4th Annual Calm Abiding Meditation Retreat led by Lama Choedak Rinpoche, 4th - 6th July 2008
The Rongton Buddhist Centre's 4th Annual Calm Abiding Meditation Retreat was held this year at Mercy Place at Bardon, as was done in 2007. A former Catholic Convent, it is an excellent place for a retreat, tucked away (though not far) from civilisation, halfway up Mt Coot-tha. A total of 35 people participated in the retreat over the weekend, with a mixture of residential and non-residential guests, some of whom stayed for the entire retreat, and others of whom stayed for only one day. Each day was spent attending teaching and practice sessions led by Rinpoche, interspersed with regular breaks (and accompanied by fabulous food!). Regardless of the time each individual participant spent in retreat, it seemed as if everybody gained something valuable from the weekend. This of course was all due to Lama Choedak Rinpoche's wonderful ability to inspire and teach to all levels of experience, both beginner and experienced meditators alike.
Public Talk on "Self Compassion" by Lama Choedak Rinpoche,
3rd July 2008
On the night prior to the start of the retreat, Lama Choedak Rinpoche gave a public talk at Karuna Hospice Services at Windsor, attended by approximately 60 people. The topic was "Self Compassion: how can we live compassionate and meaningful lives if we cannot be compassionate towards ourselves?" During his talk, Rinpoche emphasised the crucial point that unless we properly understand the cause of suffering, we cannot be fully compassionate to ourselves, and if we cannot be compassionate towards ourselves, how are we to be truly compassionate towards other beings? And even if we show a degree of compassion towards ourselves and others, without the knowledge of the cause of suffering we can easily be overwhelmed by the suffering. Rinpoche referred to a number of strategies and techniques we can use to develop compassion towards ourselves and others, but emphasised that meditation is the crucial tool in becoming kinder and gentler with ourselves, as well as towards other beings.