Aotearoa Buddhist
Education Trust

Support Martine and Stephen Batchelor’s visit

During November 2010, Martine and Stephen will be offering two residential retreats, one daylong retreat and two public talks.

Their visit to New Zealand is being coordinated by Ramsey Margolis.

Donate now

You can make a donation by internet banking by making a transfer into the ABET bank account. The account number for the fund to pay Stephen and Martine Batchelor's travel costs is 03 - 1355 - 0600085 - 01. Or go into any New Zealand bank to make the payment -- preferably SBS Bank, or Westpac.

Clicking the Donate button below opens a new window to a secure website through which you can make a donation to the fund for Martine and Stephen Batchelor by credit card via givealittle. 

Whichever country your card was issued in, your donation will be in New Zealand dollars.

The figure above for the amount raised is what has been donated through givealittle. The fund for Martine and Stephen Batchelor currently contains $1,432.07 (31 October 2010).

About Martine and Stephen Batchelor

Martine Batchelor lived in Korea as a zen nun under the guidance of Master Kusan for ten years. She is the author of Meditation for Life, The Path of Compassion, Women in Korean Zen and Let Go: A Buddhist Guide to Breaking Free of Habits.

A member of the Gaia House Teacher Council, she teaches meditation retreats worldwide and lives in France. Her latest work is Spirit of the Buddha.

www.martinebatchelor.org

Stephen Batchelor was a buddhist monk in the Tibetan and zen traditions for ten years. Known for his agnostic and secular approach to the buddhadharma, he has written several books, including the bestselling Buddhism Without Beliefs.

His most recent book, Confession of a Buddhist Atheist, was published in March 2010. Find out more at:

http://www.randomhouse.com/spiegelandgrau/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780385527064

www.stephenbatchelor.org

Martine and Stephen live in France and teach seminars and lead meditation retreats worldwide. Talks given by Stephen are available here, and talks by Martine are available here.

New Zealand 2010 programme

 

• Fri 5 November • 5 to 7.30pm

St Andrews on The Terrace, Wellington

Can Christianity and Buddhism Remain Relevant in the 21st Century?

Panel discussion with Stephen Batchelor and Lloyd Geering

This will take place in the large meeting room upstairs behind the church and is organised jointly by St Andrews Trust for the Study of Religion and Society and Aotearoa Buddhist Education Trust

Entry by koha

 

• Sun 7 November • 9am to 5pm

Daylong retreat led by Martine Batchelor
31 Hobson Crescent, Thorndon, Wellington

Letting Go

When we break free from the habits that limit us, a new world of possibilities opens up. In her most recent book Let Go, Martine Batchelor leads the way there.

Negative patterns of mind may manifest as fear, avoidance, depression, addiction, judgement or self or other – and any of a host of other physical, mental or psychological forms.

At this retreat, Martine will share her understanding of what really lies at the root of these behaviours so we can reclaim their control, offering guided meditations as a tool to work with negative habits in a new and creative way. You don’t have to be a buddhist for them to work – you just need to want to move on.

While there will be no fee to attend, dana will be collected both for the teacher and for Wellington Insight Meditation Community to cover the costs of running the retreat.

For more information, send an email to Sarah Talboys or phone/text 021 261 0542.

 

• Sun 7 November • 7pm to 9.30pm

Public talk by Stephen Batchelor
Lecture Theatre RHLT1, Rutherford House, Victoria University of Wellington, Lambton Quay

Deconstructing Buddhism

Based on an examination of early discourses found in the Buddhist Pali Canon, Stephen will explore the question: what did the Buddha teach that was distinctively and originally his own? By differentiating the Buddha’s teachings from the ideas of Indian religion and metaphysics that prevailed at his time he will seek to uncover a clearer sense of the Buddha’s message and then consider what relevance it still has for people living in the modern world.

Dana for Stephen will be collected on the night. Our thanks to Victoria University of Wellington School of Religious Studies for their help in organising this meeting.

For more information about this talk, send an email to Ramsey Margolis or phone text 021 97 35 31.

 

• Mon 8 November 6pm to Sun 14 November 1pm

Meditation and study retreat led by Martine and Stephen Batchelor
Tauhara Centre, Taupo

Secular Buddhism

What is distinctive about the Buddha’s teaching that sets it apart from mainstream Indian religious tradition? Through exploring this question, we will try and recover the radical, non-mystical core of Siddhattha Gotama’s vision. By discarding metaphysical beliefs, we will envisage a thoroughly secular Buddhism, which is focused entirely on responding to the suffering of this world. While Pali texts from the early Buddhist scriptures will form the basis of our enquiry, we will interpret them in ways that illuminate their contemporary relevance.

The retreat will be held in silence except for a 45 minute study seminar each afternoon. Stephen will teach an hour a day in the morning, and Martine will teach 45 minutes in the evening. Apart from that, each day we will sit four times 45 minutes and twice 30 minutes, and walk twice for 45 minutes.

For more information, a copy of the texts to be studied and to book a place on this retreat, send an email to Ramsey Margolis.

UPDATE 25/9/10 : Three people have pulled out in the last week so there are now places available.

 

• Mon 15 to Sun 21 November

Retreat led by Martine and Stephen Batchelor
Staveley Camp, near Methven

This retreat will draw on ideas from Theravada, Tibetan and Zen buddhism as a means of bringing into clearer focus the questions life poses us. By coming to rest in a still, focussed awareness of the present moment, we will embark on a series of reflections and enquiries into the nature of that experience. Such meditation will not be regarded as an end in itself but as a ground from which to engage with the world in a fresh, non-dogmatic and imaginative way.

For more information and to book a place on this retreat, send an email to Southern Insight