Wangapeka Study and Retreat Centre
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For further information contact retreatcentre@wangapeka.org or webmaster@wangapeka.org
Wangapeka Program
Wangapeka Caretakers' Reunion *new
Visiting Teachers in NZ 2012
Bonni Ross in Nelson Jan - May *updated
Lama Mark Webber in NZ
Wangapeka Program
2012
February - May
Leander Kane Retreat *updated
Lama Mark *updated
Bonni Ross Retreat *updated
September - October
Tarchin Hearn Retreat *updated
Wangapeka Caretakers' Reunion *new
2013
February - April
3 month Vajra Yogini retreat with Lama Mark Webber *proposed
Program updated 02 February 2012
A brief outline of the Wangapeka schedule is downloadable here.
With the program now extending into 2013 there may be many changes in dates and content.
To keep in contact with a particular retreat
please bookmark and check here frequently,
or join the mailing list here
or contact the Wangapeka caretaker
ph 03 522-4221
email retreatcentre@wangapeka.org.
Please note all dates and times are subject to change and all bookings require a deposit and enrolment with the Centre.
Important: A place on any retreat cannot be guaranteed until a deposit and registration form are received at the Centre, and approval given by the teacher.
A general registration form is available here for all retreats other than those giving specific contacts.
For details and registration, please contact:
the Wangapeka Caretaker:
phone 03 522 4221
email retreatcentre@wangapeka.org
Costs for retreatants:
Groups hiring the Centre:
Charges for retreats run by groups hiring the Wangapeka are by arrangement with the group. Please contact the Wangapeka caretaker for further information.
Retreats run by the Wangapeka:
Charges for accommodation and food for Wangapeka-run retreats can be found on our Costs page, and some retreats may also collect money for travel and/or a cook. All costs are provisional and subject to change.
On Wangapeka-run retreats some support for those in financial hardship is available from our Sangha Support Fund. Follow the link for more detail about this fund.
It has been suggested that although, for some people, the charges are as much or more than they can afford, for others the charges are quite minimal and they could actually afford more. If you are in this financially comfortable position, please consider contributing more to the Sangha Support so that the teachings are accessible to everyone.
Please note that these retreat costs do not include Dana for the teacher.
Dana: The Wangapeka teachers live by Dana (koha/generosity) – a manifestation of your own expression of appreciation and generosity for all you receive. Please give as generously as you are able to help to support this teaching. (More about dana here)
Retreat Huts and solo retreats:
Please see here for more details about the huts and solo(self) retreats.
For further information and to register please contact the Centre
Ph 03 522-4221
email retreatcentre@wangapeka.org
Wangapeka Program
2012
January 27 – February 17
Liberation Through The Body:
3 week residential retreat with Leander Kane
"A simple and direct way of awakening to the present moment.
All of our past experiences are stored in the body becoming our habitual patterns. Through gentle movement explorations we can release these patterns and open to our true strength and naturalness.
An interesting and amazing transformation can take place which often surprises.
Learning to recognise the wholesome qualities of mind that come forth from exploring in this way and resting in them deepens insight into the nature of mind.
We become an embodiment of the present moment. A new found confidence emerges and continues to grow as we bring this empowering way of working into our lives." - Leander Kane
It will be possible to attend for a shorter period than 3 weeks.
Starting either Friday Jan 27th or Friday 3rd Feb.
It may be possible (depending on available space ) to start on Friday10th for the last week.
Costs: Accommodation/Food/ Cook and Teachers travel
Members $52/day
Non members $58/day
Plus Dana for the Teacher (see here and here for a guide)
A registration form is available here.
Please contact course manager Janet for more information and bookings: janete1@ihug.co.nz
For descriptions of Leander's teachings, and links to articles about her Wangapeka retreats please see here.
February 18 - March 24
Blazing Awakeness
Residential retreat with Lama Mark Webber
The focus of this retreat is the generation of a stable, settled mind—clear, blissful, without thoughts—so awareness is fully, but sharply focused on the empty nature of the mind, bringing forth the natural state, the recognition of spontaneous awareness. The main body of Teachings and Meditations during this retreat will be from Vipassana, Mahāmudrā & Dzogchen - working through the text “Blazing Awakeness”. This text will be available for purchase at a modest cost.
