StoepZen

POPLAR GROVE NEWSLETTER 2012

2012-01-20T20:33:00.003+02:00

2011 was a good year and a wet one, settling into a rhythm of seasonal retreats as the rains came and went and the road to the farm disappeared under water. We even had snow. The April Stoep Zen retreat, the June Zen-Art retreat and the Walking the Sacred Way retreats all went off smoothly and will be repeated next year. The New Year retreat was fully booked soon after advertising and it looks set to become an annual feature as well. Meanwhile the guest cottage was occupied throughout the year, especially during the traditional holiday times.

RETREAT PROGRAMME 2012

Week-long Zen retreats are held during each season of the year. These are times that Antony and Margie Osler set aside for their own Zen meditation practice and anyone wishing to join them is welcome. Each retreat can take up to ten persons. Enquiries and bookings can be done through Margie at margie@stoepzen.co.za or at 082 816 5903.

27 April-2 May 2012 Stoep Zen retreat. Led by Antony Osler

This is our annual flagship Zen retreat. Stoep Zen retreats follow a simplified traditional monastic style adapted to a karoo farm. The emphasis is on simplicity and on a continuity of open-hearted attention in all daily activities rather than marathon sitting meditations. Each retreat is conducted in silence. The daily schedule is grounded in formal group practice in the zendo (meditation hall), which consists of bowing, chanting, sitting and walking meditation. There are group walks at sunrise and sunset; talks, instruction and individual interviews; manual work; free time and simple vegetarian meals.

16 -23 June 2012 Zen –Art retreat. Led by Antony Osler and JP Meyer

This is essentially a standard Zen winter retreat with a creative element added in the afternoon and evenings. Beginners and professionals are all welcome. The emphasis is on seeing clearly, on unlearning the habits that block our spontaneity and on adding creativity to the meditation practice. The art will be led by JP Meyer, a well-known South African artist, art teacher and a long-term Zen student. JP can be contacted at jpjourney@gmail.com.

13-19 October 2012 Walking the Sacred Way. A retreat/workshop based in the Alexander Technique. Led by Marguerite van der Merwe

This retreat/workshop is about being at home in the natural and balanced functioning of our bodies. It is led by Marguerite who is an experienced teacher in the Alexander Technique and author of the newly-published book ‘The Art of Walking.’ Marguerite can be contacted at margsmerwe@telkomsa.net.

28 December 2012 – 2 January 2013 New Year Retreat. Led by Antony Osler

This is a Zen retreat but with more free time. It is for people who would like to escape the tyranny of traditional New Year celebrations and are content to sit quietly in the zendo-in-the-veld, listening to the sky breathing. The New Year is rung in with a gong.

RETREATS LED BY ANTONY AT OTHER CENTRES

Antony will be leading a Zen retreat at the Buddhist Retreat Centre in Ixopo from about 8 to 12 August 2012 and another at Emoyeni in the Magaliesburg from about 21 to 24 September 2012. We were hoping to be able to get to the Cape for a short retreat there in the autumn of 2012 but this has been excluded by our retreat in the USA; maybe next year.

POPLAR GROVE WORKSHOPS FOR ABUSED CHILDREN

These are not public meditation retreats but are an initiative by Margie and some teachers at the Hantam Community Education Trust to host weekend workshops for local abused and traumatized children. It is an extension of our compassion practice in the zendo and any contributions for this work will be gratefully received - whether in the form of money, clothes, skills, games or equipment.

GUEST FACILITIES

The cottage and guest facilities are available for individuals and small groups all year round. As the website says, we offer you Nothing! Nothing but a comfortable bed to sleep in, cooking facilities to make food on, a zendo to meditate in, a small library to borrow from, a wide veld to walk in and great night skies. Booking are made through Margie.

STOEP ZEN – THE OLD BOOK AND THE NEW

The publishers of Stoep Zen (Jacana), have now issued a third reprint of the book. It can still be ordered through traditional and on-line booksellers, though most of them no longer carry the book on their shelves. Signed copies can also be ordered from Margie for R150 plus R20 postage and Ixopo and Emoyeni retreat centres also stock copies.

Jacana have asked for a sequel to Stoep Zen. I have started working on the book already and it should be ready for publication in 2013. The new book will be similar in format and tone to the previous one, as a further series of meditations on a Zen life in South Africa. I would like to include our Poplar Grove friends in the production of this book and anyone with stories and anecdotes about lives changed by this country and its people, or that give a Zen quirkiness to daily life, is welcome to send them to me at antony@stoepzen.co.za. I will be very grateful. If your contribution can be used, you will be credited in the book as a contributor, even though I cannot pay. Photographs or drawings may also be needed, though details of this are not yet clear – anyone happy to be involved can let me know so that I can contact them later. It will be a wonderful way of giving good stories an airing. And it will also be a novel collective way of creating a book in which we all take part. Everyone that comes to retreats here already participates in many invisible ways in the material of my writing; to make this more deliberate as part of our sangha activity will be wonderful.

Please note that, apart from Stoep Zen, we are also stocking copies of the new Buddhist Retreat Centre cookbook ‘The Cake the Buddha Ate’ and Marguerite Osler’s ‘The Art of Walking’.

THE WEBSITE REFRESHER

The website is being updated through the generous expertise of Sean van Eeden (who can be contacted through us if anyone wants to have similar work done). It is now a bit simpler, less wordy and contains more information. It should be ready by mid-January 2012.

DONATIONS

We have once again been the recipients of great generosity – some of money, some of gifts, some of teaching. Thank you very much. Please know that all contributions go towards maintaining and improving the facilities at Poplar Grove, towards helping students who have financial difficulties and towards sponsoring Margie’s Workshops for Abused Children.

