Wesak: Doing What The Buddha Did

Teacher: Stephen Coan

Cost: 2 days accommodation + R400 surcharge

Dates: Friday 21 May 2027 - Sunday 23 May 2027

stephen coan2024 The feast of Wesak is the most important day in the Buddhist calendar, commemorating the birth, enlightenment and death of the Buddha 2,500 years ago, and is held annually on the full moon of the lunar month of Vesakha (coincidental with May). We will mark this festival with a programme of sitting and walking meditation plus reflections on the Buddha’s life and teachings and, in union with Buddhists around the world, hold a traditional Wesak ceremony - a lantern-lit circumambulation - on Saturday evening. Apart from a talk or two plus discussions, the weekend will place an emphasis on meditation, the basic practice common to all Buddhist traditions - simply breathing in and breathing out - doing exactly what the Buddha did. The schedule will include time to enjoy the beautiful grounds of the Buddhist Retreat Centre. *Please note this retreat will be held in Noble Silence.

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Stephen Coan has been retreating and teaching at the Buddhist Retreat Centre for four decades. Inspired and informed by the Theravada and Zen Buddhist traditions his retreats place emphasis on the centrality of practice in living a skilful and enlightened life. An independent scholar, Stephen has also worked as a journalist and as a writer-director in film and theatre. He edited and introduced two previously unpublished manuscripts by H. Rider Haggard: Diary of An African Journey (2000) and (with Alfred Tella) Mameena and other plays (2008); and is the author of The Buried Man, A Life of H. Rider Haggard (2025). He has also published a volume of poetry, Chant of the Doves. He lives in Johannesburg.