Empowerments yet to be announced
There is a waiting list for this retreat. To register and for information please contact Alan qtndharmahouse@yahoo.com
It is likely that Lama Mark will also teach in the Nelson area during this time. For information please consult his NZ schedule here
or
keep in touch with the Wangapeka Retreat Centre
phone: 03 522-4221
email: retreatcentre@wangapeka.org
Lama Mark Webber is also teaching in Queenstown and Auckland on his 2012 visit to NZ. Information on his schedule is available here and you can read further about Lama Mark on www.markwebber.org
April 6 - May 6
Energy Rides the Winds
An exploration of Anapanasati, meditation on breathing, with Bonni Ross
This subtle and profound practice is potent for everyone. It is said to be the contemplation Gautama was engaged in as the experience of full enlightenment dawned, totally transforming him into Buddha. Since breathing defines our corporeal aliveness, as long as we are breathing, we can practice. This is good news; no special equipment or circumstances required!
We begin by developing one-pointedness of mind, the foundation of skillful meditation. This leads us quickly into a process of purification -- releasing the blocks and distortions of our energy body and defensive patterns and tension from the physical form. We begin to develop the ability to rest more durably in wholesome states of mind and to directly experience the interplay of mind and breath. As the focussed field of our awareness naturally expands, we discover, as all those who have explored the mystical path before us have done, the great Truths that transcend culture, belief and understanding rooted in intellect alone.
We will augment formal meditation with gentle methods to support our bodies’ transformation and to facilitate the healing of negative emotional reactivity.
Participants should be in relatively good physical and emotional health.
As usual, you are welcome to start at the beginning and stay as long as you can. However, preference will be given to those able to commit to the whole retreat.
Cut-off date for Registration: The cut off date for applications is the 7th February. We will let you know as soon as possible after that date whether we are able to confirm your registration and place on the Retreat. The retreat is almost full and our hope is to find a place for everyone. One possibility is that we may ask people to share rooms for the first week or two.
After this time we will operate a waiting list and there will be some flexibility thanks to people who have enrolled for part-time attendance and are still waiting for confirmation.
Costs for accommodation, food, cook and travel are:
Members: $57 per day $1710 for 30 days
Nonmembers: $63 per day $1890 for 30 days.
In addition to this, participants offer Dana to the Teacher for the gift of the teaching. (More about dana here.)
A download of this retreat information is available here and a poster is available here.
A registration form is available here.
For further information and to register please contact the Centre
Ph 03 522-4221
email retreatcentre@wangapeka.org
Bonni Ross in Nelson:
It has been confirmed that Bonni Ross and her partner Matthew Eades will be coming to stay in Nelson from January 2 until May 9, 2012.
This offers people the chance to connect with Bonni over a four month period and receive Dharma teaching.
Here are some of the precious opportunities available during this time ...
More about Bonni in Nelson here or contact Jane at jane.hobday@clear.net.nz for further info. Bonni will also be teaching at a Wangapeka Work Weekend in January.
For more about Bonni Ross please visit: www.retreathouse.bc.ca/about-bonni-ross/
May 17- 20
David Wakeling's Shiatsu Group AGM
September 14 - October 14
Samatha - Vipassana
A month residential meditation retreat with Tarchin Hearn
Samatha is calm abiding, easeful presence, relaxation and naturalness, loving acceptance, continual forgiveness, effortless continuity and flow.
Vipassana is insight, clarity, active enquiry, engaged curiosity, vivid discernment, luminous discrimination.
Many meditators see the two as separate paths or practices which need to be brought into balance. In the Mahamudra, Dzogchen and Madhyamaka traditions of Tibetan Buddhism, and in T'ien-t'ai, Zen and some forms of Pureland Buddhism, samatha and vipassana are understood to be two facets of a seamless whole.
