For many people, this year seems to have brought a rather long Winter. It is with some relief that we can now feel the transition to this next season of Spring, which so powerfully supports the expression of new beginnings. As we see the buds and blossoms emerging so beautifully in Nature, we are reminded of the possibility of new growth and ways of being, which carry greater lightness and joy. To honour and express who we really are, free of fear and shame, we need to strengthen our capacity for courageous presence.
I have tried to support this process with some additional retreats and themes from September to December, which will allow for further healing and transformation. I am particularly excited to be offering an overnight retreat at Mont Fleur from 4-5 November on "Embracing Change and Loss", and an additional retreat at Temenos, from 10-12 November entitled "From Courageous Presence to Wise Action." Details of both retreats are below.
I am also delighted to confirm that my CPD accreditation has finally been granted for people registered with the HPCSA, and we will begin sending out certificates when I return in October from teaching the retreats in KZN this month. The accreditation points have been updated on my website, under each event.
Below is the finalised calendar for the retreats for the rest of the year, as well as a few for 2018, the full details of which can be found on my websitehere. Those who regularly attend the popular16-20 December retreat at Bodhi Khaya are encouraged to book as soon as possible please, as there are now only a few single Cloister and shared Aloe dorm places left.
22-26 September - Embracing Life with Courage and Trust - Buddhist Retreat Centre, Ixopo, KwaZulu-Natal. (Waitiing-list only)
26 Sept - 1 Oct - From Emptiness to Wholeness - Dharmagiri Sacred Mountain Retreat, Southern Drakensberg. (Only 2 shared places left: one sharing with a man and one with a woman)
20-23 October - Finding Courage for New Beginnings - Temenos Retreat Centre, McGregor. (Waiting-list only)
4-5 November - Embracing Change and Loss - Mont Fleur Conference Centre, Stellenbosch.
10-12 November - From Courageous Presence to Wise Action - Temenos Retreat Centre, McGregor.
16-20 December - Ending the Year with Compassion and Joy - Bodhi Khaya Retreat Centre, Stanford.
30 December - New Year's Half-Day Retreat - Somersault House, Claremont (details to follow)
17-21 March2018- Embracing Change and Loss - Emoyeni Retreat Centre, Magaliesberg Mountains, North West Province. (4 night long weekend)
29 March-2 April 2018 - A Path of Courage and Compassion - Buddhist Retreat Centre, Ixopo, KwaZulu-Natal. (Easter weekend)
What in your life is calling you,
When all the noise is silenced,
The meetings adjourned...
The lists laid aside,
And the Wild Iris blooms
By itself
In the dark forest...
What still pulls on your soul?
Rumi
May this season of Spring bring renewed courage and trust, as we allow ourselves to remember that each moment offers the opportunity for a new beginning!
This retreat which is now nearly fully booked, will introduce the meditation guidelines of Insight Dialogue and offer an opportunity to explore the possibilities of a fully engaged co-meditation practice. Explore the origins of suffering as well as the great potential of cultivating together the factors of awakening, including mindfulness, concentration, equanimity, loving kindness & compassion. You will investigate Speaking & Listening as meditative practices held and nourished by the deep foundation of silent practice. There will be periods of silent practice, alternating with meditation together in dyads, triads and small groups.
Cost: R1560 sharing
R1760 single
For more information: Contact Judy at jtobler@mweb.co.za
This silent overnight retreat offers a safe, nurturing and contained space in which to explore how to integrate the challenge of living with change and loss, without being defined by it or getting lost in it. View details here.
10-12 November Retreat: From Courageous Presence to Wise Action This “Open the Heart and Still the Mind” weekend retreat, held in a nurturing and containing atmosphere of contemplative silence, will focus on strengthening our courageous presence, so that we can move beyond our habitual patterns of fear, judgement and self-doubt.View detailshere.
16-20 December Retreat: Ending the Year
with Compassion and Joy Drawing on the wisdom of Buddhist psychology and meditation, we will end this year developing our capacity for calm and compassionate wisdom. Through the cultivation of an embodied awareness, grounded in practices which integrate body, heart and mind, we will deepen our access to open-hearted joy and a lightness of being which are healing and transformative. View details here.
17-21 March 2018 Retreat: Open the Heart and Still the Mind:
Embracing Change and Loss Inspired by the wisdom of Buddhist psychology, with its profound understanding of the truth of Impermanence, we will explore ways to integrate change and loss in our lives, so that we can learn to bear the unbearable. View details here.
Sue Cooper (www.suecooper.co.za) is a Cape Town-based Clinical Psychologist with extensive experience as a psychoanalytic psychotherapist, working in private practice 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 been inspired by the teachings of Ajahn Chah of the Thai Forest Tradition, and is deeply grateful to her primary teachers: the late Godwin Samararatne, Kittisaro and Thanissara, Ajahn Sucitto and Stephen and Martine Batchelor
Sue has a particular interest in exploring how our practice enables us to embrace our humanness, integrating love and loss in our lives, so that we can live and die with compassionate awareness.
