into how compassion, impermanence and loving-kindness are key in the way we relate to others. We will explore the role attachment and craving plays and the suffering these cause. Because, if we were fully awake and present, we would know that to harm another is to harm ourselves, and that to harm ourselves is to harm another. As we come to fully understand this, we will become less reactive to others and will respond with loving-kindness. Some of the fundamental traits of a loving relationship that we will explore are: a deep commitment to being a couple and yet separate individuals; the ability to resolve conflict; having shared values, dreams and life-style; showing appreciation, respect and care and sharing a strong connection to community and being of service to others; having a sense of humour and being able to laugh at ourselves. Natascha and Warren are able to speak from their own experience and how Buddhism triggered a deeper understanding of the subtle issues involved in maintaining a healthy relationship.

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Natascha Prussen believes that when you do what you love and love what you do, you attract people into your life who help you grow your contribution in this world. She has been in IT and the learning and development space for more than 20 years and started an independent Microsoft Learning Centre in South Africa, LGIT Smart Solutions in 2000 which offers both technical and leadership skills to businesses and communities. She is an ILS accredited coach and a trained Demartini Method and Values facilitator. Her passion is to help people understand what drives them intrinsically to build relationships, to deal with conflict and to enhance communication. She has helped to address the unemployment and IT literacy gap in South Africa since 2001, providing affordable, accessible computer literacy training to individuals in impoverished communities at Siyakhula. This project won the Microsoft Corporate Responsibility Partner Award in 2011 and continues to upskill more than 1500 learners per annum across all community centres. Her journey has helped her realise the importance of knowing yourself first before you can create healthy relationships. Human behaviour, and the way we show up in the world, continues to fascinate her.

Warren Shaw has enjoyed a successful twenty-five year career in information technology. He has had some rich life experiences, including buying the richest man in the world a coke because he had no money. As an educator, he works with many people and cultures. His work in over 60 countries has taken him on a journey of spiritual self-discovery - a journey that first began at the BRC. He now has a deep curiosity about recovery, from personal to business, which has become his main passion.