February 2004
Newsletter
The year 2004 has already lost its “newness” as most of us pick up momentum again after (hopefully) taking some time out over the holiday season. December was a busy month at Emoyeni and we were full for the 4-day retreat with Martine & Stephen Batchelor as well as the 4-day New Year retreat. This trend has continued into 2004 with a steady flow of people coming to spend quiet time at Emoyeni in between the regular scheduled retreats.It's been a pretty hot, dry summer so far, with growing things taking strain all over the country - which made the rains which came in late December and January so very welcome. The veld grasses and trees have taken heart and are looking strong again, but the streams are still dry despite the good rains - a sign that the water tables are still depleted and in need of much more replenishment. The tree squirrels are thriving, chameleons are being seen a lot more this year and a leopard has been leaving some spoor again a little up the mountain. Its extraordinary how each year nature manages to reveal a different side of its rich tapestry of life.
The second half of last year saw the number of residents living and working at Emoyeni grow from two to four - with Lynne Crossley joining the community in August and Sue Randall in December. This has enabled us to spread the workload considerably and even more tangibly to enjoy the civilizing influence of a feminine presence at Emoyeni! Lynne leaves for England at the end of February - we wish her well on her travels and will miss her excellent cooking and the hard work she put into the vegetable garden.
The addition of two new residents inspired us to go into building mode once again, and we are busy transforming the rough old garden shed into accommodation for residents. At the same time the milking shed ruin is in the process of becoming a new workshop and storeroom. Building is always a pretty demanding process, especially in the hot season - but the end is in sight and we hope to have the work completed before the end of February.
It has been a year since the launch of the Building Fund which will fund Emoyeni's long term vision of building an integrated retreat centre higher up the mountain. After an excellent start the Building Fund now stands at a little over R100 000, and requires us to develop new initiatives to double that amount before we can begin construction of the first phase of this project. If you have any ideas or contacts that could assist us in this fund raising process please contact Mervyn or Johann at the Retreat Centre.
An intriguing development in this part of the Magaliesberg has germinated in recent months - some of the big land owners in the area have proposed that a large Game Conservancy be established covering an area of over 8 000 hectares including land on both sides of the mountain. This would involve erecting a game fence to enclose the area and owners would be able to introduce game in a strictly controlled manner into the conservancy. Each owner would retain ownership of their land, no hunting would be permitted (game would have to be captured and removed if there was over stocking) and procedures for conserving the environment would need to be followed. It's a big idea, and will require caution and consensus to bring it into being - we at Emoyeni need to be assured that the ongoing future of the retreat centre will not be compromised. But at this early stage it looks good and I sometimes catch myself imagining doing walking meditation outside with zebras or giraffe feeding closeby!
Recently our trusty, 5-year-old computer crashed, and was declared dead on arrival at the computer hospital. We are using Sue's computer to keep going until we can purchase a new one, and apologise if we have been a bit slow to respond to your emails in recent times. If anyone has a brilliant idea on how we can purchase a new PC at an advantageous price please let us know soonest before we go out and buy one!
JOIN THE RESIDENT COMMUNITY
Are you interested in coming to live and work at Emoyeni? There will be an opening to join the community from March 2004, when Lynne will be leaving Emoyeni to travel to England. This is an opportunity to live and work in a beautiful bushveld/mountain location in an environment that encourages meditation practice and supports a deeper understanding of the Buddhist teachings. If you are interested please contact us at (014) 574-3662 for more information.
Mervyn
AU REVOIR
I'd like to send out a fond farewell to all the great people I met during my six-and-a-half months here at Emoyeni, and especially those of you who I've been lucky enough to get to know a bit better and even started precious friendships with. Thank you for your friendliness and for warming my heart. May you all be happy and healthy and peaceful. I hope to see you again one day.
Lynne