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The Buddhist Retreat Centre
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Ixopo, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
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For people of all religions
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BRC Newsflash: November 2021
Dear Retreatants,
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Springtime Buddha |
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Image: Kim McLeod |
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.
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Sugarbird song |
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Image: Al Nicol |
In Zulu the Red-chested cuckoo is known as Uphezukomkhono, the name connects the bird to the season of its appearance in South Africa. According to Dumisani Zondi, a former colleague, the call is a harbinger of the spring sowing season. “It means you must go and hoe the land”. The literal translation from Zulu means “on top of the arm” and Adrian Koopman, in his book Zulu Names, confirms Dumisani’s interpretation: “The call of this bird in spring marks the beginning of the ploughing seasons, when it is time for the field workers to put hoes on top of their arms (shoulder?) and go to the fields.”
We are now in the middle of the Red-chested cuckoo’s breeding season so we will be hearing its voice for a while longer. Early in the New Year it will begin to change its tune, the notes becoming drawn out, erratic, a clockwork music box winding down. By the end of February the bird will have returned to central Africa. The dry winter months will pass slowly and we will find ourselves longing again for the sound of rain, the mist hanging in the pines, and the voice of the Piet my vrou.
With Metta
Stephen Coan
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Get that nectar |
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Image: Andrew Brown |
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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.
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Amber and snow |
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Image: Louis van Loon |
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. Read more
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. Read more
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! Read more
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. Read more
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. Read more
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Buddha and the bodhi leaves |
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Image: Gavin Naicker |
Conducted Retreats November 2021
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. Read more
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. Read more
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. Read more
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. Read more
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
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Valley and sky vista
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Image: Gavin Naicker |
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
Visit our website for further information, directions, image gallery etc.
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www.brcixopo.co.za
| 087 809 1687 | 082 579 3037 | 031 2095995
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