BRC NewsFlash - April 2017

The Buddhist Retreat Centre

BRC Newsflash: April 2017

In February and March, the BRC again featured retreats that showed us how Buddhism has penetrated into every aspect of modern society.

Ian Weinberg (A Neurosurgeon Probes Wellness And Performance) took us on a dizzying ride into the microcosm, the atom, and into the outer reaches of the visible and invisible universe via Quantum Physics - arriving finally inside the human brain and the way personality and our life experiences are shaped by a multitude of factors - from how we think and process our emotional lives to what we eat. Those of us who have studied the Abhidhamma - the Buddha’s most intellectually challenging teachings - were stunned to see how these teachings, formulated 2500 years ago, foreshadowed these latest scientific findings. Something very special must have happened under that Bodhi tree that long ago….

Tsunma Tsundra (Buddha Touches The Earth) also showed the contemporary relevance of Buddhism when she emphasised that Buddhism, as we have come to recognise in modern times, represents a challenge to establish an intimate and caring relationship with our environment and our fellow beings - human and otherwise. She emphasised something we have started to realise: we exploit and destroy nature at our peril….

The upsurge in interest in the 5000-year old practice of Hatha Yoga was also the subject of Bruce van Dongen’s retreat (Going With The Flow). It is clear that Yoga has become main-stream in the modern world!

Thank you for all your support over these past two months!

Forthcoming Retreats: March 31 to May 1, 2017

As usual, the retreats offered at the BRC during April cover a large spectrum of topics that enable one to experience the truly amazing way in which Buddhism is so relevant to the kind of life we live - here, in South Africa - 25 centuries after this philosophy first came into being in the north of India.  All these retreats, in one way or the other, urge us to adopt holistic ways of living - whether through physical disciplines such as Yoga or Recovery Therapy, or psychological and mental ones, such as mindfulness practice and meditation.  Make your choice!

There are still a few spaces left on:
Open The Heart And Still The Mind: A Joyful Awakening: Sue Cooper | 17-21 March;
Yogis Live Longer: Hatha Yoga For Health And Resilience with Christine Withiel, Howard Lipschitz and Georgie Carter | 24-26 March and the
Health Retreat with Dr Kaz | 26-31 March.
For bookings: 0878091672

Meditation For Beginners

An interactive retreat designed to help those new to meditation to understand and experience Mindfulness (sati) as a powerful tool to positively transform our mind, emotions and behaviour.
Elizabeth Gaywood | Weekend: March 31- April 2

The Awakening Shift Experience: Realise Your Magnificence!

The Shift Experience is based on John’s own experiences and insights, taking retreatants through a shift from living too much in their heads to heart-centred living.
John Homewood and Liz Kitching | Weekend: April 7- 9

Ancient “I AM” Teachings For The New Golden Age

Reverse your negative mind-set with “I AM” sick, tired, afraid, poor, angry, and learn the right use of these words, to create lives of peace and harmony.
Anthea Torr | 2 days: April 12-14

Sitting Quietly - Doing Nothing: A Contemplative Easter Retreat

This retreat will cultivate a state of sustained calmness and clarity in an atmosphere of Noble Silence, with meditation, mindful walking and periods of rest and reflection, culminating in a traditional Chinese Tea Ceremony.
Louis van Loon | 3 days: April 14-17

Strong In Body, Peace In Mind: Rejuvenate And Restore With Yoga

We will rediscover the essence of traditional yoga which aims to restore one’s health and vitality and develop emotional stability, calmness and serenity.
Margot McMaster | Weekend: April 21-23

The Zen Of Recovery: Twelve Steps To Wholeness And Well-Being

We all have a deeper sense of what it takes to bring about wholeness and fulfilment in our life, no matter how embedded we have become in negative states of mind and emotions. This retreat will give us the tools to do so.
Warren Shaw and Graeme Buchart | 3 days: April 28-May 1

Sumie workshop

Louis van Loon is offering another one of his popular workshops on Sumie: Japanese brush painting "Make the brush dance and the ink sing!." in Durban on 25 and 26 March 2017. Participants will learn how to make the traditional strokes used in this unique 5000 year-old art to paint plant and landscape studies with a special, imported deer-hair brush - dipped in Pine-soot ink on mulberry paper.

For more information email: .

Advance Notice

SHIBUIE: The Accident of Beauty in May 2017

An introduction to Japanese Brush Painting (Sumi-e) & Raku Pottery
Join renowned potter Anthony Shapiro and Louis van Loon, founder of The Buddhist Retreat Centre, Ixopo in this fascinating experience of Shibuie – a form of art that relies as much on unpredictable natural processes as it does on the artist directing them at Art in the Forest near Constantia Nek, Cape Town. Please see the attached flyer for details. Contact Erika on

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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 more than thirty six 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. 

In 1989, the BRC was awarded Natural Heritage status by President Mandela for turning an eroded farm into the natural paradise it has become with 160 species of birds, including the Blue Swallow, otter, deer and indigenous forests.

The BRC facilitated the founding of Woza Moya, the community-based NGO, located in Ufafa Valley.  It continues to support the organisation  in a variety of ways.

Visit our website for further information, directions, image gallery etc.