BRC Newsflash - August 2021

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The Buddhist Retreat Centre

Ixopo, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

For people of all religions

BRC Newsflash: August 2021

Dear Retreatants,

For some exciting news, please refer to the attachments:

• Chris Dalzell’s tour to experience the wonder of the flowers of Namaqualand in August
• Healing therapies on offer at the BRC with therapist Sonja Dyason from 9-19 August. Spoil yourself!
• Pause Apparel - an stylish YogaWear range - comes to Ixopo
• Qigong Master, Max Weier, is back in South Africa/Ixopo in February 2022

The Eight Worldly Conditions

For many years I offered a retreat entitled “Life Is Your Guru” which described from a traditional Buddhist perspective the conditions in our lives - pleasant and unpleasant - that define the path we walk on and how we can negotiate any obstacles that we may encounter with a wise and compassionate attitude. More recently, Chandasara offered her inspiring retreat “Radical Acceptance” at the BRC. The subject couldn’t have been more appropriate for these strained times where change is the norm and anxiety levels are heaving. She underlined the importance of maintaining a sense of mindful equanimity in relation to whatever condition arises.

Below is an excerpt from one of her sessions which you may find helpful in negotiating these bewildering times.

“One way we can explore how we identify with, and cling to, a sense of Self is through a teaching the Buddha gave on the Eight Worldly Conditions. These are sometimes called the Eight Worldly Winds that we so easily find ourselves buffeted around by. These are:

• Pleasure and pain
• Gain and loss
• Praise and blame
• Fame and shame

When we examine these conditions we find that they are impermanent, transient, and subject to change. They don’t last forever even though at times it feels as if they might. A verse in the Buddhist scriptures goes as follows:

A wise and mindful person knows them
And sees that they are subject to change
Desirable conditions don’t excite his mind
Nor is he repelled by undesirable conditions (A.VIII, 5.)

This doesn’t mean one meets these conditions with a stoic response, but it does mean that one avoids both going overboard with excitement and elation when we meet with what makes us feel good, and going overboard with dejection when we meet with what makes us feel bad.

Instead we maintain a sense of mindful equanimity, acknowledging the pleasure or pain, gain or loss, praise or blame, fame or shame, but remain keenly aware that whatever the conditions, they are neither stable nor reliable but are fleeting and subject to change. Drawing on them for sustenance then inevitably leads to suffering when they change. A wiser response is maintaining a sense of mindful equanimity in relation to whatever condition arises.

Pleasure and gain can be material, emotional, or mental. We find pleasure in our sense experiences of sights, sounds, tastes, aromas, textures, in our youth and health, and when we gain some or other desired object, possession or income. We enjoy emotions of joy, happiness, harmony, co-operation, and we find mental pleasure in discovery, creativity, learning and understanding. Conversely, pain and loss can similarly be material, emotional, or mental. We feel pain or discomfort when we have unpleasant sense experiences, when we age and are in ill-health, and when we lose some cherished object, possession or income. We feel troubled by sadness, fear, anger, loneliness, and we experience mental pain in confusion, forgetfulness, and misunderstanding.

We love it when we are praised – we feel appreciated; and we experience pain when we are blamed – we feel rejected. We seek honour and fame – to be known, seen, to shine in the limelight – imagining that this would bring great pleasure. Yet so often we see how much havoc fame can wreak in peoples’ lives.  And we dread shame – for fear of being cast out of the social group we are a part of and depend on for our survival.  So often we see praise turn into blame and honour turn into shame.  It seems to be a human trait to seek to find the ‘culprit’ and cast them out – the scapegoat syndrome.

In all of these, the real source of the pleasure or pain has to do with our sense of self – with our evaluation of our worth as a separate, individual person in comparison with others in our social world which generally tends to encourage and reinforce the pursuit of pleasure, gain, praise and fame and to eschew pain, loss, blame and shame.