ANTONY AND MARGIE’S KENTUCKY RETREAT: FEBRUARY 2012

Margie and I have been invited to attend a month-long retreat at Furnace Mountain Zen Center in Kentucky USA during February 2012 on a scholarship. We will be practising there with Zen Master Dae Gak who has extended the invitation; he received transmission from the late Korean Zen teacher Dae Soen sa nim, under whom both Margie and I studied before his death. This is a wonderful opportunity to practice in a different environment and before returning home we also hope to make a quick musical tour through the south east United States to the home of Bluegrass, Country, Cajun and Blues.

PRACTICE NOTE

Returning visitors to Poplar Grove retreats will notice that the form of the retreats changes slowly over the years. Right now it is becoming noticeably plainer and less entertaining. We used to run a full Japanese monastic form after my years as a Zen monk. When we took Zen Master Su Bong as our teacher we followed his style, which was Korean, then after his death we lost contact with the school of Zen he belonged to and also to the style with it. We were on our own again. Now what? So we went back to the most basic form of practice – sitting quietly doing nothing. As we did that we also began to connect more with the environment in which we did our Zen – the veld, the grove, the stars, the open spaces. Slowly, small rituals of respect found their way back into the zendo and we began to include our surroundings. Now we bow when we enter the zendo, we chant the refuges and the four vows, and we walk in the veld at sunrise and sunset.

Few of us have grown up in a traditionally Buddhist society. We are in a situation where the old forms find themselves in a new world, so spiritual forms are inevitably in a state of flux. This not only the case in Buddhism but also in other traditions – Nigerian Moslems chant in Arabic, protestant Christians jettison the King James bible and catholic supporters of the Latin mass lock themselves in a Paris cathedral. There is a continuing debate about the form that modern Western or African Buddhism should take; some groups stick to the form inherited from the east, others change it entirely, most are in the midst of some form of compromise and adaptation. As Zen students, we have to approach this question in the same way we approach everything else – without attachment. We respect tradition and are open to change at the same time. If we attach to the old forms we will become stuck; if we attach to modernizing everything we will lose the firmness of our seat. The way forward will only appear from the depth of our practice, when we stop trying to think our way to it. When we allow the thinking mind to quieten then we just do our practice 100%, beyond right and wrong, beyond like and dislike, beyond old and new. It doesn’t matter anymore what particular form we are following and we are free.

And there is another aspect to all this. Although we may sometimes long to slip into an inherited form of practice that is familiar and settled, we have a different kind of opportunity here – one that reflects the life we face in an emerging and uncertain society. We cannot rely on the comfort of the familiar but we are also not numbed by it; this gives us a challenge and an opportunity that Buddhists in the old countries do not have to meet. We have to make our own way. As Zen students we become willing to find the point where we know nothing, the point where we are insecure and open. There is an old Zen koan about a man standing on the top of a hundred-foot pole – how does he step above it? How willing are you to leave your safety net and find out for yourself what the air feels like under your feet? How vulnerable are you willing to be? Whaaaaaah - see you all in the new year!

With love from the blue skies and deep horizons of Poplar Grove.

Antony and Margie Osler

POPLAR GROVE WINTER NEWSLETTER

2011-08-03T20:50:00.000+02:00

This has been an astonishing winter. For the first time in many years we had a thick blanket of snow covering the house and outbuildings, softening the corners and adding another layer of silence to the quiet. The veld is still waterlogged from the autumn rains, we have not been able to walk in the grove or fetch firewood there and the earth dam has been overflowing since April. Springs are still running across the Oorlogpoort road, so that guests with smart cars have to leave their vehicles in town and be ferried to the farm. Everything changes all the time and, if we don’t like it, we suffer; if we can embrace the cold and wet then there is no problem. So that is our practice here.

The June Zen-Art retreat came and went. The afternoons were spent in the sunshine, learning to put down our self-consciousness and make spontaneous marks on paper – and learning to LOOK; in that way our facilitator JP Meyer added another dimension to our Zen practice. From the response of those who attended, it seems that creativity flows very naturally into formal Zen practice and we can look forward to paying more attention to this in future, while always keeping a space for plain Zen retreats.

Since then we have had a number of guests and informal groups passing through – book clubs, martial arts practitioners, writers and people just needing a break – using the place for whatever they need. And Antony will be away leading short retreats at the Buddhist Retreat Centre in August and at Emoyeni in September.

DIMENSIONS OF SPACE

From 15 to 21 October 2011 Marguerite van der Merwe will be leading her annual workshop-retreat called ‘Dimensions of Space’ and also introducing her new book, ‘The Art of Walking’. Anyone wanting to ask questions or to book for this retreat can contact Marguerite at 028-271 4555 or by e-mail at margsmerwe@telkoma.net; a booking form is attached to this letter and any booking form for this event which is sent to Margie at Poplar Grove will be forwarded to Marguerite.

NEW YEAR RETREAT

Earlier this year we asked if anyone would be interested in a retreat over New Year. The response was enthusiastic. So we have decided to schedule a retreat from the evening of Wednesday 28 December 2011 to mid-day on Monday 2 January 2012 – anybody who does not have to get back to work can stay on for a day or two afterwards, at the same daily rate. This will not be a traditional formal Zen retreat; while there will still be daily group walks, meditations, Dharma talks, individual interviews and work practice, there will also be time on your own for exploring, reading, humming a tune and, of course, a daily summer siesta. We will also gong in the New Year with a special midnight meditation ceremony. A booking form is attached to this newsletter for those who want to join us.

