March 2002
Newsletter
The month of January was filled with non-stop building activity as the shell of the "old house" became transformed into the "Stone lodge", ready to accommodate 6 retreatants for the Batchelors' retreat at the beginning of February. The new lodge has a wide verandah on three sides, paved with local stone and is set amongst a variety of indigenous trees. There is still some finishing work to be done on the lodge, but Emoyeni now has 10 beds available for retreatants. This has encouraged us to initiate a regular program of 2 retreats per month, starting in May. So, please read the Retreat Program below, tell your friends about it and come on retreat to Emoyeni! Martine and Stephen Batchelor lead an excellent retreat on "The Tools of Awareness" in early February. They carry a wealth of experience in the Zen, Tibetan and Theravada traditions of Buddhism, and present the teachings with a clarity and straightforwardness that bring the teachings alive and make them very accessible. We can look forward to their next visit to South Africa in about two years time.
The next priority at Emoyeni is to undertake a major upgrading of the road leading to the centre. I'm sure that this will be good news to everyone who has bounced along over the bad sections of road! We have already made a start, and plan to have the worst parts of the road repaired before Rob Nairn's retreat at the end of March.
Now that Emoyeni has more accommodation available, we need to start to make ourselves known to the wider public, especially in the Gauteng area. If anyone has any contacts or suggestions that would help us to reach the public more effectively, please contact us. Then, in few months time, we should be ready to focus our attention on fundraising for the long-term vision for Emoyeni - the construction of a fully-fledged Retreat Centre complex, which will accommodate 20 retreatants, higher up the mountain. At the beginning of January, an old friend, who now lives in the United States, came to know about this long-term project of ours, and has generously given R50 000 as "seed capital" to give the Emoyeni Building Fund a fantastic start! We will launch the Building Fund formally around May or June, once all the details have been worked out.
Over Easter we look forward to having Rob Nairn coming to teach his first retreat at Emoyeni. Please note that there are still places available to attend Rob's retreat if you are prepared to bring a tent to sleep in. We will provide the meals and everything else that you need.
The farm on the western boundary of the Retreat Centre is still for sale at a price of R500 000. The farm has 3 two-bedroomed dwellings, a one-bedroomed flat and numerous outbuildings - this is an excellent opportunity for a small group of like-minded people to buy into a beautiful part of the Magaliesberg, right next to Emoyeni. Let us know if you are interested.
RESIDENT COMMUNITY
Are you interested in coming to live and work at Emoyeni? Simona Scheibitz left the Retreat Centre in February to continue her travels, and as the Centre is becoming busier these days, we would like to find someone to join the Resident Community. Some cooking experience and an interest in gardening would be a big plus for the Centre. If you are interested in joining the community please contact Mervyn or Johann at Emoyeni (014) 574-3662 for more information.
Mervyn