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    Dwelling in the Vast Expanse by Chani Grieve
    16 March 2024
    The new cabin is complete! On the new moon of Sunday March 10th, around 40 people gathered in the morning sunshine to celebrate and share in the blessing ceremony for the new cabin, Vast Expanse Hermitage. It was a joyous occasion! Speeches by the cabin team Jane Hobday, Glenn Harley and Graham...
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    A Tribute to Lara Cusdin
    16 March 2024
    What would we do without Course Managers? by Mira Riddiford Course managers are Dharmic Angels who breathe retreats into being. They know their way around an excel spreadsheet and keep a laser focussed eye on costs and the dana to the centre board. It is a simple fact that retreats can’t...
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    A Rare Treat Reflection by Tim Leyland
    16 March 2024
    Breath is Energy Healing, Breath is Life retreat reflection by Tim Leyland (January 12 to 26, 2024) The Buddha states that mindfulness of the breath, “developed and repeatedly practiced, is of great fruit, great benefit.” It fulfils the Four Foundations of Mindfulness (satipatthana). When these are developed and cultivated, they fulfil...
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    Kumanu February 2024
    26 February 2024
    Minutes and reports: Minutes Land Care report Centre Caretaker Report Maintenance Sub-Committee Report What’s been happening: Service as the path is coming closer, with Mark and Kath busy packing up their home in Nelson & preparing to come to Wangapeka for Service As the Path. Glenn and Karen hosted a beautiful & well-attended send-off in Nelson...
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    Breath of Awakening e-Book Launch
    19 February 2024
    Hi All, Here is a link to the online launch event for the release of the e-Book version of “Breath of Awakening” by Namgyal Rinpoche. Also — here is an excerpt of the Acknowledgements page.  There were lots of helpers.  The main thing that Wangapeka offered was the detailed file conversion. Cheers, Wangapeka Communications  
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    Cabin Blessing at the Wangapeka March 10
    6 February 2024
    March 10, 2024 at 10am Wangapeka Centre RSVP to Jane Hobday jane.hobday17@gmail.com   You are warmly invited to attend a Blessing for the sparkling new Cabin built for Bonni and Matthew, and the Wangapeka. The Blessing, led by Bonni, will take place on the new moon of Sunday 10th March 2024 at 10.00am. Afterwards we will have...
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    Kumanu January 2024
    4 February 2024
    Kumanu is a personal piece written by one of the trust board members. In particular it seeks feedback from the community. Your Trust Board met by Zoom on 15 January this year. This month we’re looking for feedback, and or help with, finding a full time Land Caretaker, finding an installer of...
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    You are invited! Wangapeka Tales
    9 January 2024
    You are invited! Contribute Your Stories to Wangapeka Tales Part of Wangapeka’s 50th Anniversary Celebrations To support the celebration of our 50th anniversary, Hadleigh Tiddy, with support from others, has been crafting a neat little website to gather, store and share “Wangapeka Tales”. This is our virtual campfire, where we can contribute to and enjoy...
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    Kumanu December 2023
    9 January 2024
    Minutes and reports: November Land Caretaker Report Minutes December Land Caretaker Report What’s been happening: Service as the path – Preparations are ongoing, with registrations opening soon. Young Adults Retreat – Participants on YAR 2023 have been hard at work volunteering dana to the land, sewing new cushions and getting on with jobs all around the centre. The...
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    Amerta Movement with Mala and Terry -- Reflections by Jacinta Nowland
    19 December 2023
    We were very lucky to have Terry and Mala here for the Namgyal Celebration long weekend. They gave a variety of offerings, including a Namgyal puja, and various sessions exploring awareness in movement. I would like to share some of my personal experiences in participating in their final movement class. Firstly, there...
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    Namgyal Memorial Weekend by Graham Price and Marty Stratton
    19 December 2023
    Namgyal Rinpoche Celebration Weekend. Oct 20-23.2023 Graham Price & Marty Stratton. What an opportunity. A reflection with friends dating back to the 80’s on the cherished memory of Namgyal Rinpoche and his legacy. Terry and Mala also coming! I thought a great opportunity to share my spiritual home with my partner Marty...
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    Teacher, Mentor, Spiritual Friend, Guru -- Retreat Review -- by Graham Price
    19 December 2023
    Teacher, Mentor, Spiritual friend, Guru; The Big picture. Bonni Ross, Wangapeka, Friday 13 -Tuesday 17 Oct , 2023 The coat hanger of a course title was not what drew me. I came to meet Bonni. A kind of brief first date, in a familiar landscape that has loved me into Being since...
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    Cabin Update – We're Getting Close to TDC Compliance
    10 December 2023
    That is – we’re getting close to moving in! It’s been a joyful journey from aspiration – An Aspiration To Support Bonni And Matthew At The Wangapeka – to the building of the cabin. We’re looking forward to the next stage when Bonni and Matthew are in it! Glenn, Brandon, their trusty...
