December 2001

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" height=80 style=" border-bottom: 1px solid #999980;" BGCOLOR="#CCCC99" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="05c8dfe1esnpes.jpg"> <div> <B>Emoyeni Retreat Centre</B></div> <div> <A HREF="newsletters.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Newsletters"><B>Back</B></A></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="2f484070.png" border=0 width="900" height="7" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" height=400 BGCOLOR="#CCCC99" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="05c8dfc3.jpg"> <div> <I><B>December 2001</B></I></div> <div> <B>Newsletter</B></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="0ffeda30.jpg" border=0 width="237" height="163" ALIGN="LEFT" HSPACE="15" VSPACE="0">On Christmas day, after a day of dark, glowering clouds split open at times with incandescent lashes of lightning and releasing rivers of rain …  the sun slipped under the clouds and we had the privilege of a half hour of awesome beauty with a vibrant double rainbow and the mountainside lit by an ethereal evening light, saturating the countryside with impossibly rich shades of greens and reds and browns.  A time of magic… and nature spirits… where the name Emoyeni, "the Place of the Spirit" felt utterly right.</div> <bR> <div> A few days before we had hosted Chanmyay Sayadaw and 5 monks from the Burmese tradition for a day of talks and practice on Vipassana meditation.  With over 50 people present our resources where rather stretched, but the day went well and gave us the opportunity to learn about Vipassana from a very experienced teacher.</div> <bR> <div> Thanks to all the rain we have had this summer the countryside is looking magnificent, the veld grasses tall and heavy with seed, the wild flowers richly abundant and the trees recovering well from the veld fire in October.  On walks up the mountain we regularly see reedbuck or klipspringer as well as baboons or dassies or hares - when Rocky, our dog, gets the scent he just disappears in a rush over the hills in (fruitless) pursuit.  What has taken strain is the road leading to the Retreat Centre, and we plan to do a major resurfacing and upgrade of the road in January.  Our borehole pump and motor also expired recently (from lightning?) and have had to be replaced.</div> <bR> <div> Work on the "Old House" is progressing well, with the 1 double and 4 single rooms and the bathroom slowly taking shape - they will be used for the first time at the beginning of February, during the retreat by Martine & Stephen Batchelor.  In a few months time we will be ready to begin running a program of regular retreats at Emoyeni - with comfortable accommodation for 10 retreatants and making provision for a few tents on popular retreats.  It feels really exciting at Emoyeni as we move from this period of getting established into this next phase of beginning to hold regular retreats.  Our next newsletter will give details of the retreat program from April onwards.  In the meantime we really look forward to the retreats with the Batchelors in February and Rob Nairn in March.  Both of these retreats are well booked already, with only tent accommodation available.</div> <bR> <div> Early next year will also mark the beginning of the process of fundraising to finance the building of the integrated Retreat Centre higher up the mountain - with Meditation hall, Accommodation units, Diningroom/Kitchen, Meeting hall, Library, etc.  Set in a beautiful, secluded valley with open woodland, this is the vision we have for Emoyeni - a fully integrated centre for 20 retreatants and a resident community who will combine their spiritual practice with the running of the centre.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B>RESIDENT COMMUNITY</B></div> <bR> <div> Simona Scheibitz, from Germany, came to stay with us at the beginning of November and she has made a big difference at Emoyeni.  The quality of our food improved dramatically and she has prompted many improvements to the house and garden.  We will miss her cheerful presence when she moves on at the end of January.</div> <bR> <div> As the Retreat Centre is becoming busier these days we would like to find someone to join the Resident Community to take over from Simona at the end of January.  If you are interested in joining the community please contact Mervyn or Johann at Emoyeni (014 574-3662) for more information.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <I><B>Mervyn</B></I></div> </td> </tr></table></body>