Goodness, I am showing my age. Way back in 2007, when Clive Holmes visited South Africa, I was fortunate enough to attend his Better Health through Meditation Retreat at the Randburg Centre. It was in the good old days, long before Drupon Rinpoche pointed out that taking notes was not the best way to benefit [...]
On my first visit to India, after attending teachings by H.E Tai Situpa, I decided to go to McLeod Ganj where H.H. Dalai Lama was giving all-day transmissions at his monastery. Anyone who has visited this monastery will know that approaching and entering it is not straightforward for a first-timer. I arrived when the teachings [...]
A Contemplation from Alan Muller "With shamata practice, we learn to detect impulses in their early stages. We can check an impulse toward anger before exploding like a volcano. If we do not recognize that impulse, then the repetition of angry outbursts strengthens the tendency toward anger and creates its own karmic energy, it's own [...]
with Lucy Draper-Clarke and Melanie Castleman Fierce Compassion Retreat - what an amazing group of Kalis and Taras. We stretched and danced and sat in stillness. We connected and laughed and hiked. We stuck out our tongues in Simhasana and laughed from our bellies. I so loved holding the space with @melanie_castleman after all [...]
Over the Heritage long weekend, we hosted the awesome Dale de Klerk and his Being Me yogis for a relaxing weekend of laughter, fun, photography, and yoga. This was the first retreat that we hosted after 6 months of lockdown. Nervously we prepped and dusted and shopped, and hoped we remembered how to do this! [...]
Tara Rokpa Centre is a supreme setting for this special retreat. Set in the dramatic scenery of the North West province - wild and wonderful – busting with all the elements of nature and with the living solidity of the Eco/ Adobe buildings - this venue established by our beloved teacher, Akong Rinpoché, made for [...]
I felt a fair amount of trepidation ahead of spending my first Christmas away from family and friends, meditating with a group of strangers - but I have no regrets! Tara Rokpa Centre is situated in a beautiful part of South Africa’s North West Province, in a lush green valley where every day is full [...]
“…everything in life is speaking…there is nothing which is silent…the word is not only what is audible to us, but the word is all.” Hazrat Inayat Khan For the last 5 years, I’ve been putting together this annual mindful writing retreat for TRC. Every year the structure changes as I pick up new exercises from [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
