All retreats begin at 5pm (supper) on the start day and finish at 12 noon on the finish day.


2012



March 16 - 21st

Yatra - Walk for Wakefulness






An Interfaith Gathering - Hosted by Noon & Sumedha

Silent contemplative walking in the rugged beauty of the Drakensberg World Heritage Park.


A Yatra is a Sacred Pilgrimage. In the spirit of this ancient way of honouring the journey of Awakening while walking the land, Dharmagiri is delighted to host this special retreat. The walking will be approx. 4 hrs in the mornings, there will be breaks to meditate on a rock or by a river. Afternoons at the hermitage will be for relaxation, spiritual friendship, discussions, guided meditations, evenings of interfaith offerings by various speakers, chanting, sacred texts and poetry. No high level of fitness required just walking boots, hat & umbrella. There is camping space available, single rooms for the more senior or local B&B's.

All are welcome!


Sumedha & Noon
Sumedha is from the UK and studied Comparative Religion before being a Buddhist nun for 12 years in the Forest School of Ajahn Chah. Noon, originally from Zambia, practiced in the Tibetan school in France and spent time at Amaravati Monastery as a garderner. They are currently managers at Dharmagiri where they have done a brilliant job supporting Dharma practice, maintaining the hermitage, hosting retreatants and offering service to the local community. This will be their last retreat before they venture forth on their journey's back to Europe at the end of March. Do come and join in, it promises to be a wonderful event.






April 6 - 10

Open the Heart, Still the Mind, Move the Body

Meditation, Tai Chi, Psychotherapy

Moyra Keane & Sue Cooper


This retreat will integrate practices of Tai Chi, meditation, and psychotherapeutic reflection and discussion. There will be opportunities for exploring how and where we are while connecting with our body, mind and heart in a nurturing environment, while also resting and deepening our meditation practice. Meditation gives us a way of slowing down, deepening our understanding of ourselves and regaining perspective of what matters. To support the retreat there will also be Tai Chi.

Tai Chi is sometimes called ‘meditation in movement’; it is ancient meditative exercise form. The slow, strength-building sequences help the mind become clear, focused and relaxed, while increasing balance, energy and flexibility. These practices help us to relax and connect with ourselves in a compassionate and reflective way, and will be integrated with psychotherapy, through a combination of silence and facilitated discussions in a safe and contained atmosphere. Apart from the facilitated discussions, the Retreat will be held in Noble Silence.

Moyra Keane
Moyra has been practicing meditation for 40 years and has taught courses in meditation, mindfulness, and Tai Chi at various centres over the past 15 years. She works as an Academic Consultant at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg where she also has an involvement in life coaching, research in Indigenous Knowledge and science education, and supervises post-graduate students.

Sue Cooper
Sue is aClinical Psychologist with almost 20 years of experience as a psychoanalytic psychotherapist, working in private practice. 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 for over 25 years, both in South Africa and the UK.

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May 31 - June 3rd

Beginning Meditation

Judy Tobler


This retreat offers an introduction to basic Buddhist meditation practices for cultivating mindfulness, calm and insight. We will explore inner resources that we can draw on to calm the mind and heart. We will also ‘befriend’ and work with that which hinders our clear awareness. While this retreat will be of particular interest for beginners, it will also be supportive for anyone wishing to refresh and sustain their meditation practice in daily life

Judy Tobler
Judy has been a regular retreatant at Dharmagiri. Meditation practice has been an important part of her life for many years. Over the last few years she has been teaching Buddhist meditation courses at her home in Cape Town. Judy recently retired from the University of Cape Town, where she lectured in Asian religions in the Department of Religious Studies.

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July 12 - 15

Four Factors for Success

Meditation & Guidance Within the World

Kittisaro & Nolitha Tsengiwe


A Buddha arises in the world for the welfare of the multitude. While the pinnacle of the Buddha's teaching is peace, he also taught a practical way to live happily and successfully in the world. All of us want to succeed at something. In this retreat we will investigate the framework for accomplishment offered by the Buddha. There will be instruction, meditation, group inquiry and discussion.

