BRC Newsletter - November/December 2025

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The Buddhist Retreat Centre
Ixopo, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa		For people of all religions
BRC Newsletter: November/December 2025 Dear Friends,

Delight in the sunbeams		Image: Chantelle Flores
Finding That Slice Of Joy Bridget McNulty writes in “The Daily Maverick” about focusing on finding that slice of joy in tiny glimmers of your daily grind - for our mental and emotional well-being. “I have been accused more than once in my life of wearing rose-tinted glasses (to which I usually respond something along the lines of: would you like to borrow them?). When the glimmers craze swept through Instagram last year, I could see that these same accusers thought it was a frivolous rose-tinted craze seeing as the emphasis is on finding micro-moments of joy to focus on. But glimmers are actually far deeper than that. I knew glimmers as slices of joy - three-second moments that give you pause in a busy day, that don’t fill you with excitement but feel nice. Just nice…A sip of water when you’re thirsty. Feeding crumbs to a bird while you sit outside munching your lunch. Work besties. The way the light filters through the leaves. There is nothing spectacular here and that’s purposeful: glimmers or slices of joy encourage you to adopt a low bar for delight. It may seem foolish to focus on these little things – the joy of a full fridge, sliding your tongue across just-cleaned teeth, lush grass between your toes – but these glimmers have been shown to offer micro-regulation to your nervous system. These small moments of calm soften the nervous system and tell your body it is safe to relax. Combined, they help to ease the constant pressure and anxiety you feel in a too-busy world filled with too many demands. Stacked on top of each other, glimmers offer some light in the darkness.

Joy of bath time		Image:Andrew Brown
I had flirted with the concept of slices of joy for many years, but it came into its own for me when my mom died. Thirteen days from diagnosis to death: a shock so complete that the grief knocked me sideways. In the face of grief, there was no time for happiness, excitement, delight, enthusiasm. That was all completely out of reach. But three seconds of nice? I could manage that. I have since stress-tested the concept through my dad’s severe stroke, a loved one’s terminal cancer journey, home renovations and perhaps, more tellingly, the daily grind. Life is often hard and frequently boring. But it is filled with so much beauty, joy and wonder. The way a drop of dew suspends in a flower, watching the seasons change, time with someone you love, finishing a puzzle, a book so good you hope it’ll never end, noticing clouds, laughing so hard you can’t catch your breath…” Briget Mc Nulty is the author of Daily Glimmers and The Grief Handbook and Co-founder of the Sweet Life Diabetes Community November and December at the BRC We invite you to find your own slices of joy at the BRC this November and December. Whether it’s through art, yoga, gardening, or meditation, each retreat offers a unique opportunity to cultivate those precious glimmers in your life. Join us for a chance to pause, breathe, and reconnect with the beauty that surrounds you. We look forward to welcoming you! With Metta, Chrisi

