Aotearoa Retreat Centre Project
News and Updates
For those of you staying at Shambhala: Please note that to access Shambhala there is a ford which can be flooded and impassable at times. If you arrive during one of those times, please call Cat (027 4622663) or Ollie (027 333 9252) and we will find a good solution!
Looking forward to being together soon! With warm wishes for safe travels the project team!
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events happening in June to celebrate this - if you’ve missed the details see the project website here: https://www.aotearoaretreatcentre.org/blog/june-celebrations-on-the-ren-xue-farm
are focussed around creating some baseline data - our starting point - in areas such as soil, water, climate and landscape. We are beginning to explore a working relationship with Lincoln University, led by our farm group member Rainer Hoffman, which thus far looks very promising. Our first adventures in this research realm came over Anzac weekend, with honours Lincoln student Lulu Jordan leading a team of keen helpers on a soil sampling expedition - see details on the project website: https://www.aotearoaretreatcentre.org/blog/soil-sampling-and-other-fun-on-the-farm Much learning and planning about the farm will take place over our first 6-12 months on the land, so watch this space as we develop our ideas and look for input from the wider community.
Here's a quick overview of everything happening in June, with a few specific details. See this map for locations. Sunday June 12th 9am-12.30pm. Yuan Tze Online workshop: Unconditional Openness All participants need to register individually for this event. You can do that by following this Link You also need to reserve your cushion by contacting Cat Alker by Sunday 5th June From 4pm: A Farm warming party! Bonfires, braziers, shared Kai and warm drinks, music and making memories. Bring your instruments, warm clothing and some kai to share. Hot drinks will be provided. At the old villa. Monday June 13th Farm Rambles: Guided Access to Farm 10am-12pm: Morning session 2pm-4pm: Afternoon session Further information regarding meeting location to be confirmed. Tuesday June 14 : Full Moon Blessing ceremony and events 7.15am Dawn Blessing At the Retreat Centre site. All welcome. Meet at the coastal dwellings car park at 7am if you would like to walk up together. This will be a quiet, meditative start to a special day. A time to set the scene, welcome the new day and new beginnings. Warm clothing and gumboots essential. 10.30am Blessing Ceremony At the Retreat Centre site. All welcome. Meet at the coastal dwellings car park at 10am to walk up together. Limited parking near the site. There will be a short mihi whakatau (welcome) and waiata (song) followed by kōrero (speaking) from Yuan Tze, giving thanks and acknowledging this special place and time. 12.30pm-2pm Shared Kai: Potluck lunch Bring some kai for a shared lunch. Location to be confirmed 2pm-4pm : Tree planting on the farm Activities and Locations to be confirmed. Bring your spades and gardening tools. We would like to take care of everybody's health, safety and wellbeing. At the current Orange setting, there are no restrictions on numbers at gatherings. Face masks are currently advised whenever you are indoors. Most of our events are planned to be outdoors. However, if you wish to wear a mask in any setting, we hope that you will feel comfortable to do so. If you are interested to be part of any of these activities and would like more information, please contact Cat
All details will be updated by June 6th on our Home Page See this map for locations Kia ora koutou, Join us to celebrate our official move to the Ren Xue Retreat Centre site - a blessing ceremony and tree planting with Yuan Tze and Melissa. On 1st June 2022 Ren Xue Australasia takes ownership of the retreat centre farm in Onekaka, Golden Bay. The Bennett family who have farmed this land for 4 generations are handing it over to our care and we would like to honour this amazing time. This is a huge step towards our dream of a Retreat Centre for Ren Xue and we picture the Ren Xue family looking back on photo albums 100 years from now and smiling at the happy faces gathered together. Would you like to be there?! Also, Steve Lee our farm manager, and Jackie Blunt will be making the move to the bay from Christchurch. So, we would like to do a few things to honour and celebrate this time:
-A centre warming party on Sunday June 12th from 2pm onwards - so far we are dreaming of a simple gathering, shared kai, warm drinks, bonfires and merriment. - Monday June 13th : Farm Rambles! Visit, connect and get to know the farm. Gumboots essential! - Blessing Ceremony Tuesday June 14th - Join us and Yuan Tze and Melissa on the Retreat Centre site for a ceremony and tree planting. Accommodation From Sat June 11th - Tue June 14th Shambhala Retreat Centre is available for accommodation in the form of a big house (sleeps around 10 - with this number, the cost will be $35 each), cabins and a beautiful practice hall. We are aware that Yuan Tze's workshop falls on Sunday 12th June. We will be watching it! So if you are keen to watch this together, let us know. What you need to do now!
