SPRING GINKO

creek's mirror:
rain circles in the sky,
the currawong call.

Christopher McLean

What a beautiful haiku, suggesting so much, and across the different senses. It lingers. Christopher wrote this at the playshop with myself and Gary Gach, back in April.

But now the sap is rising - my peach tree is giddy with blossoms - hover flies and bees are drunk with the amount of burrowing into blooms! Insects are re-appearing, wattle trees are gorgeous in their Tour de France yellows, birds in their mad mating dashes are here ..... gone! And splashes of warm days amid the occasional frost all make for renewal, our creative juices rise up. So set forth with me in October , when I will again be offering a ginko at Lawson in conjunction with Ben Roberts café.
Sat October 8, with meditation beginning at 8:30 a.m. in the Guide Hall, and then the playshop will begin at 9:30 a.m. at Ben Roberts, where we’ll have a civilized morning tea to begin our look at how to express spring. The ginko (haiku walk) will proceed from there, no need to hop into a car first.
Main details:
• Sat October 8th, 9:30am - 2 pm.
• $100 (conc. avail.)
• children over 8 years welcome
• lunch at Ben Roberts café ($12.50) optional. Bookings essential
• Book in by September 9th, numbers limited
• meditation ( optional) before and afterwards

A recent haiku.…

Bert’s old fence
wire slackened and curling out
cannot hold the wind
DL

BM YATRA and ELDERS YATRA

I will again be offering a Blue Mountains yatra, a day of mindful walking. The date is October 22, and I was out and about, looking for a secluded but well-formed , gentle yet spectacular, warm but not too hot, trail for meditators and poets alike. And I found it!

• meet Linden railway station northern carpark, 8a.m.
• $20 to cover costs
• walking meditation
• seated meditation, swimming meditation as well!
• for people of middlin' levels of fitness

I am also going to offer a yatra for elders, on Sunday 9 October. The walk will be about 2 to 3 hours in length and easy. We will be most fortunate in doing tai ch'i with teacher Donald Elniff. He has spent decades of learning this movement art from great teachers in Taiwan, and now teaches in the upper mountains. And, as always, we will meditate in nature. The track I have in mind is in Lithgow near the Newnes plateau. Because there are 2 small challenging sections gradient -wise, ( that is to say, they go up) after a creek crossing, it is a Grade 1-2 walk. Otherwise the walk is on a well-formed track along a creek, with gorgeous cliffs either side. It is close to the town, so those people who want to catch a train there and back, will have no transport hassles.

• $20
• walking, meditation, tai ch'i
• easy grade walk
• bring lunch and morning tea
• meet 9 a.m. Lithgow Station north side

Please give me a call or email about any of these offerings. Gassho, D