FINDING THE GENTLENESS IN OUR PRACTICE

We often work too hard at improving our life, desperate for the ease and peace that we imagine lies across the threshold of enlightenment. This is natural and understandable. But it also backfires on us – which is inevitable, really, because we are working from the sense of self that ultimately has to be dropped and because we are holding on to ideas of what our practice should bring – ideas that have to be dropped too. It is easy to become discouraged when we practise like this. So sometimes we have to find the gentleness in our Zen practice, we have to stop pushing and judging ourselves, we have to take ourselves and our quest less seriously, we have to forgive ourselves for our inadequacies and mistakes, and we have to find our sense of humour.

All this is simply and beautifully described by the late Suzuki Roshi in his book Not Always So:- ‘In our practice we put emphasis on a warm heart, on warm zazen. This warm feeling we have in zazen is, in other words, enlightenment. The point is to take care of the breath while inhaling and exhaling, just as a mother watches her baby. If the baby smiles the mother will smile. If the baby cries the mother is worried. That kind of close relationship – being one with your practice – is the point. Please take care of your practice and be very kind to yourself.’

With love from the blue skies and white frosted grass of Poplar Grove.

Antony and Margie Osler

Poplar grove practice period OR RETREAT

Booking form

Poplar Grove Farm Tel. 051-7531356

P. O. Box 232 Cell. 0828165903

COLESBERG 9795 Fax. 0866240446

Banking details:

A.D. Osler Standard Bank Cheque Account

Account no. 280336810 Branch code. 050-018

Please make the following booking :

Date: From……………………….. …….to …………………………………………

Total number of nights: ………….. @ R300-00 per person per night = ………….

to be paid into the above bank account before arrival (confirm with deposit slip)

or to be paid by cheque or cash on arrival.

Name(s): ………………………………………………………………………………..

………………………………………………………………………………………….

Accommodation requested (subject to availability):

Single room: ……. Room for a couple: ……….⁮

Twin room sharing: ……… ⁮

CONTACT DETAILS:

Telephone: …………………………… Cell phone: ……………………………………

Address: …………………………………………………………………………………

E-mail Address:…………………………………………………………………………..

Any foods you cannot eat: ……………………………………………………………..

…………………………………………………………………………………………..

I/We expect to arrive at Poplar Grove on: ……………………….. ………...................

Estimated time of arrival: ………………………………………………………………

PLEASE PHONE IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR QUERIES

DIRECTIONS TO POPLAR GROVE

1. From Colesberg take the N9 towards Noupoort, Middelburg, Port Elizabeth for about 4 km.

2. At the signpost ‘Oorlogspoort’ on the left side of the N9, turn left onto a gravel road and continue for about 24 km – over a railway line, through veld and farms, past a large gate on the left marked ‘Groenfontein’ with a homestead behind it, and past a further group of buildings about 1 km further on the left which is also part of Groenfontein farm.

3. At a cattle grid about 500 metres further on from the second group of Groenfontein buildings there is a signboard for ‘Poplar Grove’ and ‘Nieuwefontein’ on the left side of the road – turn left there and go up the slope about 1 km.

4. At a sign ‘Poplar Grove’ on your right, turn left over the motor gate edged with stone walls and follow the road for about 2 km directly into the Poplar Grove yard.

5. Park somewhere at the house, turn off the engine, and enjoy the silence.

POPLAR GROVE MAY NEWSLETTER

2011-05-13T22:53:00.000+02:00

Dear friends

This is a short mid-year newsletter with some information about forthcoming retreat activity at the farm.

The ten-day easter and freedom day retreat was full. We divided some rooms with screens and even had to borrow some flat black cushions (zabutons) from Emoyeni to seat everyone. The first frost of the season struck in mid-retreat and it was magical to do our sunrise walk with the veld sparkling around us. The new zendo held us all beautifully and the feeling is unmistakeable that a sangha is growing here all by itself.

There are still some places open for the June Zen-Art retreat from 11-19 June 2011. This is basically a traditional Zen retreat with a period of contemplative art activity during the afternoons led by that great artist and old Zen student JP Meyer, who some of you may remember from his days on staff at Dharmagiri. A number of people were hoping to attend the easter retreat but were unable to do so as it was full - here is the chance to make up for it. So please contact us soon if you would like to make it for June. It promises to be a nice combination of stillness and creativity under the early winter sun.

Around Woman's Day in early August I will be leading a short StoepZen retreat at the Buddhist Retreat Centre in Ixopo, after which Sean van Eeden's Kung Fu group will be coming to Poplar Grove for a bracing mid-winter sesshin. Then in September I am doing a short StoepZen weekend at Emoyeni. Marguerite van der Merwe will be leading her annual retreat in the Alexander Technique at Poplar Grove from around 15-21 October 2011 and anyone interested in this can contact us or contact Marguerite at 028-2714555. November is a break from retreats while we handle shearing at the farm.

We have had a number of enquiries about a New Year retreat at Poplar Grove. These are mostly from people who would like to flee the annual Christmas/New Year madness for something a little quieter and sane (ha ha). We don't envisage anything too serious around that time but a mildly structured few days relief from traffic and hangovers with blue skies, meditation, music and good food as well as free time to read, paint, dig, sleep or walk may be what you secretly dream of. We will arrange this if there is enough interest so please let us know if you like the idea - you can contact us by email, as usual, on the address at the top of this message or by contacting Margie at 082 816 5903.

And, besides the formal retreat activity, we are happy that people are making more use of the cottage and koppie kamer for private retreats, writing, painting and resting. These facilities are available for most of the year outside of retreat times.