Samatha is the soft, passive, accepting, loving, healing, accommodating, allowing aspect of each moment. Vipassana is the sharp, active, questioning, discerning, awake, aspect. Samatha facilitates our sense of unity. Vipassana facilitates our sense of diversity. The two in union brings us to the simultaneous understanding of the infinite diversity and the profound unity of all that exists.
Essentially, the practice of samatha involves stopping; stopping the flow of fragmentation and un-whole-some activity, stopping the tendency to reject and negate.
Essentially the practice of vipassana involves opening and engaging; opening to wholeness and inclusivity, engaging through clear seeing and discerning presence.
Dwelling in a space of love,
tendrils of curiosity reaching forth in all directions,
we feel our way,
softening and sensitizing into the richness of community,
a living world within us, around us and through us.
Apprentices of wonderment and awe,
probing and questioning,
sampling and savouring
with calm abiding and vivid discernment together exquisitely intermeshed,
we touch our home,
this world,
of you and me and all of us together,
precious
beyond words.
–– T. H.
During these weeks of deepening and discovery we will cultivate the ancient arts of loving-kindness and clear-seeing presence and enquiry. We will explore how bodies and minds of myriad species weave together a mystery suffused with nowful intelligence. We will draw on the mindfulness teachings of Buddhism, the wisdom teachings of the "Heart Sutra", and mesh them with science, personal healing and social responsibility to find a way of living that in this age of economic/ecological anxiety and uncertainty, is wondrously inclusive and joyously life affirming and profoundly freeing.
The month will involve much sitting and walking practice, group exploration, and body awareness work, punctuated with experimental exercises to cultivate inner and outer clarity, presence and compassion in action.
As in previous retreats with Tarchin, participants will share in the cooking and general housekeeping under the inspired guidance of Mary Jenkins.
To do the entire month, you should have some prior maturity in meditation retreat work. Depending on numbers, it may be possible to do less than the month but everyone should begin on September 14. If you have any doubts or questions about the suitability of this retreat for you, please contact Mary at mtness@clear.net.nz
A download of this retreat information is available here
For more information about Tarchin Hearn and links to articles and his website see here.
A registration form is available here.
For further information and to register please contact the Centre
Ph 03 522-4221
email retreatcentre@wangapeka.org
October 27 - 28
Wangapeka Caretakers Reunion
An Invitation to Wangapeka Caretakers:
Way back in 1975 the land was purchased. The first Caretakers - Martin Copeland and Michael Seaman - were followed by Barry and Anne Sharplin in 1977.
In the succeeding 35 years over fifty special beings have become part of the Wangapeka caretaking tradition.
And amongst those sacrificial bods there has been one who really is a legend.
Who has not been mentored by Mike upon how to handle (fiddle with) the water systems, the wood supply, mix the special muesli - and 101 never-ending jobs?
Next week Mike will begin to move into his own Council flat in Nelson. A Farewell function will be held on the 21-22 January 2012. He will keep his caravan at the Wangapeka and aims to still do regular retreats.
This coming October he will be 85 years of age - so - we thought 2012 would be very fine year to celebrate with our first ever - and long overdue - Caretakers Reunion.
This is advance notification - so caretakers please mark your calendar for a party at the Wangapeka on the weekend of the 27-28 October 2012.
Mark Schrader and and myself are setting up an organising group and will email further details in February.
Ray Caird (bod no.30 -1996)
For further info please contact Ray Caird cairdrama@gmail.com. This invitation is available for download here.
2013
Proposed ....
February 16 - May 18
3 month Vajra Yogini Retreat with Lama Mark Webber
Crown Empowerment of Vajra Yogini, teachings on Compassion, Yidam yoga, inner yogas and Mahamudra.
Please contact Alan qtndharmahouse@yahoo.com
Further details available 2012
With the program now extending into 2013 there may be many changes in dates and content.
To keep in contact with a particular retreat
please bookmark and check here frequently,
or join the mailing list here
or contact the Wangapeka caretaker
ph 03 522-4221
email retreatcentre@wangapeka.org.
A brief outline of the Wangapeka schedule is downloadable here.
Sarva Mangalam - All is Blessing