A Day of Meditation, Subtle Activism, and Work That Reconnects with Ani Tsondru
Sat 25 Aug @ 10.30am - 4pm
Bring lunch to share
Creating a life-sustaining world and personal life of peace and joy means harmonising the inner and the outer.
Awakening our natural gratitude and joy is one part of this harmony, where we go beyond our neediness.
Awakening our ecological self is another, in which we find we are an extension of the natural world around us.
Both of these subtle aspects are the foundations of a life-sustaining world. They provide a stable foundation from which the Earth-connected bodhisattva, the Eco-sattva, reaches out to be of active help to all beings and to the Earth herself, as we move towards a life-sustaining society.
This day-long retreat will include meditation, gratitude practices, and working with the elements of earth, fire, water, air, and space, as we awaken our ecological self and explore our connection with all of life.
Contact capetown@kagyu.org.za for further information or to book.
Cost: Members R60 & Non-members R80
Concessions available
Dana (offering) is suggested. Dana to the teacher allows participants an opportunity to practice generosity and the teacher an opportunity to practice unconditional gratitude.
Ani Tsondru's Bio
Tsunma Tsondru is a nun in the Karma Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism, ordained by Tai Situ Rinpoche in 2007.
She first realized that she must be a Buddhist in the early 1990s when she attended a retreat at the BRC. After studying and working as a lawyer and environmental scientist she left it all behind to go to Spain with Lama Tsondru in 2003 to enter a traditional three and a half years closed retreat, followed by a second retreat of four years. Leading up to and during this time she received the traditional teachings and transmissions of the Kagyu Tibetan Buddhist lineage from HH Karmapa 17th, Situ Rinpoche, Sangye Nyenpa Rinpoche, Mingyur Rinpoche, Drupon Rinpoche, Akong Rinpoche, and the retreat Lamas, Lama Tsondru and Lama Jinpa.
Since returning to Cape Town she has served as the Buddhist member on the Board of the Southern African Faith Communities Environmental Institute (SAFCEI, a multi-faith NGO), and also been its Executive Director.
In 2015 she spent a 10-day intensive with Joanna Macy in California, engaging with the Work that Reconnects (WTR). After returning, she began to offer the first Work that Reconnects workshops in Cape Town and South Africa. It is important to bring our spiritual practice into the world. Of particular interest is ecophilosophy and activism, and the role that spirituality and ethics must play if we are to transform our economic and social systems in protection of Earth. Now Tsondru incorporates the Work that Reconnects into the teaching of Engaged Buddhism, which includes both meditation and action.
Tsondru dedicates her time to helping people reconnect with inner wilderness through teaching, leading contemplative Wilderness Within trails in the iMfolozi wilderness and other areas, and to being of service to SAFCEI.