We don't have a book store at Poplar Grove. But we are still selling copies of Stoep Zen, now in its second print. Marguerite's book 'The Art of Walking' will be out by the time of the Alexander retreat. We also hope to have some copies of the new BRC successor to Quiet Food, called 'What the Buddha Ate'. And also 'Vrede in Tye van Geweld' from Naledi - Hester van der Walt's Afrikaans translation of Pema Chodren's well-known 'Practising Peace in Times of War'

The generosity of friends who come to the farm has helped us to complete the koppie kamer and finish the zendo. These donations are all put into an account from which we will draw for our next project - the installation of solar water heaters and a solar pump. As always, we are deeply grateful for the generosity of those who come here. Together we will build together a home for genuine and unpretentious Dharma practice.

That is all for now. It is still raining at the farm, the roads are washing away and the earth dam is still running over. And the leaves in the grove have turned yellow and gold. All beautiful.

With much affection from a cool and bright Poplar Grove,

Antony and Margie Osler

StoepZen Newsletter and Retreat Programme for 2011

2011-01-05T09:38:00.000+02:00

Dear friends,

This past year at Poplar Grove has been busy and interesting. The main project for 2009/2010 was the building of the koppiekamer, a hermitage built into the side of a rocky hill near the house; that is now complete and we have already had a retreatant in residence for a six-week solo retreat. There are now ten comfortable rooms for single persons or couples, so we can accommodate as many people for retreats as we can handle. For short-term guests the cottage has proved to be popular, especially over the holiday seasons when people are on the road – we are, after all, in the middle of the country and in just the right place to stop over and take a breath.

As I write this, our new end-of-year project is under way with much dust, bashing and banging - a new pitched roof in the zendo, an addition that will make the room more spacious and symmetrical while retaining its barn-like atmosphere.

The retreats at Poplar Grove for 2010 were well-attended. We had two StoepZen retreats and a successful Alexander Technique retreat run by Marguerite van der Merwe, as well as some informal weekends where different groups came to spend time in the open air and take part in limited meditation.

On the family front, Margie swam the Midmar Mile, Emma was working at hotels in Oxford and Inverness, while Sarah worked as an au pair in Texas and Chicago. Both daughters will soon be back in South Africa to start their university studies – Emma doing a B.A. in Pietermaritzburg and Sarah doing Chiropractic at the University of Johannesburg. The farming carries on throughout the year under Margie’s supervision and she will be down-scaling her school activities in order to concentrate more on our guest and retreat facilities. For myself, I am still away from home for about half of each month in legal suit-and-tie while for the rest of the time I am at home on the stoep or leading retreats at Poplar Grove or elsewhere.

Many people have asked for their names to be added to the mailing list for visits and retreats and we hope we have captured them all. This newsletter is about our activities at Poplar Grove for 2011.

STOEPZEN AND ZEN ART RETREATS IN APRIL AND JUNE 2011

StoepZen Retreat: April 2011

The public holidays for Easter, Freedom Day and Workers Day are close together this year and we have decided to hold a continuous retreat from the evening of Friday (Good Friday) 22 April 2011 through to mid-day on 1 May 2011. As before, this is a time we have set aside for our own Zen practice and you are invited to share it with us. It doesn’t matter if you cannot attend for the whole period; we will fit you in if there is space.

The Poplar Grove StoepZen retreats are each open to a maximum of 10 people. They follow a simplified monastic schedule adapted to the Karoo farm venue, they contain both group and individual practice and they are not aligned to any particular school or institution. The retreats are hosted by Margie and myself together, while the formal aspects will be led by me in a way that should be comfortable for both beginners and experienced meditators. Persons attending for the whole retreat period will be given priority and you are also welcome to arrive a day earlier or leave a day later if that suits your travel plans – our starting and ending times are arranged to give you time to travel to and from Colesberg at a pace that is unhurried (in fact, the travelling is part of the retreat).

Each retreat is conducted in silence. The daily schedule begins with a group walking meditation at sunrise followed by formal practice in the zendo (the meditation barn) with chanting, sitting and walking meditation; after breakfast there is a talk and continuing meditation together with individual Zen-style interviews, then a light work period and a short meditation; after lunch there is personal practice and rest time, followed by gentle loosening-up exercises, a sunset group walking meditation and sitting meditation in the zendo; the day winds down with supper followed by an informal discussion or reading, and ends with a bedtime meditation. There are three simple vegetarian meals each day. The thrust of the retreat is not endless zazen (formal sitting meditation) but a continuity of attention in everything we do.

Accommodation is provided in ten single rooms for individuals or couples. Most rooms have shared ablutions and only some have electricity. Bedding is provided but not towels or toiletries - a torch is recommended, as well as loose comfortable clothing and walking shoes (croc sandals tend to let in the duiweltjie thorns so they may not be suitable for long walks in the veld). People booking for a retreat will be allotted whatever accommodation is available on a first-come-first-served basis but requests will be complied with where possible.

Zen Art Retreat: June 2011

There will also be a Zen Art retreat at the beginning of winter from the evening of Saturday 11 June 2011 to mid-day on Sunday 19 June 2011. This differs from the standard StoepZen retreat only in that there will be a two-hour creative art period in the afternoon of each day.

The daily art session will be led by the well-known artist, meditator and Zen student JP Meyer. JP is a renowned visual artist of long-standing with a number of successful exhibitions to his name and he will lead his creative sessions in a way that integrates the experience of creativity with the practice of Zen.