Kittisaro
Kittisaro is from the US and was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford before going to Thailand to ordain with Ajahn Chah in 1976. He was a Buddhist monk for 15 years in the Forest Sangha. Since he disrobed in 1991, he has taught internationally in the States, Europe, Africa, Canada and Israel. Having studied and practiced the Chan and Pure Land teachings of Master Hua for 35 years, Kittisaro brings together the Theravada and Mahayana traditions. Kittisaro has completed two one-year-long silent retreats and is currently co-director of Dharmagiri hermitage and Outreach.

Nolitha Tsengiwe
Nolitha, Catholic by upbringing, has always been, even as a child, curious about "what truth is." Her search for answers led her to become a practising Buddhist. She is a Psychologist in private practice and an Executive Coach. In both roles her primary task is to create a holding space for people who are also in search of truth as a doorway to freedom. Nolitha is a mother of a 11 year old son, Singatha who is her teacher on how to be in the "here and now". She is training to become a facilitator in Biodanza (Dance ) which is food for both heart and body. She is a student of the Community Dharma Leader Program at Spirit Rock Meditation Centre CA USA.

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September 7 – 16th

Touching the Earth

Calm & Insight Meditation

Kittisaro
(please see Kittisaro's bio above)

This retreat will explore bringing the Dharma into everyday life through the balance of wisdom and compassion. Drawing from classical Buddhist teachings, Kittisaro will explore the important relationship of form and emptiness. Retreatants will be encouraged to cultivate an embodied well being that is rooted in awareness. Calming practices to steady the mind, contemplative investigation of what we take to be 'self', welcoming our lives and letting go, are some of the themes for reflection. Conducted in an atmosphere of contemplative silence, the retreat will include meditation, instruction, chi kung, and some chanting.

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October 12 - 14th

Embodied Dharma

Meditation, Dharma, Yoga

Katrin auf der Heyde

On this retreat we will explore ‘embodied’ practice – one in which nothing is excluded, and which acknowledges the totality of our day-to-day experience as offering ongoing opportunities for ‘waking up’. While reflecting on the body as the container of our experience, basic meditation practices drawn from the earliest Buddhist traditions will be introduced as tools for calming the body, mind and heart, along with basic classical yoga postures that will be offered to support this practice. We will also reflect on how inner steadiness and ease might provide a useful base from which to respond to the world around us in appropriate ways.

Katrin auf der Heyde
Katrin initially trained and practised in the yoga tradition of T.K.V. Desikachar which is now called “Viniyoga”. Over the years she has been inspired by both other traditions as well as other movement forms that she tries to integrate into her practice. Katrin is particularly interested in an “embodied practice” that explores all aspects of our human experience as integral to the practise of becoming ever more present and responsive to ourselves and the world around us. Katrin works as a physiotherapist with young people who have disabilities in a child-care NGO. Katrin is currently undertaking the Dharma Study Programme at Gaia House in the UK.

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November 1 - 4th

Courage to Love: Ubuntu for Self & Others

Meditation and Support for the Heart

Thanissara & Nobantu Mpotulo

From wise awareness springs love, joy and the courage to meet and dissolve suffering. Within the establishment of safety, we will draw from Dharma teachings to explore the practice of awareness and its key role in the process of Awakening. As we work together to transform the pains of our lives, care will be taken to hold this work within an atmosphere of heartfelt kindness and compassion. The schedule will consist of guided meditations, questions, discussions, dharma talks. It will also include chanting and some chi kung.
The retreat is held in contemplative silence.