When we dwell in awareness and see conditions as just that – conditions that arise and pass, that are ever-changing, that are neither certain nor reliable, we can begin to loosen our dependence on those conditions for our sense of wellbeing. This is the value in attending closely to our responses to these conditions so that we can see where we are bound to an identity that we ourselves have constructed out of a desire to be some defined identity.

Then we can begin to let it go and simply merge with the life that we are and taste the peace and freedom that come in its wake.

As Ajahn Chah put it:

"Do everything with a mind that lets go
Do not expect any praise or reward
If you let go a little you will have a little peace
If you let go a lot you will have a lot of peace
If you let go completely you will know complete peace and freedom
Your struggles with the world will have come to an end”

For all of you who could not attend Choden’s retreat, we are happy to announce that he has rescheduled his weekend to 20-22 August. Book early to avoid disappointment.

To all those who kindly rolled over their deposits when retreats were cancelled due to adjusted level 4 restrictions, THANK YOU! We are indebted to you. The BRC is a non-profit organisation that relies solely on income from accommodation to pay our staff wages and to meet our monthly running expenses. Without income, the Centre faces a fragile future.

Stay safe and kind,

With affection, Louis

Now And Zen: Reboot, Recharge And Retreat In Ixopo

There is no better place to reboot and get in touch with nature than in the beautiful, tranquil spaces of the BRC. We have a selection of retreats for July and August to support you.

All health protocols and Covid-19 regulations are in place - with social distancing, sanitizing and masks - for your safety and well-being.

There are still a few spaces left on the following July retreats:

Yin And Yang: A Yoga Retreat: Release, Relax And Restore
Georgie Carter | 3 days | 20-23 July
Yin yoga provides the balance to our hectic Yang lifestyle. This mid-week retreat provides a balance to our often frenetic, stressful lives and will restore harmony, health and calmness.

Circles Of Compassion: Reconnect With Self And Others In A Socially-Distanced World
Graham Williams | Weekend | 23-25 July
Compassion Circles have emerged as a fine way to bring resilience, wisdom and compassion into being in families, communities and beyond. We find ourselves in a separating, polarizing world where true communication is breaking down everywhere. Compassion Circles are spaces where we can re-imagine the future, experience wisdom, compassion and healing in conversation and sharing anecdotes.

Moving Meditation: Cultivating The Four Energies Of Tai Chi
Brett Vallis | Weekend | 30 July-1 August
Tai chi is a practice embracing the mind, body and spirit. Originating in ancient China, it is one of the most effective exercises for the health and well-being of our body and mind. The essential principles include integrating the mind with the body and the control of movement and breath to cultivate the chi or life energy within us.

Conducted Retreats

Saying Yes To Life: How we can live wholeheartedly in the midst of a challenging world

Richard-John Chippindall | Weekend | 6-8 August
We have a choice in how we meet the difficulties that life presents us with: we can be defensive and erect barriers to pain, or we can choose to approach discomfort with an attitude of friendliness and curiosity. Being open to what is challenging requires courage and practice as it is not in the nature of the human brain to remain calm in the face of difficulty. In relaxing into what is painful we are making friends with ourselves and our world and developing maitri - the unconditional self-acceptance - that is the basis of compassion and well-being. In this retreat we will have the opportunity to say yes to life in all its forms, delightful and painful. Silence will be observed throughout the weekend.
Read more

"Written In The Stars": The Basics Of The Ancient Art Of Astrology

Corinna Botoulas and Sonja Dyason | 3 days | 9-12 August
Discover your intrinsic Nature and Nurture through the planets and stars in this informative Astrological workshop. Learn how the cycles of the celestial world affect you personally, and how your unique blueprint – your Astrological birth chart - can help you live to your fullest potential. Find your strengths, challenges and which areas of life to empower and enable us and live with greater equanimity and awareness. The retreat will focus on the planets in their signs and houses, experiential astrology, the aspects they make to each other, the elements and modalities they represent and the importance of the position of the sun and moon in conjunction with the cycles of life. In addition, there will be holistic massages on offer for restoring and maintaining your body's natural equilibrium.
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A Weekend of Hatha Yoga: Rekindle Your Life Energy

Kugan Naidoo | Weekend | 13-15 August
Join Kugan for a weekend of yoga to restore and rejuvenate the body and mind and for holistic health and well-being. There will be time for walking in the tranquil grounds of the Centre, for rest and meditation.
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SoulCollage® : "Know Yourself - And You Will Conquer The Universe..."