For the Zen Art retreat, participants will be asked to bring their own drawing/painting instruments while JP himself will provide the paper and/or board on which to draw or paint. An additional charge of R50 per day will be levied for the materials provided by JP so the total charge per day will be R350. Persons booking for this retreat will be given the contact details of JP so that he can advise them on what art materials to bring and where to get them.

Money Matters and Bookings

A standard daily charge of R300 per person per day will be levied for the retreats (R350 for the Zen Art retreat). In traditional Buddhist style, the teaching is offered free. However, the daily charge does not cover the ongoing renovation costs or the cost of equipping the facilities – any contributions towards these expenses will be gratefully received.

People have been extremely generous with gifts of money and household items this year and we would like to thank them for that here. Generosity is an important aspect of our practice and it makes a great contribution to maintaining and improving the facilities; it is also an expression of appreciation for the work that is done here and it allows people to feel that they are a part of the place.

A booking form and directions are attached below to this newsletter; please fill in the booking form and send it to Margie (the instructions are on the form). Margie will let you know if we have been able to fit you in. Last year we had a few instances where people had booked and cancelled at the last minute, too late for those who had been turned away to change their plans and attend; we will therefore be requesting a non-refundable 50% deposit at the time of booking.

GROUPS, GROUP RETREATS, SOLO RETREATS ON REQUEST

During 2010 a number of groups held retreats at Poplar Grove by arrangement. Some were book clubs and bird clubs, some were personal growth groups, some were groups wanting to hold their own retreat in a formal setting, while some individuals did a solo retreat. Usually, Margie and I host the visitors by providing the farm and meditation facilities plus accommodation and meals - sometimes we also give basic meditation instruction or talks on Zen. This flexible arrangement worked well and persons or groups who want to make such a plan can contact Margie about it.

Marguerite’s Alexander Technique workshop/retreat has not been included in this newsletter because of scheduling difficulties but, if she is able to lead such a retreat later in the year, we will send out a separate notice for that.

GUEST ACCOMMODATION

Remember that the self-catering guest cottage is available at various times when retreats are not running. The cottage has two rooms but adjoining extra rooms are available for larger families or groups. The main bedroom of the cottage has an en-suite bath and toilet while there is also an additional shower and toilet for sharing. There is no electricity but there is cell-phone reception at the main house. There are basic cooking and braai facilities at the cottage plus a place to keep things cool. The price for a self-catering guest stay is presently R250,00 per person per day for guests over 12 years old – this includes basic provisions such as milk, eggs, bread, fruit etc. This facility has been used over the holiday period for persons and families travelling through the Karoo but it is particularly suitable for those staying longer than one night – people needing a rest from the city, who wish to do a retreat on their own or who need peace and quiet for a particular project.

RETREATS BY ANTONY AT OTHER VENUES

I will be at the Buddhist Retreat Centre near Ixopo for Wesak at the end of May 2011 and will be leading my annual Woman’s Day retreat there in August 2011. I may also be leading short retreats at Emoyeni in the Magaliesburg in spring and another in the Cape at a time yet to be decided.

STOEP ZEN: THE BOOK

As mentioned last year, the book went into a second edition in which corrections were made and reviews inserted. The book is still available through internet book providers. Although it is mostly out of the bookstores (unless ordered on request), both Emoyeni in the Magaliesburg and the Buddhist Retreat Centre in Ixopo still stock copies. Signed copies are also available at Poplar Grove for R150,00 plus postage.

CONTACT DETAILS

The website Stoepzen.co.za is up and running. This newsletter will be posted on the website, as will my occasional notes about our Zen practice under the item ‘Writings’. Margie and my email details are linked to the website - Margie’s is margie@stoepzen.co.za and mine is antony@stoepzen.co.za. The other contact details are on the attached booking form.

Thank you for all the interest and support during 2010. We really look forward to sharing this quiet space with you and to practising together in 2011. I would like to leave you with some words from the American poet Mary Oliver for life in the new year:-

Let me keep my distance, always, from those
who think they have the answers.

Let me keep company, always, with those who say
"Look!" and laugh in astonishment,
and bow their heads.

Antony Osler

Poplar grove practice period OR RETREAT

Booking form

Poplar Grove Farm Tel. 051-7531356

P. O. Box 232 Cell. 0828165903

COLESBERG 9795 Fax. 0866240446

Banking details: A.D. Osler Standard Bank Cheque Account

Account no. 280336810 Branch code. 050-018

Please make the following booking :

Date: From……………………….. …….to …………………………………………

Total number of nights: ………….. @ R.......... per person per night = ………….

to be paid into the above bank account before arrival (confirm with deposit slip)

or to be paid by cheque or cash on arrival.

Name(s): ………………………………………………………………………………..

………………………………………………………………………………………….

Accommodation requested (subject to availability):

Single room: ……. Room for a couple: ……….⁮

Twin room sharing: ……… ⁮

CONTACT DETAILS:

Telephone: …………………………… Cell phone: ……………………………………

Address: …………………………………………………………………………………

E-mail Address:…………………………………………………………………………..

Any foods you cannot eat: ……………………………………………………………..

…………………………………………………………………………………………..

I/We expect to arrive at Poplar Grove on: ……………………….. ………...................

Estimated time of arrival: ………………………………………………………………

PLEASE PHONE IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR QUERIES

DIRECTIONS TO POPLAR GROVE

1. From Colesberg take the N9 towards Noupoort, Middelburg, Port Elizabeth for about 4 km.

2. At the signboard ‘Oorlogspoort’ on the left side of the N9, turn left onto a gravel road and continue for about 24 km – over a railway line, through veld and farms, past a large gate on the left marked ‘Groenfontein’ with a homestead behind it, and past a further group of buildings about 1 km further on the left which is also part of Groenfontein farm.