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    Kumanu September 2023
    25 November 2023
    By Dan Burgess-Milne Hello Wangapeka Community Apologies for a long delay between Kumanus. There was a little miscommunication, as I was waiting on some information that had already gone out. This Kumanu will cover from September until now (November). On the weekend of September 1–3 we had our BOT weekend at Wangapeka. This...
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    Tiwaiwaka and the whenua of Wangapeka - A poem by Shelley Taylor
    1 September 2023
    Weaving Tiwaiwaka-( healing the mauri of the whenua); Te Ao Maori; and Buddha Dharma. Was it really only a weekend? The weka says “Oi, Oi, Oi” Eyes shut, face down- can’t be found anywhere… Seeing for the first time, Hearing as a small child, as a teen, as a caretaker, a retreatant….. Remembering this place as...
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    Tiwaiwaka weekend July 2023 - Mānawatia a Matariki! - by Louise Petzold
    1 September 2023
    Ka ora te whenua, Ka ora te tangata When the land is well the people will be well, is a central theme to the Tiwaiwaka principles that streams through Pā Ropata, Rob McGowan. In July we spent a weekend with an almost full house of people, for the first time without...
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    One Breath - a retreat reflection - by Felicity Lowe
    1 September 2023
    Earlier in August, I had what seemed to be a serendipitous opportunity to attend the One Breath retreat at Wangapeka. I had been stuck between three delicious bite-sized weekend retreats that all called to me in different ways, yet when circumstances dictated which was to be the one for me,...
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    A story of connection by Lawrie McConachy
    1 September 2023
    Namaste. I would like to tell a short story: It was sometime in the late 1980’s when I held the first and sole Nelson position of “Community Development person” with the Dept of Internal Affairs, Community Development, a major aspect of that role was to administer the Lottery Grants board funding across...
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    An Idea for the (ageing) Wangapeka Community by Christine Gisby
    1 September 2023
    An Idea for the Wangapeka Community: Don’t know about you but as I age I can see a time when I can’t drag that gas bottle across the paddock any longer and it is getting harder to dig over the garden. Having witnessed my mum (97) living her last years in...
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    Kia ora from the Wangapeka by Tracy Abbott (Centre Caretaker)
    1 September 2023
    Kia ora from the Wangapeka, As I write the early morning sun streams a brief misty trail through the green and falls golden into the office.  This is nice.  The heater under the desk is not warming my legs – note to self – check the settings when starting work. There’s more...
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    Kumanu August 2023
    17 August 2023
    By Dan Burgess-Milne Following August 2023 Board Meeting Hello Wangapeka community. This is the first Kumanu written by Dan in my role as board liaison for the Comms team. Elli did a wonderful job of this during her time on the board, and I’ll do my best to follow on with the...
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    Open Day At The Centre (2023)
    12 August 2023
    The Wangapeka Centre would like to invite you to our Open Day on Sunday September 10th 2023 from 9am to 4pm. Everybody is welcome. Bring friends, family, and a picnic lunch. This year the Open Day will be informal. Come up to walk the tracks and have a cup of tea and...
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    Kumanu July 2023
    4 August 2023
    By Dave Pooch Following July 2023 Board Meeting What’s been happening We’ve got snow on Jones Ridge today and it looks calm. We had our AGM in July where we added two new board members and parted ways with two long-standing members. The “Who pays what” matrix, that we talked about in the...
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    Kumanu May 2023
    13 June 2023
    Kumanu May 2023 ( following Board meeting of 18 May 2023 ) What’s been happening It was a quieter month for the Board as a whole. We’re grappling with some gnarly issues but some useful things have been finalised. One of these was the arrangement for Georgia Borwick to stay at the Centre while...
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    Notice of AGM 2023
    7 June 2023
    Sunday 23rd July Notice of AGM The Wangapeka Educational Trust will hold its Annual General Meeting at 9.30am on Sunday the 23rd of July 2023. The meeting will be in the main hall at the Centre. The AGM will receive reports from the Board and its sub-committees, the financial statements for the previous...
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    Kumanu April 2023
    22 April 2023
    Tēnā tātou katoa, greetings to you all, friends of the Wangapeka Educational Trust near and far! This is the last Kumanu I’m helping to co-author (thanks also to Dave Pooch!) as I step down from my role on the Board. It’s been an honour to write these reports as one...
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    Kumanu February 2023
    27 February 2023
    Tēnā koutou katoa, apologies for the slowing of regular Kumanu over these summer months. We have been meeting as usual, but my writing has not kept up as I’ve found myself swamped by life’s demands. However, here is a summer Kumanu for you, sent with much appreciation, particularly for those...