DHARMA GAIA
Centre of Mindful Living
TheN... and noW...
Dharma Gaia was originally set up by a small group led by Sister Shalom — that was in 2001 some years before she decided to ordain. In 2004 she received Lamp Transmission (Approval to Teach) from Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh and in 2007 she became a novice, receiving full ordination from Thich Nhat Hanh in 2011.
Over the past 20+ years, hundreds of people from around the world have attended retreats and come to volunteer at Dharma Gaia learning and being part of the practice. The Community of practice often develops new courses and ways of sharing the practice according to the current needs of humanity. Our current focus is in deepening our own capacity to live grounded in stability, peace and awareness.
Sister Shalom is the Spiritual Director of Dharma Gaia and offers retreats and training for our residents and retreatants. We are also blessed to be deeply supported by the long-term residential sangha, Anton Bank and Caitlin Bush our Auckland based Dharma Teachers, and many beloved local and national practitioners who offer their presence, time, and material support for our community.
LIVING PRESENCE IN COMMUNITY
The life of community is living and empowering others to live mindfully with presence, joy and unity is our main focus.
The Retreats
Our retreats are always grounded in Presence practice - Mindful Living, and are often orientated toward a particular focus. Some are weekend retreats, some for several days or a week and some are for longer periods such as our Winter Rains Retreat.
The Dharma Gaia Teachers also respond to requests to offer retreats for community groups, organisations, particularly in the helping professions. These retreats are held at Dharma Gaia, as well as other centres around New Zealand.
Personal Time to simply ‘Be’ at Dharma Gaia
We enjoy welcoming many people to spend time here outside of organised retreats, to just ‘be’ here. People come for many different reasons… to have some quiet space, to rest, contemplate, be nourished by nature, heal a sorrow, clear the mind and heart, do their own personal practices and even to have a quiet and centered environment to complete an important piece of work or writing. Some guests have a Meditation or Mindfulness background and others come with no knowledge at all, just a strong need for rest and peace and time to reflect. We respect the Retreatants' needs to be in private or in community with us, ensuring they know they are welcome to join activities and practices if they wish.
DHARMA gAIA ALSO OFFERS OPPORTUNITIES TO VOLUNTEER
In depth details about our two volunteer programmes can be found on the volunteer programme pages here.
The great blessing of the Garden, the forest and the nature
The garden is a major focus for our practice and we know how healing and wholesome it can be to work mindfully in the garden. Some enjoy just ‘pottering around’ in the garden alone or alongside others and everyone appreciates the miracle of organic gardening when preparing and eating meals that they have helped to grow.
The forest is a refuge… it welcomes all. And there are beautiful walking paths and profound sanctuaries on the land that in every natural way invite us home to ourselves.
PHOTOS FROM LIFE AT DHARMA GAIA
“it is never too late to rethink
the choices we make
of how we think and live”
READ MORE ABOUT:
REGULAR EVENTS
RETREATS AT DHARMA GAIA
OUR VOLUNTEER PROGRAMME
personal-retreats
UPCOMING RETREATS:
Take a retreat in this moment...
This moment is the perfect opportunity to pause, to retreat...
INSPIRATION FOR YOUR DAY
Inspiration