4. At a sign ‘Poplar Grove’ on your right, turn left over the motor gate edged with stone walls and follow the road for about 2 km directly into the Poplar Grove yard.

5. Park somewhere at the house, turn off the engine, and enjoy the silence.

‘The World is Perfect’

2011-01-04T23:12:00.000+02:00

Our Zen practice is not about sitting on a cushion hour after hour gritting our teeth in order to get some particular experience or enlightenment. That is just exhausting. And futile!

Meditating to get something implies that there is something we lack and that we need to seek something to fill the lack - something we call happiness, fulfilment or enlightenment. This gaining-attitude may help in acquiring knowledge for biology or history but it doesn’t get us far with meditation. And the reason it doesn’t work in meditation is because the sense of lack springs from the point of view of the limited, apparently-separate, self – the very self that our meditation is designed to loosen. Of course it is inevitable that there will be a sense of incompleteness in the incomplete self – how could it be otherwise! So we don’t need to trash that feeling, instead we can use it to motivate our meditation. But, as we proceed, we soon see that the idea of achieving or finding anything in meditation becomes counter-productive; not only is it based on the ‘small self’ but it actually subtly reinforces it – so we find ourselves measuring our practice against a false goal; we compare and judge our practice, we become discouraged or frustrated or falsely encouraged, and the whole thing gets complicated. Our task in meditation is to see what is happening. And, when we see this achievement-pattern happening, we have an opportunity to correct the view that underpins it. It is here that the traditional Zen teaching can help.

Zen starts from a completely different place – from the perspective of the complete self, that which we call the ‘true self’, the truth that is present when the incomplete self disappears. We begin by accepting that there is no need to seek anything - that things are complete as they are, that we are an indivisible part of this whole, and that it is the true nature of things to be like that. This means that in our meditation we are not trying to achieve something that is not already there, we are no longer trying to manipulate the world to suit us, we are no longer attempting to become something that we are not. Instead, we are just letting go of the ‘small self’ and returning to what we most naturally are, to the self that has no name, that which manifests when we surrender totally to the moment. When we sit like this, we sit as a Buddha (a person already complete), not as a person trying to become Buddha. And meditation then becomes an expression of our natural way of being; something that is uncomplicated, light, compassionate and enthusiastic.

In Zen we often read that the world is ‘perfect as it is’. As in all Buddhist teachings, this is not a dogma to be believed or a statement of ‘objective fact’; it is an invitation to find out something for ourselves. So the question arises, ‘If everything is already perfect, why meditate?’ The answer is that we need to do formal meditation because we have not yet found this statement of inherent perfection to be true in our own lives – we have not yet attained it. So we meditate. We take the opportunity to see if the statement is true. We simplify our life, we sit down quietly inside our experience and see what is going on. When we do that, if we persevere at it, we will find that from time to time we simply sink contentedly into our experience. We can sit in the world as if it were an armchair, lacking nothing, needing nothing, experiencing life as sufficient and complete – as ‘perfect.’ In this way the limited self has already gone on holiday. And then we will have attained the statement, ‘The world is perfect as it is.’ That is our meditation.

Of course all things are in flux, so that experience of completeness doesn’t stay with us and we will return to the world of concepts and separation, to the habit of thinking about everything and trying to analyze everything in order to comfort us and suit us. But we will now carry with us the memory of the wholeness that we felt. And that makes all the difference. We act in the conventional world but are not so attached to it; we can let it go and immerse ourselves into the world of completeness. Then our lives can move freely between the two worlds – the conventional realm where the limited self functions, and the realm of totality where the small self disappears into the whole. And the key to this freedom of movement is non-attachment – don’t stick anywhere, don’t cling to either the self or to enlightenment, just open your eyes and see what is before you. Aah – the rain is falling outside the eastern window!

The Buddha Touches The Ground

2010-06-24T20:16:00.002+02:00

When Siddhartha sat under the Bodhi tree, committing himself to stay there until he became enlightened, his demons licked their lips. In the traditional Buddhist story of the enlightenment, it is Mara – the embodiment of the devil – who made it his (her?) job to test the aspirant’s quest, to find out how real his sincerity was. Today we may not see this figure as an external reality but as an internal process – reflecting the doubts, fears and insecurities that we experience in our consciousness. In any event, as the story goes, Mara laughed at the sage, poured scorn on his efforts, tempted him with power, irritated and kicked him, seduced and distracted him, and offered him celebrity status. Siddartha sat firm – after all, he’d been through most of these scenarios during his years as a wandering monk and an ascetic. But then Mara dug into Siddartha’s self-belief. What makes you think you are worthy enough? You who have left your wife and abandoned your son, distressed your parents and rejected your ancestors, you who never gave alms and couldn’t even last as a yogi - what on earth makes you so special? Whoever we are, knowing ourselves as we do, it can be difficult to assert our worth. So what did Siddartha do? He didn’t compete or fight back. Instead, he saw the taunts and his own misgivings for what they are, accepting totally his own failings and weaknesses. As well as his strengths. To do this he had to detach from the content of all this doubt and uncertainty and rise above it. In other words, he began to meditate. In this way, when he was not caught up in his internal dramas, he found space and openness. As the scriptures say, he became ‘cool’. And, realizing that words would not do justice to this insight, he reached down with his right hand and touched the ground. Just touched the ground with his fingers. A gesture of connectedness, of belonging, of balance – beyond words, beyond ideas, beyond defending himself or trumpeting his greatness. Just touching the ground. At that point, the scriptures tell us, the earth moved and tilted, Mara fled with his troops and Siddhartha became the Buddha, the awakened one. It was then that the Buddha gave his famous smile – the smile of confidence, of relief and fulfilment, of love. That is what our tradition is built on - a smile and a touch.