With gratitude Cat, Jay and the project team Much fun was had over the ANZAC weekend in Onekaka, with our farm research programme getting underway, and some of our new farm equipment getting a good run for it's money! Part of our planning with the Ren Xue farm is to undertake some extensive baseline data collection of both soils and water, such that as we develop the farm in a different direction (away from dairying) we'll have some good reliable data to refer back to. Rainer Hoffman at Lincoln University has been a huge part of this effort, which has led to our project being able to have the involvement of a Lincoln University honours student to collect this data. So it was that Lulu Jordan and her helpers, ably assisted by our very own Onekaka locals, got stuck into some good honest digging of holes in the name of science. See the video below for an overview on the soil sampling from Lulu A great day out was had by all as 250 pottles of soil were collected, and shuttled back to the truck via our *brand new* electric Tuatara side by side vehicle. Boggy conditions and steep tracks kept the truck on flat ground, but proved an easy task for the Tuatara. Phew! The team looking pretty happy to have the Tuatara around :-)
The Ren Xue Family Summer camping event on 15-22nd January 2022, was a special opportunity for us to connect - with ourselves, with each other and with the land. There was time for practice, walks, canoeing, kayaking and swims enjoying the beautiful natural environment of land, sea and estuary. There was also plenty of talking and visualising how it will be when the dream for the Ren Xue retreat centre is realised - how the farm will run and all the amazing opportunities there, the dream for a healing centre and a Ren Xue community where we can all support each other to grow. The land worked it's magic on us all as we took the time to feel into this place and our own connection with it. We joined in a very precious time together while Yuan Tze led us through building a Qifield for the land - we connected our hearts with this place, with each other, with the past and with the future. We hope that this place - the physical home for Ren Xue - will form a solid base for harmony internally and externally- a place that can ripple out it's positive effects into the world. Many people asked the question - How can I be involved?? You can join a working group - the Community group (contact Cat or Ollie) - the Healing Centre group (contact Jackie - jackie@renxueinternational.org) - the Farming group (contact Steve Lee ) These groups are all report back to the Steering group which oversees the project. The project is held in the cradle of Ren Xue Australasia (RXAA- the charitable trust) and upholds the values and vision of Ren Xue. Or you can just contact Cat or Ollie for a chat. You can consider if you would like to become part of the Ren Xue Community - please contact Cat You can make a donation Here is how www.renxueaustralasia.org/donate.html Add "retreat centre donation' as reference Also, a big thank you to Kim Knight for the above photo and to Verena Jonker for all the rest on this page :-) As of November 26th 2021, Ren Xue Australasia holds an unconditional offer to purchase the Golden Bay farm in June 2022!
The deposit is paid and the purchase secured! This means that after a year of planning, research, information gathering and assessment we now feel confident that a retreat centre and community is really possible here, subject to resource consent. The local community have been positive and supportive, we have had positive feedback from engineers, wastewater designer, the architectural team, the farming team and roading contractors to name a few. The learning and growth we have experienced as a team of organisers has been phenomenal. Personal growth has been a major focus throughout the project and, although this doesn't always feel the most comfortable as we navigate the patterns which emerge, we have been able to communicate, listen and support each other with our 5 Xin. What a blessing to have the tools to work in this way - to learn and grow while creating something tangible and positive. A beacon of hope for all to share. (See our Beacons for more explanation of how we work) What a celebration! - a feeling of a dream starting to become reality. A time to look back and reflect on the journey. From the initial vision expressed by Yuan Tze in 2010 the donation and formation of the first team of 'midwives' in 2019 (expanded on in Cat's story) , the signing of the purchase agreement for the farm in Golden Bay in November 2020 and the formation of the working groups (Farm, Community, Healing Centre and Retreat Centre) over the past year. Amazing to see how far we have come. It is with deep humility, gratitude and a large helping of excitement that we share this news and send our thanks to everyone who has been a part in this process. A great reason for the Ren Xue family to connect and celebrate together! Looking forward to the next exciting part of the project to unfold! Kia Ora everyone
