BOOKS Mzansi Zen (Jacana) published in 2016
The author’s familiar and authoritative Zen style inspires us into taking up this life with both hands, calling us into an intimacy that is already beneath our feet. Read it. It will change your mind and open your heart.
Zen Dust (Jacana) published in 2012
Stoep Zen (Jacana) published 2008
Mzansi Zen, Zen Dust and Stoep Zen can be ordered from good book stores, on-line book sellers, and from Emoyeni, Bodhi Khaya and the Buddhist Retreat Centre. All three books have been reprinted. Signed copies can be ordered directly from Margie at Poplar Grove.
DHARMA TALKS BY ANTONY OSLER, DAE CHONG, OSHO October Retreat: Retreat Dharma Talks:
![]()
PRACTICE NOTE This morning I looked at the long list of Poplar Grove Zendo preceptees – all 85! – and wonder where some of them have gone. I remember the enthusiasm that once spilled over for them here when they took their vows. And I want to encourage them to come and find that energy once more, that quiet current of aliveness that appears by itself on an in-person retreat, when the mind and body have a chance to be still and clear and connected. Of course, I am not only talking about those who took precepts, I am talking about us all. Genuine retreat practice is not dependent on having any particular style, size or length of retreat; it is only dependent on the willingness to turn up and give ourselves to a setting that supports the deepening of our life. At PGZ we live in the veld far from town, we use candles for light and long drops for ablutions; so we do veld practice, candle practice, long drop practice. Then there is no problem. Later, when we go back to the city, our practice goes with us; we do traffic practice and family practice and there is no problem there either. Our style is not based on like or dislike, right or wrong, hard or soft; it is based on finding our life wherever we are and whoever we are with. But retreats are a fundamental building block of this. This sounds simple – and it is – but we know it is not always easy. There are so many things pulling us away that the call to set aside time for retreat begins to fade; we find reasons to stay at home and we believe what we think. But it is my job to blow on the embers of your commitment. And it is with great appreciation that we welcome those who make regular retreat practice a part of their life. So, when we hesitate to get in the car for such a long journey to such a far place, we turn the key anyway and take to the road, because our direction is stronger than our hesitation. And when we come to do retreat in this way, our resolve is already deep. We find support in the teachings and in the friendships; in the blue sky and wide veld, in the grove and stream, in the silence, in the pots and pans and cushions, in the absence of internet and in the presence of others who value the same thing. Then we are simply – as Chuang Tzu put it – wandering boundless and free in the selfless unfolding of things. We look forward to seeing you here, dear friends!
|
|