Corinna Botoulas and Sonja Dyason | 3 days | 16 August-19 August
SoulCollage® is an easy, and creative way to express your inner world. Using intuition, imagination, and your willingness to explore, you will learn to create a deeply personal deck of wisdom cards. These collaged cards represent the varied and uniquely personalised aspects of who you are and will lead you on a journey of self-discovery. Holistic massages will be on offer on offer to help restore and maintain your body's natural equilibrium
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Mindfulness Skills For Challenging Times

Choden | Weekend | 20-22 August
Choden, a South African born Buddhist monk, will offer some mindfulness skills to help us navigate these times of insecurity, turbulence and uncertainty. He will draw on the Tibetan Mahamudra teachings as a context for his teachings. There will be a three-fold focus:

Embodiment: learning to drop our centre of gravity from the ‘butterfly mind’ in our head to the wisdom awareness of our body.
Acceptance: learning to accept and allow what arises in our embodied experience rather than resisting it and pushing it away.
Self-kindness: learning to step out of toxic self-criticism and befriend ourselves by bringing kindness and warmth to our unfolding experience.
This weekend retreat will be strongly experiential. Choden will introduce some simple yet profound methods; we will practice them together and share any insights. He will strike a balance between teaching, guided practice, sharing and inquiry, along with some periods of silent sitting and walking meditation.
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Finding And Keeping Your Centre: Taking care of ourselves in order to be of service to others

Tessa Pretorius | 2 days | 22-24 August
Why is it so difficult for us to be kind or gentle or good to with ourselves? Perhaps it is because we have grown up within the paradigm that ‘good people put the needs of others first’. Or, it could just be that finding time for self-care just means one more thing on the already unobtainable to-do-list. But what if caring for ourselves wasn’t that difficult? What if, by a few simple adjustments or re-tuning of your emotions, thoughts or attitude patterns, we could find that calm place on the merry-go-round where we were at our best and could deal with and handle what life throws at us with style. The Buddha’s teachings emphasise the importance of taking care of ourselves in order to be of service to others.
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A Yin Yoga Retreat

Jennifer Chapman | Weekend | 27-29 August
Join Jennifer in taking it slowly, and aligning your body with your mind and emotions. During this restorative Yin yoga retreat, we will rest and stretch, and flow calmly from one posture into another.
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Personal Self Retreat

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 where you can wake up to bird song, walk in the morning mist, rake the sand garden, listen to the wind chimes and meditate in the company of the mossy Buddha.
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We Are What We Eat

When we compiled Quiet Food; A Recipe For Sanity 16 years ago, it was based on the principle of bringing enjoyment, health and sanity back into cooking and eating. Our “Slow Food - Quiet Food” manifesto was a response to the fast-food fodder that masquerades as culinary art and suggested that we should take time to honour our most basic, primal need: feeding our bodies. By cooking a meal lovingly and eating it slowly -  sometimes in silence as we do at the BRC - almost reverently - one makes something ordinary extraordinary. Our cooks Prudence and Lungi always manage to hit the high notes at every meal. If you can’t attend one of our retreats, you can in your own home - with our recipe books - get the flavour of the place. We are able to courier the books to your door. Please email: . if you would like to order our recipe books: The Cake The Buddha Ate, Plentiful and Quiet Food.

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 thirty-nine 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.

The BRC facilitated the founding of Woza Moya, the community-based NGO, located in Ufafa Valley, twenty-one 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. The Woza Moya Crafters are local women who receive ongoing training and support to enable them to create these unique and charming best sellers.

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

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

Chrisi

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