I love the season of Autumn, which reflects so much of our process of healing and transformation! The groups and retreats during these months will focus on shedding what no longer serves us and cultivating that which nourishes and nurtures us. The foundation of this process is Compassion and the practice of loving-kindness (metta). I am excited to have secured 3 nights at the beautiful venue of Mont Fleur, near Stellenbsoch, for this year's Compassion retreat.
"Compassion is a true vastness of heart and a depth of wisdom that listens to, embraces, and receives suffering. It is an antidote to hostility, resistance, and division. Learning to listen to the sounds of the universe is learning to soften and melt our armoury of fear, mistrust, and imprisonment in a separate self." From The Buddhist Path to Simplicity by Christina Feldman, pg. 91.Thorsons, 2001
In addition to the nurturing care provided by the incredible staff team at Mont Fleur, our embodied experience will be enhanced by Kelly and Dominique, who will offer optional relaxing aromatherapy massages and Victoria of Northern Lights Yoga and Riverside Studio, who will offer optional gentle yoga.
The practice of dana comes from the Buddhist monastic tradition of offering the teachings freely, in return for remuneration based on your generosity and means. These retreats (at Emoyeni, BRC and Dharmagiri) are only sustainable if there is an understanding that the dana received forms a large part of the livelihood for teachers like myself, who are householders not supported by monastic centres. Many retreatants have recently told me that they were unaware that the dana is actually the teacher's fee. I would love to continue offering these dana-based retreats, which are more accessible to many people who are perhaps unable to afford the fee-based retreats. I have always greatly appreciated the generosity of your offerings and your presence on these retreats. As I am aware that the dana-based retreats often involve travel costs as well, I am very happy for people to pay off their dana in installments, if that is helpful.
Below is the finalised calendar for the retreats for the rest of the year, the full details of which can be found here. Bookings are open for all the retreats, and those who regularly attend the popular 16-20 December retreat at Bodhi Khaya are encouraged to re-confirm your bookings as soon as possible please, by email. Deposits are not due yet, but for all the longer retreats, including the 9 day September retreat which is split between the BRC (22-26 Sept) and Dharmagiri (26 Sept - 1 Oct), you are welcome to pay off the retreats and the dana in installments. Please note that the September Spring Bodhi Khaya retreat has been cancelled.
25-28 May - Healing & Transformation through Meditation - Emoyeni Retreat Centre, Magaliesberg.
15-18 June - Awakening the Heart with Compassion - Mont Fleur Conference Centre, Stellenbosch.
24 June - Family Afternoon Retreat - Somersault House, Claremont, Cape Town.
27 August - Day-Long Retreat: The Practice of Loving-Kindness (metta) and Compassion (The Wisdom of Right Thought) - Mont Fleur Conference Centre, Stellenbosch.
22-26 September - Embracing Life with Courage and Trust - Buddhist Retreat Centre, Ixopo, KwaZulu-Natal.
26 September - 1 October - From Emptiness to Wholeness - Dharmagiri Insight Meditation Centre, Southern Drakensberg.
20-23 October - Finding Courage for New Beginnings - Temenos Retreat Centre, McGregor.
4-5 November - Finding Balance within Stillness - Mont Fleur Conference Centre, Stellenbosch.
16-20 December - Ending the Year with Compassion and Joy - Bodhi Khaya Retreat Centre, Stanford.
There are a few places left on my 5 week 'Open the Heart and Still the Mind' course,Finding Wholeness through Stillness, which now starts on Saturday 22 July. Please book soon, so that we can schedule an individual session before the start.
There has been a delay in the CPD accreditation this year, as UCT is no longer processing applications from psychologists, so I am needing to resubmit elsewhere. I will update you when this is confirmed and apologize sincerely for this delay.
Looking forward to seeing many of you on retreat!
With loving-kindness,
Sue
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May 25-28 Retreat
Healing and Transformation through Meditation
This 3 night silent retreat (Thursday night to Sunday lunch), held in a contained and nurturing atmosphere of contemplative silence, integrates meditation and the wisdom of Buddhist psychology. Through the cultivation of calm and compassionate awareness, we will explore ways to heal the fragmented body, heart and mind.
For more information, please visit the Events page.
June 15-18 Retreat
Awakening the Heart with Compassion
During this 3-night Compassion retreat, we will draw on the teachings and practices of Kuan Yin to discover ways to integrate our experiences, so that we can embrace the joys and sorrows of life with greater loving-kindness, courage and balance.
Single en-suite: R6525
Shared en-suite: R5865 per person
For more information, please visit the Events page.
June 24 - Family Retreat
This retreat will include an introduction to the Buddha’s teachings, sitting, walking and lying down meditation, Chi Kung movement meditation, silent eating and drinking meditation, short reflections and a closing loving-kindness meditation.
The cost is R650/R750/R850/R950 for 2-4 people/family with additional dana for larger families.
For more information, please visit the Events page.
July - August Course
Finding Wholeness through Silence
This 5 week course integrates the wisdom of Buddhist psychology and meditation, a powerful practice for deepening our awareness of the present moment and developing a more compassionate relationship to ourselves and others.
Sue Cooper is a Clinical Psychologist with extensive experience as a psychoanalytic psychotherapist, working in private practice in Cape Town since the early 1990s. She has a long-standing interest in the interface between psychological and spiritual approaches to self-discovery and inner healing, and has attended Buddhist meditation retreats, mainly in the Theravada tradition, for over 30 years, both in South Africa and at Gaia House in the UK. Sue has a particular interest in exploring how this practice enables us to embrace love and loss in our lives, so that we can live and die with compassionate awareness.
Sue offers weekend and longer retreats throughout South Africa at Bodhi Khaya (www.bodhi-khaya.co.za), Temenos (www.temenos.org.za) in the W. Cape, Dharmagiri (www.dharmagiri.org) and the Buddhist Retreat Centre (www.brcixopo.co.za) in KZN and Emoyeni Retreat Centre (www.emoyeni.org.za) in the North West Province, as well as 6-8 week ‘Open the Heart and Still the Mind’ courses, on-going weekly groups and monthly half-day retreats in Cape Town.
