About Tara Rokpa Centre

Tara Rokpa Centre is a peaceful retreat centre in the Groot Marico District. It is situated in a wooded valley, bounded by perennial streams, and surrounded by rolling hills, on 280 hectares of land. The environment is pristine, the air unpolluted and the night sky fantastic.

The centre is in the remote North West Province, South Africa, just 250km from Johannesburg and 160km south of Gaborone, Botswana. Tara Rokpa Centre was established under the guidance of Akong Tulku Rinpoche. He was a meditation master of the Karma Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism, who passed away in 2013. Rinpoche left us with a vast 1000 year vision for the centre, which seeks to provide a place of peace and refuge for all our visitors, for many years to come.

Although our roots are Buddhist, the centre is multi-purpose and offers opportunities for spiritual, emotional, social and environmental healing. The centre caters for up to sixty people seeking a quiet place to recharge and recover from their busy lives in the urban centres. It is ideal for resting, walking in nature, or mountain biking on quiet gravel roads. When not in use for therapy or dharma courses, we welcome individuals, families and larger groups to use our accommodation and share the beauty of our retreat centre.

TRC is unique in Southern Africa as we provide opportunities for medium-term, personal and Ngondro retreats, with retreat support. The duration of these retreats is from two weeks to six months, in the Tara’s Valley Retreat House, which accommodates up to seven retreaters.

The Four Wings of the Tara Rokpa Centre

Four Wings – the bushwillow seed

The Four Wings of the Tara Rokpa Centre

The TRC is said to “fly” on four wings:

  1. Healing Modalities (Therapy)

    We host and support a variety of therapy events, including Tara Rokpa Therapy and the well-known annual Easter Camp, yoga and chi gung weekend retreats, art therapy, dance and massage – Read more

  2. Spiritual Development (Dharma)

    We run Buddhist Dharma and mindfulness meditation retreats with both local and international spiritual teachers, including Rob Nairn – Read more

  3. Environmental Care (Permaculture)

    We have built environmentally-friendly structures and have developed a permaculture demonstration site, called Tikologo, to grow organic food and medicinal plants. Permaculture workshops are held regularly.- Read more

  4. Humanitarian Aid and Development (Community)

    We support the local community through training, employment, and help finding more permanent accommodation, as well as running a small creche – Read more