My favourite retreat centres:
- Vimutti Buddhist Monastery Bombay hills, Auckland
http://www.vimutti.org.nz/
- Te Moata, Coromandel
http://www.temoata.org/Te_Moata/Home.html
- Aio Wira Centre Waitakere, Auckland
http://aiowira.org.nz/
visit these websites for a great range of workshops and retreats
My favourite teachers:
- Nature
- Ajahn Chah - http://www.forestsangha.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=section&id=12&Itemid=6
-Teach Nath Hanh - http://www.plumvillage.org/thay.html
- Ajahn Sumedho - http://www.dharmaseed.org/teacher/10/
Poems, quotes and dharma talks/meditations:
quotes:
Quotes on presence
“If you can see it, hear it, feel it, taste it, touch it, or smell it, you can be present with it. It is of the present moment, and so it brings to you the opportunity to be present with it.” Leonard Jacob
“I long, as does every human being, to be at home wherever I find myself." Maya Angelou
“Every day is my best day; this is my life; I am not going to have this moment again.” Bernie
"When you wake up in the morning, Pooh," said Piglet at last, "what's the first thing you say to yourself?"
"What' for breakfast? said Pooh. "What do you say, Piglet?"
"I say, I wonder what's going to happen exciting today?" said Piglet.
Pooh nodded thoughtfully.
"It's the same thing," he said.
Poo and Piglet
“This place where you are right now, God circled on a map for you.” Hafiz
“Let go of the idea that the path will lead you to your goal. The truth is that with each step we take, we arrive. Repeat that to yourself every morning: 'I've arrived.' That way you'll find it much easier to stay in touch with each second of your day. Paulo Coelho
“We buy books, we go to gyms, we expend a lot of brain power on trying to hold back time, when we should be celebrating the miracle of being here in this world.” Paulo Coelho
“If you remember nothing else, always remember this one great secret of spiritual practice: we don't have to feel any particular way. We don't have to have special experiences, nor do we have to be any particular way. With whatever arises, whether it's pleasing or not, try to remember that all we can do is experience and work with whatever our life is right now. No matter what life is and no matter how we feel about it, all that matters in practice is whether we can honestly acknowledge what is going on, and then stay present with the physical experience of that moment.” Ezra Bayda
“The miracle is not to walk on water but to walk on earth.” Titch Nath Hanh
Listen – life is really going on, right now,
around us. Do you see it? Sometimes I lose it
but if I sit still and listen, it comes back,
and then I think, How funny, this is what being alive is.
Robin Morgan
“ How we spend our days is of course how we spend our lives.”
Annie Dillard
 For more quotes visit:
for many wonderful resources for mindfulness practice visit:
http://blog.gaiam.com/quotes/authors/ajahn-sumedho
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