Nobantu Mpotulo
Nobantu, a Buddhist practitioner for 10 years, has an MA in Guidance and Counselling from the University of Durham, UK. She currently coaches leaders and executives in the private and public sectors and facilitates change management processes using process work and Gestalt. For 10+ years she was in the higher education sector counseling students and as Director of Counselling Services and Strategic Planning. Nobantu believes in the power of awakening through heightening awareness in every moment, even when doing mundane tasks like washing dishes or sweeping floors. Nobantu finds that her training as a Gestalt Practitioner, Neuro-Linguistic Programming Practitioner and Enneagram Teacher assists her in being present. She is currently a student of the Community Dharma Leader at Spirit Rock Meditation Centre CA USA.

Thanissara
Thanissara a Buddhist practitioner since 1975, was ordained for 12 years as a Buddhist nun and has taught Buddhism and meditation internationally for 20 years. She has an MA in Mindfulness Psychotherapy Practice from Middlesex University & the Karuna Institute UK. Currently she is co-facilitator of the Community Dharma Leader Program at Spirit Rock Meditation Centre CA, USA. She is currently co-director of Dharmagiri & Dharmagiri Outreach.


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14 - 17th December

Stephen & Martine Batchelor (to be confirmed)

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December 20 - 23rd

End of the World Retreat!

Hosted by Kittisaro & Thanissara

A time to join old and new friends to share meditation, discussion, dharma talks, poetry, good food and companionship. All welcome!

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December 30th - January 20th 2013

Being Dharma

Kittisaro & Thanissara

NB: An in-depth silent meditation retreat for experienced practitioners. Please note we only accept bookings from those who can stay for the whole retreat - Thank you.


"First one learns Dharma, but does not yet understand it. Then one understands, but has not yet practiced. One practices, but has not seen the truth of Dharma; then one sees dharma, but one's being has not yet become dharma. To be Dharma is a place for each individual to reach, a point where there is no falsehood.” Ajhan Chah

The great meditation master Ajahn Chah encouraged the study, practice, understanding and realization of the Dharma in order to 'Be the Dharma'. What does this mean and what are the implications for our life and actualizing our realization in the world? This retreat will explore Being Dharma as a graduated unfolding reality and as an ever present authenticity. We will explore the classical teachings of calming and insight meditation, the four truths and the four foundations of mindfulness experientially as we sit, walk, eat and in all activities. Building on this the retreat will integrate devotional practices and will inquire into non dual realization, or as Ajahn Chah taught 'Being Dharma.'

The structure of the retreat includes individual meetings with the teachers, daily meditation instructions, dharma talks and some chi kung. Each day will also include devotional practices that explore the Bodhisattva Heart. From time to time there will be a sharing circle.

Thanissara & Kittisaro - (please see their bio's above)

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Joining in a Guided Retreat

Longer retreats are usually suitable for more experienced practitioners. For beginners we recommend starting with a weekend. Unless otherwise stipulated guided retreats at Dharmagiri are held in silence which we ask retreatants to agree to and respect. During each retreat there are times for meeting individually with the teachers, group sharing circles and some discussion.  Before applying to attend one of these guided retreats please check the criteria below.

Our longer retreats are best suited for those who:

  • Have had some experience of meditation
  • Have psychological well being. Although the practice and context is a healing one, we are unable to offer rehabilitative or therapeutic care.
  • Are willing to enter into the communal life of the hermitage.
  • Are willing to engage in simple duties that enable the smooth daily running of the hermitage.
  • Are satisfied with simple, healthy food and accommodation
  • Are comfortable practicing in a Buddhist context. Respect for Buddhist precepts, (though not adherence to the Buddhist religion), is a requirement.

The 5 ethical Buddhist precepts:
  • To refrain from harming and the taking of life – to maintain respect for life.
  • To refrain from taking what is not offered – to practice generosity.
  • To refrain from misuse of the senses & sexuality – to practice renunciation.
  • To refrain from harmful, deceptive and harsh speech – to practice speech that promotes truth, accord and clarity.
  • To refrain from intoxicating drugs & alcohol – to respect the instrument of awakening which is consciousness