This story lies behind the famous statue in which the Buddha’s left hand is in his lap in meditation while his right hand touches the earth. In the zendo at Poplar Grove that is the statue in the niche above the candles. And, when we see that figure smiling, meditating and touching the ground, it reminds us that our true worth lies in our sense of belonging. When we experience that, insults will not hurt us, nor sticks and stones, not even our recurring and crippling self-doubt. And when these thoughts pop up again (as they will), our practice is not to defend, resist, counter-attack or demean our accuser but to see what is happening and rise above it - a buddha-balloon – to the level where neither blame nor praise can unbalance us. We see the thoughts and emotions for what they are and let them be. From there the sky is clear. We are no longer locked into the dramas of our personality and self-image. In that moment, we are free to express our belonging to the undefinable flow of life and death. We may lift our face to the wind. We may smile. We may touch the earth. The soil is brown.

StoepZen Practice Note: Summer 2009

2009-12-23T22:28:00.020+02:00

My teacher Joshu Sasaki Roshi is still alive and teaching at the age of 102. Roshi once said, ‘We cannot know the truth of all this through the intellect alone. We have to be willing to open to all of this in every moment – to give ourselves to every person and everything to the point of dissolution. Then the self that has to be negated has already disappeared.’

Turning towards a more spiritual life is not just a way to become an improved version of the person we are. It is more than that altogether - a casting off, a willingness to shed familiar securities, a willingness to embrace the unknown. To give ourselves away moment after moment. This is not so much a reasoned and sensible step as an instinctive response to a world that feels out of balance. As the contradictions in our collective and individual lives make themselves felt (in depleted resources, climate change, conflict and despair), the very suffering that we have been trying to avoid touches us on the shoulder.

So there arises in us a sense that the answers may lie elsewhere, in something more interior, more subtle. As Leonard Cohen (himself a long-term student of Sasaki Roshi) sings, ‘May the lights in the land of plenty shine on the truth someday.’ And we start to turn inward. Not because an authority has told us to or because we want an improved model of an old car but because we have seen for ourselves that the whole transport system is crashing. We begin to take a long, soft, look at ourselves – at who we really are, at how we really fit into the universe around us, at what we really need for a life that is balanced, whole and fulfilled. We begin to pick up books in the ‘spiritual’ shelves of bookstores and notice articles on meditation in popular magazines. We gravitate to the company of people whose conversation is quieter and more considered, people who speak from the heart. And sooner or later we find ourselves on a meditation cushion sitting still, doing nothing. We take on a discipline. We find ourselves a teacher – someone who speaks to the place where we are but who has also a perspective from further along the road – and we travel with him or her for a while.

At times we drink this in like holy water, at other times we wonder what the hell we are doing. But we keep on going because something fundamental has changed. We begin to move – sporadically and in lurches – beyond the world of convention, beyond attachment to opinion, beyond right or wrong, and into something altogether more open. We walk in the dark towards the place where we belong. And it is too late to turn back for that would mean we would have to pretend for the rest of our lives, something we are no longer willing to do. In this way the great ship begins to slowly turn and flow with the current. Our direction becomes clear; not because we have the words for it but because our deepest longings are instinctively assuaged and we sense our true home.

At the farm the workers from the district have gathered for their Christmas church in the Zendo. They hold nothing back when they sing. When they pray they cover their heads with rough hands. And afterwards they open their plastic packets and share the food they brought with them. It doesn’t matter what tradition you belong to. Whenever you give yourself completely to what you are doing, you are already on the Way.

StoepZen Newsletter for 2010

2009-12-15T18:58:00.013+02:00

POPLAR GROVE, COLESBERG

Antony and Margie Osler

Dear friends,

Zen means meditation. Meditation means coming home.

For us at Poplar Grove home may be sitting on the stoep. For you it may be feet up on the couch, letting the hot water run down your back after a long day, running your hands through your hair, leaping through the sky.... All the sages of the past, present and future are calling to you – what are they saying? If you feel this in your bones, come and celebrate that with us; if you don’t, come find out for yourself. We’re not going anywhere. The cow yells for her calf, the wind whips sand against the back of my bony legs.

This past year has been very hectic – fascinating, funny and mad. Some of it involved the post-publication activities of Stoep Zen; the launches, the reviews, the second edition. Some of it was retreats and visitors to Poplar Grove – such interesting and wonderful people. Some of it was family stuff – like Emma going off to the UK to work and Sarah’s last year at school before she heads off to Texas as an au pair. Then there is the usual farm stuff – watching the lambs tumble on the veld, hearing the shearers sing hymns in the zendo, rebuilding the corner of the shearing shed that the wool lorry broke. Such a great mix of things every way we face. In the meantime Margie helps schoolchildren from the squatter camp who struggle to hold a pencil and I drive off to the cities to listen to lawyers. From 2010 my legal work will be reduced, leaving more time at home and more time for sharing the place with others.

The building and preparation of rooms is complete for the moment; we could, of course, have more upmarket facilities if our finances allowed it but we have now at least got 8 comfortable rooms for single persons or couples. Most of them have shared ablutions and all are in or around the homestead - by request, we do not have electricity in rooms outside the main house. The present project is a pair of ‘koppiekamers’ – simple hermitages built into the koppie as invisibly as possible, with earth roofs. Of course the maintenance of the homestead is continuous and repairs are a constant feature of our life here.

