The Auckland Sphere Group is delighted to announce a workshop with Bonni Ross this November in Auckland. This is a one time event, we normally have to go to the Wangapeka Study and Retreat Centre, in Nelson, to hear her teach (or fly to Canada). Bonni Ross is an internationally honoured meditation teacher with over 40 years of experience.
Bonni, a mother of two grown sons, had a career as a communications and strategic planning consultant to business, government and mental health organisations, and is able to convey spiritual and meditative understanding in a precise and clear manner. It has taken years of invites to get Bonni back Auckland, with her having a very full schedule, so we encourage you to see her if you can.
Awakening in Community with Bonni Ross
Practicing Kindness, Awareness and Wisdom in Daily Life
Date: Sunday, November 30, 10 am to 12:30 pm
Venue: 175 Garnet Road, Westmere.
Access corner of Faulder & Garnet, through green gate.
Costs: Course fee $30 (waged) $10 (unwaged) plus dana (donation to the teacher)
How we interact with others in our intersecting communities is a major factor in whether our lives are pleasant or not. “Hell,” so it is said, “is other people!” In today’s increasingly anxious and crowded world, training ourselves to engage in a tolerant and gentle way is the basis for increased kindness and understanding, not to mention decreased emotional reactivity.
From a spiritual point of view, the great masters of the 19th and 20th centuries have noted that the time of the individual charismatic leader or teacher is passing, and the wisdom of the future will be held and disseminated by communities dedicated to universal liberation.
We will spend the morning in dialogue, meditation, movement and sharing . . . in effect, a practical immersion in the experience of awakening community. Fresh concepts and practical methods are seeds that will support your journey, whether you have a great deal of experience or are beginning to find your way.
About Bonni:
Bonni Ross is based in Roberts Creek, BC, Canada and currently spends half the year teaching in Nelson, New Zealand.
Since 1978 she has been a creative catalyst for study and practice of the philosophical, theoretic and meditative foundations of Buddhadharma, as well as providing practical and pleasurable methods for increasing awareness, kindness and wisdom in daily living. Bonni teaches eclectically, with passion, humour and attention to the needs of each person: she guides individuals through all stages of meditative practice and leads retreats for depth unfoldment.
Conscious development of spiritual community has been a lively part of the engagement she, with her partner Matthew Eades, have with students in Canada and New Zealand. Bonni and Matthew have extensive experience working in the world and this, plus idiosyncratic senses of humour, informs a practical, integrated approach to committed practice. “The world is my cloister” is the motto of Sunshine Coast Retreat House their home base in Canada.
Bonni began exploring the teachings of liberation in the early sixties. In the mid 70’s she met her principal teacher, Venerable Namgyal Rinpoche, whose direct, eclectic teaching and example are central to her life. The encouragement of His Holiness the 16th Karmapa, teachings from many great Buddhist masters, and innovative westerners like Fritz Perls and Buckminster Fuller have had direct influence, as well as artists, composers, scientists, poets, dancers, philosophers and mystery writers too numerous to mention. Her inspiration comes from “ordinary” people who demonstrate exceptional courage and compassion in the midst of great suffering.
For enquiries or to book a space for this workshop please contact Mira: info@aucklandsphere.org or ph: (09) 213 3246, mobile: 021 548 781
www.aucklandsphere.org
For more about Bonni’s teachings please visit: www.retreathouse.bc.ca
For Bonni’s New Zealand retreat and class schedules in Nelson please visit: www.wangapeka.org
A teaching from Bonni Ross:
“This universe of which we are part is in a state of dynamic unfoldment which we can call flow. To fully realize our state of union with universe, or God, or Buddha-nature, whatever your language is for that concept which goes beyond language and concept, we must cease grasping and clinging to anything. It is very unlikely that a person will come to that state of total letting go, or flow, without a lot of practice. We are conditioned to hold on, to seek stability and permanence when our own senses give us continual evidence that no such states exist. In the face of such illogical behaviour, it is clear that we need to practice non-clinging deliberately and repeatedly, to break down these established habits of mind.”
You can read the whole teaching article here: http://www.retreathouse.bc.ca/developing-the-positive/#more-49
Auckland Sphere Group 