Background The Tikologo Permaculture Site is located within the grounds of the Tara Rokpa Centre. This is a peaceful retreat centre in the Groot Marico District, situated on 280 hectares of land. Although our roots are Buddhist, the centre is multi-purpose and offers opportunities for spiritual, emotional, social and environmental healing. Tara Rokpa Centre was [...]
Patience is not really my thing... which has made the Buddhist quality of forbearance tricky to understand, never mind put into practice. Tai Situpa defined forbearance using three very practical aspects. (https://www.samyeling.org/buddhism-and-meditation/teaching-archive-2/chamgon-khentin-tai-situpa/the-paramita-of-forbearance/) The first is to refrain from hurting those who have hurt us. The second is to cope with whatever suffering we have to [...]
There I was, living at the tip of Africa looking for something, not really sure what, confused by the roots of my German-Indian descent: not at home, nor here nor there, standing on the halfway line between those two worlds. They say Cape Town is one of the most beautiful places on earth and South [...]
Dear friends, In 2014 we, Coen and Megan, arrived at the Tara Rokpa Centre with a will to learn about permaculture and Dharma while also helping where help is needed. With this ambition, and some naivety, a year later we jumped at the opportunity of starting the Tikologo project. Over the following years we have [...]
The volunteer weekend at TRC took place the weekend before Mandela Day. This is a weekend in which anyone is welcome to come to the centre, and join in the fixing and/ or upkeep of the centre, to contribute their 67 minutes in Madiba month. The volunteers undertake some work on Saturday and half of [...]
I have returned to the valley with its hot, dry and sunny days with open blue skies and cold nights filled with stars, after 4 weeks in the lush, green and wet UK. What a contrast! Here the ever present danger of consuming bush fires lurk. As the sun sets and dark creeps in we [...]
By the Lazy Buddhist On Saturday afternoon, I watched a movie that just didn’t achieve it’s potential. The script was iffy and over the top and the iffy bits were over-acted. I really should have stopped, but you know how it is, I kept watching. The gist of the story was about a creative young [...]
Just before Election Day, Dr Ela Manga and I offered the Still Action Retreat, in order to share inward practices for outward impact. In our own work, we have seen how communities are fractured, people are growing more isolated and there is a deep sense of internal dis-ease and disconnection. We have been pondering how [...]
We were privileged to have Lama Yeshe Rinpoche, Lama Katen and Ani Lhamo with us over the long weekend in March. We were joined by many friends, eager to retreat and spend some time the presence of the Lamas. Activities included Dharma teachings with Lama Katen and Gelongma Lhamo, interviews, a slide show on the [...]
I am compiling this during a dramatic early morning thunder storm while trying to placate my two terrified dogs. This is the wettest early April we have had in all the sixteen years I have lived here. The rain is badly needed to top up all the water reserves but the ferocity of the storms [...]
