Easter Retreat

by Sangha member Ryan,

A small group of old students and first-time retreatants gathered for
our Easter retreat. It was intimate enough to allow for
Moktak training and "improvisation". Ronel was the Maestro, with Gerry and Ryan as the Moktak stooges. Ronel's teaching pearls were inspiring, but hard to reach: "you gotta loosen that grip", "it's not a baseball bat"...

The role of Moktak master was rotated throughout the retreat, and extra attention was required for remembering where we were sitting, let alone where our minds were.

Future retreatants will surely benefit from our training, and should know that the following people selflessly offered their ears to the cause: Dairin, Theo, Rebecca, Ronel, Christine.

Thank you to Heila Soen Sa Nim and Rodney for their teaching!

Shuzen Sensei Retreat

by Sangha member, Ryan

We had a full house in March with Shuzen Sensei, assisted by Jinshin, leading a Zen retreat in Roberston. The form was quite familiar to those accustomed to the Korean style of Zen: sitting, chanting, noble silence...


After we'd all had some time to quiet our minds, Shuzen conducted a workshop dealing with the I-System. For a change, we were asked to open our mouths on retreat! The workshop was a fusion of Western psychology and the Eastern Wisdom. It was an insightful experience that shed some light on the mechanisms of our delusion and causes of our suffering.

Shuzen's sense of humour shone bright and undermined each of our attempts to take our Identity System too seriously!

His way of being was the core of his teaching.
We look forward to Being Here with him again.