Sangha

“The next Buddha will be a Sangha”— Thich Nhat Hanh

To facilitate the hosting of events both at home and elsewhere, we have created a not-for-profit association called Gaia Forest Sangha. The main activities of the group are the hosting of nature immersion and wilderness walking retreats, days of mindfulness and working bees at Gaia Forest, and other practice opportunities that combine meditation, mindfulness, nature connection, forest restoration and regenerative farming.

We also have a fortnightly online sangha that meets for meditation and sharings around the theme of eco-Dharma. If you are interested to join that group please contact us.

To find out about upcoming events, you can also subscribe to our newsletter, or keep a lookout on our events page. If you have a specific question you can also drop us a message, we’d love to hear from you. If you would like to make a donation to support our activities, please visit our donation page.

Sangha aims:

For our constitution, the aims of Gaia Forest Sangha are as follows:

• To co-create spiritual community that supports its members in the cultivation of transformation and healing through the study and practice of Mindfulness in daily life.

• In particular to cultivate the insight of interbeing as it manifests in connection with nature, especially through silent walking retreats in beautiful wild places.

• To manifest our practice not only in our own lives but also in service to, and for the benefit of, our communities, our society and our precious planet.

• To be guided In this endeavour by the Five Mindfulness Trainings and the Fourteen MIndfulness Trainings of the Order of Interbeing.

To do this in particular by:

• Providing the structures and processes for people of all ages and walks of life to enjoy mindful bushwalking retreats, nature immersion, “days of mindfulness”, and other activities in beautiful wild places, other natural spaces, and venues that otherwise engender physical, mental and emotional wellbeing through nature connection.

• Especially interweaving mindful walking in nature with embodied movement practices, meditation and
  other healing, restorative and creative modalities.

To do this in a way that:

• Draws on the wisdom of First Nations peoples to encourage Connection to Country

• Draws on the principles of Deep Ecology and the realisation of the insight of interbeing in terms of the
  “ecological self”; and

• Supports right livelihood for our full members.