Many people have asked for their names to be added to the mailing list for visits and retreats and we hope we have captured them all. This newsletter is about our activities at the farm for 2010.

THE APRIL 2010 PRACTICE PERIOD and RETREATS

We are setting aside time for our own Zen practice from Wednesday 31st March through to Saturday 1st May 2010. And we want to share it with others. The Practice Period will start and end with a Stoepzen retreat. People can choose to come for one or both retreats, they can come for a period of daily practice between retreats, or for a mixture of retreats and daily practice, or for the whole period – a mix-n-match Practice Period.

The basic daily Practice Period schedule consists of formal meditation (zazen) at sunrise and sunset, a short daily talk, a morning work period on a project around the homestead, and three simple vegetarian meals. The rest of the time can be used in any way you like – for activities such as more meditation, hiking, stoep-sitting, bird-watching, reading, or doing nothing at all. Part of each day will be spent in silence. Anyone wishing to do a solo retreat during this time can do so by arrangement.

At the start and end of the Practice Period are the two Stoepzen retreats:-

The first is the Easter retreat from the evening of Wednesday 31 March 2010 through to mid-day on Wednesday 7 April 2010.
The second is the Freedom Day retreat from the evening of Saturday 24 April 2010 through to mid-day on Saturday 1 May 2010.

The two retreats are both based around public holidays so that people have a chance to take off work and to travel; you are, of course, free to stay for the daily practice on either side of a retreat as well.

The Poplar Grove Stoepzen retreats are each open to a maximum of 10 people. They follow a simplified monastic schedule adapted to the Karoo farm location, they contain both group and individual practice and they are not aligned to any particular school or institution. The retreats are hosted by Margie and Antony together, while the formal aspects will be led by Antony in a way that should be comfortable for both beginners and experienced meditators.

Each retreat is conducted in silence. The daily schedule begins in the zendo (the meditation barn) at sunrise with chanting, sitting and walking meditation; after breakfast there is a talk and continuing meditation together with Zen-style interviews, then a light work period and a short meditation; after lunch there is personal practice time, followed by gentle exercises and meditation; the day closes with supper, then an informal discussion or reading, and it finishes with a bedtime meditation. There are three simple vegetarian meals each day. The thrust of the retreat is not endless zazen but a continuity of attention in everything we do.

Accommodation is provided in six single rooms for individuals or couples and two rooms each containing two single beds. Most rooms have shared ablutions. Bedding is provided but not towels or toiletries - a torch is recommended, as well as walking shoes. People booking for a retreat will be allotted whatever accommodation is available on a first-come-first-served basis but requests will be complied with where possible.

A daily charge of R300,00 per person per day will be levied for the Practice Period and retreats. In traditional Buddhist style, the teaching is offered free. However, the daily charge does not cover the ongoing renovation costs or the cost of equipping the facilities – any contributions towards these expenses will be gratefully received.

A booking form and directions are attached below; please fill in the booking form and send it to Margie (the instructions are on the form). Margie will let you know if we have been able to fit you in.

It would be wonderful to see you and to practise with you at Poplar Grove.

STOEP ZEN: THE BOOK

The book has been well-received and is now into its second print, where some of the errors and shortcomings in the first edition have been rectified. It should still be available in most outlets and also through internet book providers. Signed copies are available at Poplar Grove for R150,00 plus postage.

GROUPS, GROUP RETREATS, SOLO RETREATS ON REQUEST

During 2009 a number of groups held retreats or visits at Poplar Grove by arrangement. Some were book clubs and bird clubs, some were personal growth groups, some were groups wanting to hold their own retreat in a formal setting, while some individuals did a solo retreat. Usually, Margie and I host the visitors by providing the farm and meditation facilities plus accommodation and meals - sometimes we also give basic meditation instruction or talks on Zen. This arrangement worked well and persons or groups who want to make such a plan can contact Margie about it.

The Soccer World Cup will be held in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2009. If you want to get away from the crowds and off the roads then come and enjoy the brilliant Karoo winter (just bring your long underwear and cap!).

Please note that Marguerite van der Merwe is planning to hold a retreat/workshop on Integral Body Sense at the farm from 9-15 October 2010. Marguerite is an exceptional teacher in her field and, besides the application of the Alexander Technique, the event includes also Tai Chi, meditation, conscious walking, music, poetry and reading. Interested persons can contact Marguerite at margsmerwe@telkomsa.net.

GUEST ACCOMMODATION

Remember that the self-catering guest cottage is available at various times when retreats are not running. The price for this is presently R250,00 per person per day for guests over 12 years old. This facility has been used over the holiday period for persons and families travelling through the Karoo but it is particularly suitable for those staying longer than one night – people needing a rest from the city, who wish to do a retreat on their own or who need peace and quiet for a particular project.

RETREATS BY ANTONY AT OTHER VENUES

Antony will be at the Buddhist Retreat Centre near Ixopo for Wesak at the end of May 2010 (which is also the BRC 30th birthday) and will be leading his annual Woman’s Day retreat there in August 2010.

CHANGE IN CONTACT DETAILS

The name of our website is changing from ‘antonyosler.co.za’ to ‘stoepzen.co.za’. The website itself is being updated and improved. This newsletter will be posted on the website, as will our quarterly practice notes about our Zen practice. Margie and Antony’s email details are also changing to fit in with the website - Margie’s is now margie@stoepzen.co.za and Antony’s is antony@stoepzen.co.za. Our other contact details remain the same.

Thank you for all the interest and support during 2009. We really look forward to sharing this quiet space with you and to practising together in 2010.