We have exciting news to share about our progress and ways in which you can get involved, including expressions of interest to join a future REN XUE community, submissions of ideas for social enterprises on the REN XUE farm, an opportunity to join the planning team and an invitation to visit the land in January 2022 for a family camping holiday! For all the latest updates, you can also see this link to the recent presentation about the centre: SEE LINK HERE Community We are still investigating options for the start of a community on James and Cat’s land in Golden Bay- getting advice from local planners to see what is possible here and what options there may be for residential dwellings on the farm. The community group has done valuable and heartfelt work to draft an application form and create a vision and values document. Although there are still many questions to answer, we are now seeking expressions of interest to join the community and an indication of when people may be looking to join. Please email catherinealker@gmail.com or ollieclifton@gmail.com for more information For your interest we have attached the current version of the application form - the first 3 questions are what we need an answer to right now. However if you would like to fill in the form, please feel free as we welcome feedback in this process. See LINK TO FULL APPLICATION FORM MARIE LAURE AND VINCENT ARE MOVING TO GOLDEN BAY! Marie-Laure and Vincent, based in Whangarei, made the announcement that they are preparing to move to Mohua (Golden Bay) in December 2020 to help with the project. They bring their passion and commitment to REN XUE with a particular interest in a healing centre and farming. We are very lucky that they are willing to take this great leap as there are still many unknowns around the project. (link to their story) Farming Our work continues to complete our due diligence for RXAA’s farm purchase at the end of November and to progress our planning application for the Retreat Centre. So far the reports we have had back concerning the quality of the farmland have been very positive. Our Farm advisor, Steve Lee has been digging holes and has been very happy to find a beautiful soil full of worms! (if you haven’t already, check out the video!) The plan is to take a slow approach, get to know the land intimately and form a relationship so we can understand what it’s needs are and where crops, animals and people will thrive. The vision is still forming but we foresee a move towards more diversity and harmony. How you can get involved! We are putting the call out now to invite ideas for social enterprises on the farm - have you always wanted to grow medicinal herbs?; start a bee-keeping business?; start a market garden? Let us know… Contact Ollie: ollieclifton@gmail.com Steering Group Our Steering group consists of Ollie Clifton (project planner), Steve Lee (Farm advisor), Steve Campbell (Design), Marie- Laure and Vincent, Cat and Trina. We have just said farewell to Isabel from Portugal who has been a great help and still inputs into the design team and also Natalie Meijer who has been an integral part of growing the project from it’s seed to it’s current progress. Many thanks for all the hard work and energy. We are now looking for someone with skills in financial planning and budgeting to help us with the next steps. If you are interested in joining the team or would like to find out more please contact Ollie: ollieclifton@gmail.com Retreat Centre Our design team has completed an architectural design ready to submit for resource consent once we have a few more items covered such as roading inspections. Go team! They have been working so hard to collaborate and incorporate all the beautiful visions and input from the community as well as ensuring that it is in harmony with the land and local community - beneficial for all! Healing Centre A small but perfectly formed working group has started to discuss what a REN XUE healing centre might look like and investigate options to use an existing building to get this up and running quite early on. This could act as a hub while the retreat centre build is gathering momentum and finances. And Remember the REN XUE family SUMMER CAMP 15th -22nd January 2022 in Golden Bay. Contact Jay Glubb for details and to register interest: bodymindqi@gmail.com With 5 Xin The REN XUE Retreat centre team We are a French couple currently living in Whangarei, New Zealand. We are both Ren Xue teachers. Vincent works as an osteopath and acupuncturist and is also a qualified Heil Praktiker. He has been practising Qigong since 2004. Marie-Laure is a Pilates, Qigong instructor and Scenar therapist. She has been practising and teaching Qigong since 2011. Together, we created Ren Xue France in 2012 and helped many people improve their life. It is dear to our heart to continue to grow, contribute to the creation of a community that has a low impact on the environment and create an uplifting life for ourselves and others. And "The time is now"* as Yuan Tze says. It's why we decided to move to the land in Takaka. It was difficult for us to decide to leave our comfort zone, spending time with the fear of lacking, anxiety... trust was missing, ; jobs, house, garden, all the material things that we believe important. And as soon we decided to make a step forward, and to connect with the Qifield of the community, everything went smoothly. We found a lot of help within our dear Ren Xue family (Thanks to Cat, James, Nathalie, Claire). When we filled the application form, things get clearer and joy came naturally. We realised that we have to surrender to create. Firstly, we'll rent/buy James and Cat's tiny house and we'll work in Motueka to create our clinic "AB-Health-Tasman clinic' (osteopathy, acupuncture, Scenar therapy, Pilate & Qigong). Gradually, we'll develop Yuan Ming Medicine from Motueka to Takaka. The old house would be the perfect location to establish a Yuan Ming medicine centre. We'll work on it. We are ready to dedicate our time to this project and start a new journey, it's like creating a new garden! because "Every day is a wonderful day" |
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March 2024
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The Aotearoa Retreat Centre Project sits under the umbrella of Ren Xue Australasia, & has links throughout the global Ren Xue community. If you would like to be involved, please get in touch - we'd love to hear from you :-)
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