Saturday 31st December, Sunday 1st January
Hut of the Happy Omen, Cheltenham

In this workshop we’ll be exploring some of the samadhi and Insight practices taught by Rob Burbea, the much loved British dharma teacher and author of the book Seeing That Frees: Meditations on Emptiness and Dependent Arising. The view of samadhi taken is one where samadhi does not at all have to be a narrow sharp one pointed concentration: it can be much broader and softer.

The workshop is for people who already have some experience in mindfulness practice. It can be seen as an introduction to the samadhi and insight teachings or as a practice weekend for people who have done one of the Seeing That Frees online courses.

Format: There’ll be short talks, generally no longer than 20 minutes, sparsely guided meditations, usually 30 minutes but sometimes 45, time to talk about what happened or didn’t happen in the practice sessions, tea breaks and time for short walks in the bush.
 
Please bring a plate of food to share for lunch, as well as a plate or bowl, cup, cutlery, a hat, sunscreen, and sitting gear.  There are chairs in the hut. Tea will be provided.

The Teacher: Victor von der Heyde has been a dharma teacher since the late 1990s. He was a co-founder of Sydney Insight Meditators and a student of Rob Burbea from 2012 to 2020. He has a particular interest in helping people find meditations that work well for them.

When 9:30 to 5:30 each day.
The Saturday will be focussed on samadhi and the Sunday will be focussed on Insight.

Cost: The workshop will be run on a dana basis. Half the dana goes to the National Trust who have generously allowed us to use the Hut at no set cost.

Bookings and directions​. Bookings are free but please register by emailing:  
dharmacloud [at] dharma.org.au​  (replace at with @)
and you will receive directions to the Hut. There's a limit of 14 people for the workshop.

The Hut of Happy Omen
The Hut was built in 1949 by Marie Byles, one of the founding members of the Buddhist Society of NSW. It was built for dharma practice and it is very much in it's original condition with original furnishings. It is now owned by the National Trust and part of Marie Byles larger property called Ahimsa Sanctuary. It is mostly open on one side and looks out over bushland, part of Pennant Hills Park, and over the small house where Marie Byles lived. There's established walking tracks in the bush accessible from the Hut.
The Hut is about a half hour drive from the Sydney CBD and a fifteen minute walk from Cheltenham station on Sydney's north.
We're grateful to the National Trust for being able to use the Hut.