News & Events

Dear Friends and Supporters,

The BRC has faced uncertain times before, and with the support of our family and friends, we have always emerged with renewed confidence to continue providing a space for self-reflection and spiritual growth. Today, we are facing another period of significant challenge and we need your help.

Recently, severe thunder and lightning storms caused severe infrastructure damage, necessitating expensive tree removals, and requiring the purchase of two generators to manage the ensuing frequent power outages due to lightning strikes. One of our borehole pump motors was also damaged by lighting requiring a replacement.

These unexpected costs, combined with low retreat attendance over the last month, have placed the BRC under serious financial constraint.

As a non-profit organization, we rely solely on accommodation income to cover our monthly operating expenses. Currently, we are not reaching the break-even point necessary to sustain our operations.

We are appealing to you, our dedicated supporters, to help us keep our doors open. Your contribution will ensure the Centre remains a sanctuary for all who seek it.

With Metta,

Chrisi and The BRC Team

Thank you to those who zoomed into our 45th Annual General Meeting. I include a few excerpts from the introduction to my chairperson’s report for those who are interested.

The BRC celebrated its 45th year of operation and marked the 55th anniversary of its founding by Louis van Loon in May over Wesak. Louis was fond of recalling how when he bought the property in 1970 as a derelict, abandoned farm in pouring rain and thick mist, unseen, no-one else wanted to buy it, because it was so useless to do anything with that was remotely connected to farming. It was too hilly and overrun with bramble, bugweed, and wild wattle. But it suited his purpose just fine. There were significant turning points his life and in the history of the BRC every ten years. In 1960 Louis took his first Buddhist Refuge and Precepts with a Sri Lankan Theravadin monk and, a few weeks later, with a Tibetan lama. In 1970 he bought Nirodha Farm and in 1980 the BRC opened for its first retreat to one retreatant!

Fifty-five years later and after an extraordinary amount of hard work, sacrifice and courage on his part, we are holding this AGM. Looking back, the Centre has acquired a very special character - something that would not have been possible if it had been a piece of flat land with farmsteads - and achieved many accolades: CNN recognised it as one of the 10 finest meditation centres in the world with articles in international journals and much exposure on television; “Buddha In Zululand” was screened on Dutch television and two years ago an evocative documentary “Bodhi is Light” by Richard Pakleppa was launched. Then came the recognition of the Centre as a Natural Heritage Site and later as a private nature reserve and visits by iconic teachers like Joseph Goldstein, Sharon Salzburg, Stephen and Martine Batchelor and Godwin Samararatne followed by the publication of our three recipe books with ‘Quiet Food’ becoming a national best seller in the non-fiction section and going international!

Mind Over Matter Psych Talks podcast host, Kirsten Russouw speaks with resident volunteer William Parker at the Buddhist Retreat Centre in Ixopo, KwaZulu-Natal.

He shares his personal journey and experiences at the centre and how principles of mindfulness, compassion and wisdom have transformed his life.

Listen to it here

Following in the wake of Ajahn Sucitto’s visit to South Africa in 2024, Ajahn Jutindharo, a friend and colleague and highly recommended by Ajahn Sucitto, is offering teachings at the BRC from 13-18 February.

I am reaching out to invite you to consider joining his 5 day Mindfulness Retreat.

The BRC has faced challenging times before and we have found that with the help of our BRC Friends and Supporters we have been able to continue to offer the Centre as a place for self-reflection and spiritual growth.

We are again facing challenging times, and we need your help.

Asalha Puja, also known as Dharma Day, is one of Theravada Buddhism's most important festivals, celebrating as it does the Buddha's first sermon, the Sermon in the Deer Park at Sarnath, in which he set out to his five former associates the doctrine that had come to him following his enlightenment. This first pivotal sermon, often referred to as “setting into motion the wheel of dhamma", is the teaching which is encapsulated for Buddhists in the Four Noble Truths: there is suffering (dukkha); suffering is caused by craving (tanha); there is a state (nibbana) beyond suffering and craving; and finally, the way to nirvana is via the Noble Eightfold Path. All the various schools and traditions of Buddhism revolve around this central doctrine.

We share very sad news. Louis Van Loon departed this life peacefully on Tuesday 26 March. Louis was a pioneer who brought so many of us to the Dharma practice. Infinite bows of gratitude for his generosity of spirit. He will be greatly missed by all who were fortunate enough to meet him at the BRC. His legacy will live on through the hills and valleys and all that constitutes the BRC.

The BRC has embraced difficult and uncertain times before and we have found that with the help of the BRC family and friends we have always emerged with increased enthusiasm and confidence to continue to offer the Centre as a place for self-reflection and spiritual growth.

As has happened before, we are again facing challenging times and we need your help.

The BRC has not fully recovered from lockdown over Covid and the subsequent fallout from cancelled retreats, followed by the unrest in Natal two years ago. This - compounded by the low attendance of our retreats over the last 3 months - has resulted in the Centre being under serious financial constraint.

Being a non-profit organisation reliant solely on income from accommodation, we need to break even each month to cover our expenses. We are not doing that at the moment.

We are fervently appealing to you, our Friends and Supporters, who care deeply about the Centre, to help us keep the doors open.

Max Weier resides in Switzerland and has been studying and practising various Buddhist traditions - Taoist disciplines and Vedanta - for the past forty years. He has been teaching worldwide for the last twenty years. He is an author on the subjects of ch’i kung and Taoism.

He is conducting the following retreats at the BRC duing February and March:

Qigong From The Daoist Mountain Wudang: Energy - Vastness - Stillness
Tue 28 Feb - Thu 2 Mar 2023

Pathways To Dao: Qigong – Meditation – Wisdom
Tuesday 21 Mar - Thu 23 Mar

During February and March 2023, international teacher, Max Weier, will be offering two sessions of qigong and guided meditation practice, daily, for those who like to add some depth and flavour to their self retreats.

There is no better place to reboot and rejuvenate and to get in touch with nature than in the beautiful, tranquil spaces of the BRC. 

Day visitors are welcome by prior arrangement and by donation.

View full retreat schedule and details