BRC Newsflash - November 2021

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The Buddhist Retreat Centre

Ixopo, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

For people of all religions

BRC Newsflash: November 2021

Dear Retreatants,

The Chant Of The Cuckoo

An old pine preaches wisdom
A wild bird is crying the truth - Zen saying

November at the Buddhist Retreat Centre is the month when the rains come. And the cuckoos. You can hear several species of them calling at this time of the year, including the Black, the Jacobin, the Diderick and, of course, the Red-chested cuckoo, the bird everyone knows by its call, even if they have never seen the bird itself. A classic example of ornithological onomatopoeia, the bird’s Afrikaans common name, Piet my vrou, is derived from its repetitive and insinuating call, translated as “Piet my wife”. A strange interpretation perhaps, yet the phrase “Piet my vrou” is a perfect fit with the three notes of this cuckoo’s distinctive signature tune. The call is that of the male - the female sings “pik, pik, pik”. The name of her prospective mate?

There is no doubt the conjunction of language and sound can make the call an irritating one, and for years I found it so. As soon as the bird began calling I would find myself, quite against my will, matching it word for word. Or rather, word for note. An added vexation, while other birds mostly sing at dawn or dusk, the Piet my vrou strikes up at any hour of the day and night. Try counting sheep at three in the morning while lying in bed mentally chanting “piet my vrou, piet my vrou” like a stuck record.

I once mentioned my antipathy apropos this cuckoo and its call to Antony Osler. He gave me some good advice: “Don’t listen to the words that have become attached to the call, just listen to the bird.” It took a while, and some concentration, but I have since managed to eradicate the nuisance factor of those three intrusive words and replace them with three clear, pure, liquid notes. Thus enabled to listen to the bird irritation has been transformed into affection. 

Now And Zen: Reboot, Recharge And Retreat

There is no better place than the BRC to rejuvenate the body and mind with nature, meditation and movement to guide you into presence and stillness.

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 October retreats:

 indicates retreats held in Noble Silence

Stand Like A Tree To Power Up Your Chi
Paul Dorrian | 3 days | 12-15 October
‘Standing like a Tree’ qigong is unlike most other qigong styles in that with the exception of changing from one static posture to the next, the practitioner remains absolutely still. Regarded by many contemporary Masters as the most powerful of all qigong 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, promoting inner peace and tranquillity.
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Step Into Spring With a Self Retreat And Reiki
Weekend | 15-17 October
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 garden of the bamboo grove. Fiona Robinson will be offering healing Reiki sessions over the weekend by appointment. Apart from spending some time in quiet reflection among like-minded, reiki will help to recalibrate one’s life.
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Plant Identification At The BRC: Feel The Ground Beneath Your Feet
Corinna Botoulas, David Styles and Annemarie Heiduk | 2 days | 19-21 October
If you are feeling energetic and keen to visit the green hills of Ixopo, the BRC invites you to help remove alien vegetation from the grasslands. At the same time, it is an opportunity to learn about the plant species growing in Ixopo with horticulturist, Corinna Botoulas, and botanists, David Styles and Anne Heiduk, as they explore and identify the variety of flora. They are all volunteering their time to compile a list of species for the Centre. Come and join them and perhaps discover a new specie!
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Under The Rose-Apple Tree: A Weekend Of Meditation Practice
Stephen Coan | Weekend | 22-24 October
The teachings of the Buddha sprang from his enlightenment experience under the bodhi tree. The key to this final awakening, according to the Buddha, was his recollection of a childhood experience that occurred when, on a hot day, “I was sitting in the cool shade of a rose-apple tree” and, quite naturally, he entered a meditative state. “Following on that memory came the realization that: ‘This is indeed the path to enlightenment’.” While the Buddha’s enlightenment can be difficult to comprehend, this earlier experience is more accessible, possibly even familiar to us. Re-connect with and renew that experience in a Zen-style retreat supported by a programme of sitting and walking meditation. This retreat will be held in Noble Silence.
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Life Tides And Word Links: A Weekend Course In Poetry
Dawn Garisch | Weekend | 29-31 October
This course will help you to connect with themes and images that need expression and exploration. Learning to condense or distil your inquiry can help with insight and clarity. Working with rhythm and rhyme, off-and-half-rhymes, and with antonyms and synonyms, can break open meaning in new and unexpected ways. Please bring a thesaurus and a rhyming dictionary if you have one. 
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Conducted Retreats November 2021

Writing Our Ancestral Stories : Shifting The Past Into New Futures

Dawn Garisch | 5 days | 2-7 November
What story were you born into? What story will you pass on to future generations? We are all born into circumstances that are not of our choosing – historical, political, cultural, spiritual, geographical, mythological, genetic, epigenetic. This writing course is an invitation to explore what you have inherited from those who came before you, and how this affects your life, often in ways that are just below consciousness. We will investigate whether these attributes and attitudes are helpful or harmful to ourselves, others and the earth. Beginner writers are welcome.
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Yin And Restorative Yoga

Phumla Shongwe | Weekend | 12-14 November
If you feel worn out, stressed and depleted in these challenging times, then this nurturing Yin Yoga retreat is just what you need. This restorative retreat will replenish and heal you physically, mentally and emotionally. Yin yoga is a more meditative type of yoga where the postures are held while your body is supported with props, allowing you to relax, to breathe into the stretching and gravity to do its work. The slower, meditative pace gives you the opportunity to turn inwards, to breathe mindfully and to be at ease with your yourself.
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At Ease In Mind And Body: An Introduction To Qigong

Paul Dorrian | Weekend | 19-21 November
Qigong is an ancient Chinese practice that boosts one’s health and longevity. Through gentle, slow and flowing movements, it integrates and harmonises one’s bodily functions and states of mind by eliminating static and toxic energy patterns. Qigong strengthens the internal organs and skeletal structure and encourages good posture. In this retreat Paul will teach the Healing Sounds Short Form - a set of gentle exercises that also uses sounds to cleanse and heal our major organs.
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Quiet Mountain, Clear Sky: Meditating With Calmness And Clarity

Mervyn Croft | Weekend | 26-28 November
This retreat will provide an opportunity to explore two aspects of Buddhist meditation practice - the gradual development of calmness and peacefulness in our mind; and the practice of awareness, in order to live with more clarity and more centredness in the present moment. This foundation of calmness helps us to meet our confused thoughts and emotions with more acceptance and kindness and leads to a deeper understanding of the nature of our minds. The retreat will create a gentle and relaxed space in which to explore the benefits of spending time quietly with ourselves, to allow the qualities of calmness and clarity to develop in a natural way and to enjoy the nurturing effect of being silent in a beautiful environment.
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A 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, meditate in garden of the Bamboo Grove.
Read more

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.

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-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 and sponsoring their trainers and consultants. 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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