Meditation WorkshopThis Saturday, 2nd March, 1-5pm. This is the second workshop this year and it will be led by Ajahn Vajiro who is with us until March 11th. This is a good opportunity to hear a fresh voice and new perspective on meditation with an opportunity to ask questions. Suitable for beginners and experienced meditators.
Retreat ScheduleYou may have been following some of the discussion on changes to the retreat format? This is the year of change… not that radical but perhaps a more useful schedule? The first move is from long weekends – Queen’s Birthday & Labour Day – to regular weekends; so there can be as many of these as is required. The second change is a possible extension of the weekend; retreatants can stay on for up to five days after the weekend. This extra time includes joining the community morning and evening but leaves the day unstructured. This requires a degree of discipline and maturity and is an excellent opportunity to develop one’s practice with very little external distraction. There are details on the website: retreats
Community Group PracticeThe resident community will have three days of group practice next week. We will start on Tuesday 5th, the New Moon, with morning puja at 5:15am. Meet after breakfast at 8:30 meditating until the meal at 10:30 then meet again after lunch at 2pm until 5pm. Evening puja as usual at 7pm, meditating until midnight. The same schedule on Wednesday and Thursday (evenings close at 8:30pm). You are welcome to join us at any time.
SummerThe season seems to be changing with mornings noticeably cooler. Still the days are pleasant enough and we took our (relatively) new monks on a short city tour ending with a visit to Wat Thai in Newlands. view photos It is very inspiring to have such a nice group of monks. Ajahn Vajiro, currently in Motueka, adds wonderfully to this. The community is harmonious and working well together both on physical projects and on our dhamma practice. Sadhu.
Building WorkThis is still mostly limited to the Raja and Garden kutis. Bruce has gutted the Raja with the kitchen now in what was the laundry space. The wardrobe just inside the door will be replaced by a large window seat. The main change in Garden will be the removal of the stepped floor. It will be made slightly ‘longer’ and (much undecided discussion) possibly made into two private spaces with separate access. view photos