Buddhist yoga: Calm abiding and insight meditation in the non-dual traditions.

SIBA Retreat Centre, W-tree, Victoria: https://www.sakya.com.au/siba-... 12th - Sunday 19th March 2023

In Mahayana Buddhism, śamatha is the base for insight into the non-dualistic nature of the mind. Depending on tradition, this insight is expressed either in terms of the Alaya (store consciousness) or Tathagatagarbha (Buddha-nature). Both are traced back to the teachings of the Bodhisattva Maitreya.

In this retreat Bhante Dhammadipa will explore śamatha practice in Buddhist Yoga from the point of view of these two traditions, using the Samdhinirmocana sutra of Asanga and the “Awakening of Faith in Mahayana” attributed to Aśvaghośa, respectively. We will also refer to other important Zen texts such as the Hui Neng.

We will discover meditation as the base for insight into the non-dual nature of mind, the mind which is pure and always present, and the application of this method in understanding not only the Zen tradition but also Tibetan Vajrayana.

Bhante Dhammadipa has taught these topics to students of His Holiness the 42nd Sakya Trizin’s 7 year “Complete Path” program at the International Buddhist Academy in Kathmandu, and has also been recently requested to teach them to monastics at the Sakya College in Dheradun. We are honoured to be bringing Bhante for his first visit to Australia to share these important and little-studied meditation techniques.

Please note: While beginners are most welcome, some basic meditation or yoga experience is recommended.

About the Teacher:

Bhante Dhammadipa (www.dhammadipa.cz) was born in Czech Republic, where he studied Chinese literature and philosophy. He later pursued his studies in Jerusalem, Berlin and Paris, before enrolling at the Nalanda University in India to study Sanskrit and Buddhist philosophy. He then lived in Japan, Sri Lanka and Burma, studying and practising as a Buddhist monk under renowned contemporary masters of Buddhism. One of his principal teachers was the Burmese meditation master Pa Auk Sayadaw, who recognised him as his first Western disciple qualified to teach meditation. Today, he is one of the foremost teachers of śamatha meditation. He has taught the Dharma extensively, in both theory and practice, and led students in meditation retreats in Europe, North and South America, India, China, Taiwan, and Southeast Asia.

Assisting: Br. Tenzin (Dr. Alex Anderson) https://www.gaiaforest.org/ten...Began with an ecologist’s understanding of interdependence, but the rainforest soon led him to Buddhist meditation. Now ordained as a monk in the Sakya Tibetan tradition, he has also studied and practised meditation under Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh at Plum Village in France, and at Pa Auk Tawya in the Burmese Forest tradition. Guided by his main teacher Bhante Dhammadipa, his approach is informed by Theravadin, Zen, and Vajrayana methods of meditation and mindfulness, as well as Hatha Yoga, Deep Ecology, and his deep love of wild places. He currently lives on Gumbayngirr country on the Dorrigo Plateau, where he has a project to co-create community space for meditation and nature connection: http://www.gaiaforest.org

Further Details:

Covid protocols: We endeavour to follow all relevant Victorian Health guidelines on our retreats. Requirements may change at short notice, so in the interests of everyone's well being, information on current requirements will be made available in the lead up to the retreat.

Arrival time: Please be sure to arrive at SIBA Retreat Centre between 3:30pm and 5:00 pm on Sunday, 12th March. We will conclude by 10am on Sunday the 19th March.

Getting there: SIBA retreat centre is a beautiful and peaceful retreat location in Snowy River country of East Gippsland, about 6 hours from both Melbourne and Canberra by car. For important information on getting there, please visit: https://www.sakya.com.au/siba-list/

Car Pooling: We are usually able to co-ordinate carpooling from Melbourne or Canberra at the beginning or end of a retreat. If you’re able to assist with transport by taking passengers to and from the centre, or if you are looking for a lift, please let us know when you register.

The Retreat Container:

Schedule: Each full day of the retreat will begin with an optional movement practice session of Yoga or Qi Gong. During the day we will have sessions for silent and guided sitting meditation, Dharma talks, meditation instructions, slow walking, and some free time to explore the beautiful natural surrounds at SIBA. Individual consultation will also be available with Bhante Dhammadipa.

Noble Silence: To facilitate us on our journey towards a more subtle understanding of the workings of the heart-mind, our retreat will be held in the container of noble silence, except for essential communication and of course meetings with teachers.

Five Precepts: To cultivate a safe and conducive retreat environment, we will also observe five precepts or "mindfulness trainings" during our retreat:

Reverence for life: refraining from taking life or harming living beings.
True happiness: cultivating generosity and refraining from taking what is not freely given.
True love: Cultivating responsibility and care of our energies by refraining from sexual activity.
Loving speech and deep listening: refraining from harmful and untruthful speech.
Nourishment and healing: refraining from consuming toxins that create heedlessness.

Dāna: The registration fee for this retreat covers the base cost of the venue, food and logistics. All teachings are offered on a dāna (generosity) basis, as is traditional in Buddhist culture. The practice of generosity is an ancient one, and central to the Buddhist and Yoga traditions. In addition to allowing us the opportunity to cultivate a heart-mind of love, and to concretely acknowledge the interdependence of all beings, dāna is a way of preserving the purity of the Dharma as something given freely for the benefit of others, rather than for individual profit. Our teachers live by the donations of practitioners, on the understanding that whatever is offered is "enough", and dāna gives us the opportunity to honour their heartfelt commitment to many years of practice. A dāna box for this purpose will be made available during the retreat. As a guide, we can reflect on what our offering would equate to on a per diem basis, and what we would pay for an equivalent full fee retreat.

What to Bring:

SIBA provides meditation cushions and mats. Please feel free to bring your own instead if you wish.
Layers of comfortable, loose-fitting clothing
slip-on shoes and walking shoes
Yoga mat
Personal toiletries, ear plugs may be handy.
Torch
Water bottle and/or thermos
Mosquito repellent
Pen and paper for taking notes
Cash for dāna offerings to the teachers
Bed linen (two single sheets and a pillow slip) – SIBA provides doonas and pillows. For those travelling interstate or by public transport they can also provide linen.

We acknowledge the traditional owners of the land where this retreat takes place, the Krauatungalung of the Gunai-Kurnai people; We pay our respects to their deep and abiding connection to the land, and to elders past, present and emerging.