Reconnect with beauty		Image: Andrew Brown
There are still a few spaces left on the following November retreats: Buddhism: The Basics Stephen Coan \| Weekend \| 14-16 November Looking for an entry point into Buddhism? Then this is the retreat for you! Who was the Buddha? What is Buddhism? Is it a religion or a philosophy? What are its teachings and practices? These questions and others will be addressed in this retreat which will examine the life of the Buddha, the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path while at the same time foregrounding the simple meditation practices - sitting and walking - from which the experience-based teachings emerged. A schedule of talks, discussion, and practice held within the supportive frame of Noble Silence will also include time to enjoy the beautiful grounds of the centre. Read more A Beginner’s Introduction To Tai Chi - The White Stork Displays Its Wings Paul Dorrian \| 2-4 days \| 17-21 November Tai Chi - ‘the cultivation of energy’ helps regulate one’s system and prevents disease, thereby leading to the maintenance of good health and well-being. Most people associate Tai Chi with flowing, graceful movements. Yet there is much more to the practice of this ancient Chinese art. Paul will demystify Tai Chi using the Yang style, which can be traced back to Ch’en Wang Ting (1597-1664). In this 2 or 4-day retreat, Paul’s intention is to inspire retreatants to further investigate Tai Chi and to find a teacher near their home. Read more The Wisdom Of Wellness - Living Ayurveda Helen Altman \| Weekend \| 21-23 November This retreat is an invitation to integrate Ayurveda into your daily lives in simple ways that have a profound healing effect on your health and well-being. Our days will be filled with simple rhythms - waking and sleeping, movement and stillness, inhalations and exhalations, self-nurturing rituals, nourishing food, and will include gentle somatic and therapeutic yoga practices, pranayama (breathwork), restorative yoga nidra (deep relaxation) and walking meditation. The retreat will be held in a quiet atmosphere to allow us to deepen our connection with our essential nature. Read more Nowhere Else To Be – Zen Sitting Shogan Parker \| 2 days \| 25-27 November This mid-week Zen retreat is suitable for those with a regular meditation practice or prior retreat experience who feel ready to spend a day in silence, stillness, and simplicity. It offers a simple, structured, and spacious container in which to reconnect with presence, nature, and the still point within. The emphasis is on returning to what is already here - without distraction, without pressure, without needing to be anywhere else. Come sit with us - there is nowhere else to be. Read more Going With The Flow: Integrating Meditation And Mindfulness Into Our Daily Life Bruce van Dongen \| Weekend \| 28-30 November Join Bruce in exploring the roots of mindful awareness through Kundalini yoga. Engage in meditation, chanting and the gentle resonance of the gong and crystal bowls for healing relaxation. Delve into practices that nurture your mind, body and spirit, allowing you to embrace inner peace and vitality while finding harmony in nature. Read more

