Greetings from Bamboo Mountain where the seasons have changed rapidly over the past few weeks. With the arrival of the first spring rain at the beginning of October all the indigenous grasses, which only a couple of weeks ago were still pitch black from the controlled winter burning, have burst back into growth. The colours of winter have been replaced by an intense green in such a variety of hues. It feels like we are living in the middle of a green salad at present!

The past winter was a very exciting and active time at Dharmagiri. One of the many highlights was a serious snow storm at the beginning of July, which in South Africa is still a rare occurrence.  Although it caused havoc with power lines and roads, many families flocked to the mountains to share in the white wonderland.  At Dharmagiri, Kittisaro shovelled the snow off the flat roofs and hanging branches, Jack (our loveable dog) was in his element and everyone cleared paths and took hundreds of pictures.  The snow melted very slowly and it was only a week or two later that we could start burning our firebreaks, which was already slightly behind schedule. For some weeks the charcoaled landscape was dramatically contrasted by snow that remained in the shadows of the mountain.

After his mother's memorial in April, Kittisaro spent two months with his father in the US before returning to SA at the beginning of winter. At present he is undertaking a writing project. Thanissara left South Africa in January and has spent most of the year as guiding teacher at Sharpham Centre for Contemporary Buddhist Enquiry near Devon whilst finishing her MA in Buddhist Psychotherapy with the Karuna Institute. The last few months of this year Kittisaro and Thanissara are teaching in Europe and the US . After their annual overseas travel Kittisaro and Thanissara are to spend 2008 at Dharmagiri, (Jack, our friendly four legged head of security, requested them to do so!)

During July, the Rev. Peter Woods, a Methodist Minister from Port Elizabeth , hosted our first retreat for Christian Contemplatives at Dharmagiri, with the title: One at the Centre.  The group, which consisted of ministers and lay people, applied themselves to prayer and meditative practices that took them beyond words and form.  A comment from one of the retreatants, Kevin Needham: "I go away with an experientially learned practice of meditation that, if maintained, can only lead deeper into God".  Peter is taking a sabbatical next year for an extended residency at DG from the beginning of 2008.  He has been associated with Dharmagiri for the past four years and has attended a number of longer retreats. We look forward very much to your time with us, Peter, and are very grateful for the vast number of books that you donated to the Dharmagiri Library.

Judy Tobler from Cape Town has been at Dharmagiri on a one-year retreat since the beginning of 2007.  Her presence, practice and hard work here is such a blessing to the Sangha, the land and the wider community, where she assists with homework projects for children at a local care centre once a week. She has also become an active contributor to the local meditation group who have met regularly for the past eight years.  She is currently editing a series of Dharma talks of Ajahn Sucitto on the 10 paramitas that were transcribed by Durten Rohm for future publication by Dharmagiri. Thanks to Durten and Judy for this wonderful gift.

Our deep appreciation and thanks to all the Dharmagiri friends and members who have contributed towards the Prison Project.  For the moment, we have raised enough money to send at least one copy of Bhikkhu Bodhi's book "In the Buddha's Words" to each of the three prison sanghas, which include 80 members, that we correspond with regularly and who we hope to visit and possibly even sit retreat with in the future.

We are very sad to announce the passing of Nimmala due to cancer in August. Nimmala supported DG fund raising initiatives, much of which went to support Woza Moya, many thanks to Nimmala who inspired both in her life and in her death.
Please check out the 2007 WM report at www.wozamoya.org.za

The next couple of months here at Dharmagiri promise to be a very blessed time when we will receive many overseas visitors. Ajahn Sucitto from Chithurst Monastery in the UK returns to South Africa in December. He is conducting a 10 day retreat at the BRC and is visiting DG.  Jitindriya and Marg Smith will host  a day long and weekend at Dharmagiri and we look forward to long term retreatants from the UK and Israel spending several months while they join us for self-retreat.

We are happy to announce that soon we will officially have space for ten retreatants instead of eight. Two of the rooms in our wooden buildings, with a shared bathroom, are currently being cleaned, painted and furnished and will be ready for guests soon.

We are also happy to announce the launch of a year study programme starting April 08. See dates below. For further details please contact Dharmagiri office.

As this year draws to a close, we would like to thank you for your continued support of Dharmagiri and for helping to turn the wheel of Dharma in Africa .  May you have a beautiful festive season and may the New Year bring happiness, peace and joy. 

JP - Dharmagiri Manager

Dharmagiri Retreat Schedule 2008

For details of below retreats, please contact Dharmagiri office.

Jan 4th - 25th - The Bodhisattva Way, Kittisaro & Thanissara - waiting list only
Feb 29th - March 2nd - Calm & Insight - Thanissara & JP
March 21st - 28th - Easter Retreat - Thanissara - The Psychology of Awakening
May 9th - 16th - Sangha Seva Retreat - Thanissara &  Kittisaro
This is part of a three week retreat with the BRC & Woza Moya, see www.sanghaseva.org To book for the whole retreat contact Dharmagiri.
June 20th - 22nd - Self retreat (with taped dharma talks), facilitated by JP
September 12th - 14th - Christian Contemplation - Peter Woods
September 19th - 27th - The Heart of Buddhist Meditation - Thanissara
November 14th - 16th - Self Retreat (with taped dharma talks), facilitated by JP
December 12th - 14th - Summer gathering of Dharmagiri Sangha

Advance notice of 2009 January retreat
January 4th - 25th facilitated by Kittisaro & Thanissara.

Sacred Mountain Sangha Study/ Practice Programme
Facilitated by Kittisaro & Thanissara
Participants need to commit to all three modules.

Dharma days run from 10.00am - 4pm and include meditation, a dharma talk, instruction, discussion, chi king and a shared meal. Please bring vegetarian food to share. Accommodation is available the evening before and after the actual day. Please contact the office for further info.

27th Jan - Jitindriya & Thanissara
24th February - JP
30th March - JP
27th April - Thanissara
25th May - Kittisaro
29th June -JP
27th July - Kittisaro
24th August - Peter
28th September - Kittisaro
26th October - JP
30th November - Peter
Dharmagiri Sangha at the BRC

28th December 07 - 2nd Jan 08 - The Radiant Awareness of Being - Kittisaro & Thanissara
20 – 24^th Feb - Art Retreat - JP
2nd - 4th May - Service and Dharma - Kittisaro & Thanissara
19th - 28th December 08 - The Heart of Buddhist Meditation - Kittisaro & Thanissara

Kittisaro & Thanissara's Overseas Teaching Engagements

August 1st - 15th Karuna Institute, UK.  www.karuna-institute.co.uk
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