Raku firing
Conducted Retreats December 2025 Gardening For Happiness - Chris Is Back! Chris Dalzell \| Weekend \| 5-7 December They say that 'your life begins the day you start a garden'. If you are looking for some green thumb inspiration and motivation, join Chris for an uplifting weekend of basic gardening tips where you will learn the art of gardening. The weekend will entail plant identification and plant selection of trees, shrubs, ground covers and bulbs. He will show you how to prepare a flower bed and how to lay out your plants, and how to plant trees and other plants and their maintenance. He will also advise on plant propagation and how to rejuvenate a nutrient-depleted soil and deal with pest and diseases. Celebrate the BRC's gardens and its green spaces and listen to Chris’ latest fascinating experiences at Gardens On The Bay in Singapore. Read more Shibuie - When Beauty Happens Accidentally: Sumie And Raku – Japanese Brush Painting And Ceramics Ingrid Adams, Sharon Paterson, Bernard Charikobo, Chris Rooke and Shogan \| 4 days \| 12-16 December Shibuie is the ancient Japanese concept of Accidental Beauty in which the artist is just one ingredient in a number of dynamic interacting natural processes, the outcome of which is delightfully unpredictable, but strangely beautiful - not ego-driven or deliberate. Ingrid will teach the classical Japanese brush painting techniques - Sumie - as these are applied to traditional subjects, such as landscape, bamboo and flower studies - as well as contemporary subjects. We will use the genuine, traditional materials: solid pine-soot ink, a hollowed-out slate to liquefy it, a deer-hair bamboo-stemmed brush and absorbent mulberry paper. Tools will be provided. Sharon will offer the Raku and explore various glazing and firing techniques. Each retreatant will receive a bisque-fired tea bowl to sumie-decorate and glaze. The kiln will be fired up, after which we will watch the magic as the bowls emerge triumphantly from the scorching heat! Chris will offer qigong sessions and Bernard will be offering forest walks and introducing 'forest bathing' with traditional Mbira music for healing and harmony. Shogan will be offering a traditional Japanese Tea Ceremony on the final evening. Read more Transformation Through Mindfulness Nolitha Tsengiwe and Phumla Shongwe \| Weekend \| 19-21 December Through being and accepting what is happening within us, staying with experience and learning to see more clearly we can taste into a mind and heartfulness that is larger than our habits that keep us stuck. The practice of Mindfulness supports us in discovery of who we are beyond our limiting histories, stories and ideas. Grounding into our bodies through bringing presence to our breath, our flesh and bones, our sensations we come into the shared embodied realm. Drawing on tools from the Buddha's teaching we will embark on this voyage together, in a shared context, with the inner journey of each of us also finding its own inner way. The retreat will be held in noble silence; there will be dharma teachings as well as one to one interviews, guided and silent meditations and yoga with Phumla. Read more The Four Immeasurable Gifts At Christmas Tsunma Tsondru \| 4 days \| 23-27 December Christmas is a time of the giving of gifts. Usually these gifts are of ‘things’. Yet the very best gift we can give is not anything tangible or material. It is to definitively take away the suffering of oneself, and of others. And this, after all, is the reason why we give material gifts in the first place. It’s because we are constantly in pursuit of this (seemingly unattainable) state of being: peace, happiness, contentment, an absence of ‘niggle’. The unlimited and ultimate gift would be to be happy without end, at peace without end, to give happiness and peace to all, without end. The Four Immeasurable Gifts are the ultimate gift. They are boundless equanimity, loving kindness, compassion, and joy. Take time out at the BRC this Christmas to slow down into the moment and unwrap the Four Immeasurable Gifts. We will discover them through meditation, contemplation, journaling, and by just being present. William (Shogan) will be offering sunrise qigong. The retreat will be held in an atmosphere of introspection and silence. Read more Three Wise Medicines For Living Your Life In The New Year Tsunma Tsondru \| 4 days \| 28 December- 1 January New Year is a good time of the year to take stock and contemplate our moment-to-moment, here-and-now reality in all its fullness. It’s a traditional time for clarifying our motivations, and for starting afresh with new intentions. A time, in other words, to reboot the system. Give yourself the gift of time over this New Year period to collect the Three Wise Medicines of gratitude, ahimsa and contentment, to reflect on the past year, and uncover how you can best live your life in the coming year. During this time together we will let our body, speech and mind fall silent through the practice of meditation and silence. We will welcome the New Year with a circumambulation around the lantern-lit Buddha Rupa. The retreat will be held in an atmosphere of silence and introspection. A Personal Retreat 10% discount mid-week We invite you to take a break and join us for an unstructured personal retreat at the BRC. During your stay, you can participate in meditation, yoga and qigong. Or, simply enjoy the tranquillity of the space - doing nothing seriously. A self retreat offers a slower rhythm, allowing you to step back from the busyness of life and find peace within. Read more

Bliss		Image: Odette Ryan
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 forty-five 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. 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 and Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife proclaimed part of the estate as “Nirodha 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 - five 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. We have been very touched by your appreciative letters, emails and friendship towards the BRC - your spiritual home from home. How you can help to keep the Dharma wheels turning at the BRC and continue its legacy for the future: Become a Spiritual friend by: Booking for a retreat – we have a broad range of retreats on offer until the end of June 2026 Offering a donation Pledging a monthly contribution of R50 or more Joining our Paid Up Yogi scheme which involves paying a contribution forward whereby your credit can be used at any time in the future towards a retreat, with a 10% discount Gifting a voucher to a friend or family member Supporting our film “Bodhi Is Light” Purchasing our popular recipe books Organising a group visit midweek Supporting our GoodMoodFood take-away prepared meals Booking a mid-week self-retreat with the option of qigong, yoga and meditation The continued existence of the Centre as a sanctuary for healing is dependent on the goodwill and support of our Sangha. Chrisi Visit our website for further information, directions, image gallery etc.
www.brcixopo.co.za \| 066 395 4682 \| 082 579 3037 Share: \| Follow us:
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