Jaya Ashmore's Australia Visit 2013
Jaya Ashmore is the co-founder of Open Dharma and has been leading retreats in India and Internationally for over 15 years. This will be Jaya's 3rd visit to Melbourne.
Open Dharma offers teachings and retreats to encourage people from around the world to live a liberated life. Silence, nature, and deep rest are some of the basic human tools we offer to help each person deepen in her or his unique way. Since 1999, teachers have specialized in adapting meditation instructions to individual needs and in creating an atmosphere of gentleness and self-motivated exploration. Guided meditation; investigation of texts from diverse spiritual traditions; Jin Shin Jyutsu; and connected movement also enrich our retreats. However, we emphasize that the instructions we give are secondary to the instructions of one’s own heart.
Melbourne Itinerary
Summary of Jaya's Melbourne visit
October 31st, 7pm, Northcote. Meditation and Talk
November 1-5, Residential Retreat, Yarra Valley
November 7th, 7pm, Northcote. Meditation and Talk
November 9th, 9am-5pm, Meditation Day, North Fitzroy, Melbourne
November 10th, 9am-5pm, Meditation Day, North Fitzroy, Melbourne
November 11th, 7.15pm, Meditation and Talk, Ceres, Brunswick East
Full details of Jaya's visit are listed below
Evening Meditation and teachings
Jaya will give a guided meditation and talk followed by time for question and answer and a chai
Thursday October 31st, 7pm - 9.15pm
Thursday November 7th, 7pm - 9.15pm
Cost: $15 + Dana for the teachings
Venue: 38 Urquhart St, Northcote
Residential Retreat with Jaya Ashmore
November 1st - 5th, (4 nights)
Venue: Casa Pallotti, Millgrove in Yarra Valley
Cost: $320 + Dana
This Silent Deep rest retreat with Jaya is a
chance to enter a space of radical transformation through rest at cellular, mental, and spiritual levels. Relaxing back behind the habit-energies that often rule our lives, we can discover who we really are. Our true potential can more easily unfold. Letting go of counterproductive ways of doing, we train in letting creative energy pour through in unexpected tenderness and clarity. The silence and the loving atmosphere of retreat facilitate radical experimentation and fertile, honest questioning: What brings ease and what overly accelerates or drains us? What hangs heavy on our hearts? What allows full participation in this life? What is life?
Click here to see a pictorial description of what a Retreat can be
Click here for a sample schedule and more retreat details
Click here to download the residential retreat details
Weekend Non- Residential Retreat with Jaya
Nov 9th & Nov 10th 9am-5pm
Mark St Hall, Fitzroy North
Cost: $60 per day
Come either Saturday or Sunday or both days.
Includes vegetarian lunch on both days.
Bookings are Essential so we know catering numbers:
Enquiries: Ph 0412 018962
What to expect
Jaya will offer meditation instructions and guided meditations, Dharma talks, question and answer sessions and during the residential retreat there will be opportunities for personal interviews.
Along with sitting and walking meditation, we encourage you to experiment with breaking the mould of meditation as a competitive practice and try lying down for meditation. Radical rest turns out to be surprisingly, and delightfully, undemanding.
We emphasize the importance of tuning in closely to one’s unique path, of falling in love with one’s own awakening, including all its joys and rigors. Rather than promoting short-lived spiritual fireworks, we cultivate long-term friendships. We also continually experiment with different formats for teachings and retreats with the aim of bringing love and wisdom into “real” life.
Jaya Ashmore (left in picture with Gemma from Open dharma) has dedicated her life to spiritual awakening—both in her own meditation since 1986 and in helping spark breakthrough and depth for others since 1999. The main influences on her teaching are: her youth in a Christian family, Tibetan and Theravada Buddhist practice, her six years with Advaita master Sri Poonjaji, her fifteen years of practicing Jin Shin Jyutsu, and her long-time friendship with her colleague Ajay Singh. She has lived most of her adult life in India, and now also spends half the year at Dharmaloca in northeastern Spain.
Bookings and Questions
If you have any questions after reading this then please do call or email us. Jaya is being hosted in Melbourne by Anton. Mitra will be the manager for all of Jaya's events in Melbourne and will be taking the bookings and all email enquiries.
Click here to down load practical information for the residential retreat
Contact Anton 0412 018962 for all enquiries about the teachings and approach of Open Dharma
Bookings Email Mitra: Click here To book your place
Volunteers Needed
Open Dharma is a not for profit organisation and we rely totally on the good will of organisers and volunteers to make a visit like this happen. If you would like to assist in any way with Jaya's visit, please send us an email and let us know how you might be able to help. Specifically we are looking for assistance with
- Flyer distribution and promotion of the visit
- Cooking for the weekend and residential retreat. For the residential retreat we envisage sharing the cooking between a few people so we can all enjoy the retreat.
- Before the retreat, collecting supplies for the retreat (food etc) and transporting them to Candlebark
- Lifts to Candlebark for people without cars and people coming from interstate
If you are interested then please email us
Thanks!
Please note: For anyone coming from interstate or overseas, we will endeavour to arrange for lifts from Melbourne city to Casa Pallotti before the retreat and then back to the city afterwards. Shuttles run from Melbourne airport to the city every 20 minutes.
DANA ~ Dana is a Pali word (the language used at the time The Buddha lived) which means the practice of generosity, or offering. DANA is a completely different way of relating to what is offered. Rather than a commercial transaction, DANA expresses the love and appreciation for what has been received. The daily rate you pay for the retreat covers food costs, Airfares and travel costs, basic bills, organisational costs, printing and any other set up costs for the retreat. Nobody receives any kind of salary. The DANA boxes that are put out at the end of each retreat support The Teachers and The tradition itself. DANA is not tips, it is not a token gesture, it is the vital resource that allows these retreats and tradition to continue.
This is a living tradition that is thousands of years old and we are now the holders of this tradition. The generosity of countless people over the centuries has brought us to this point now where we can offer this retreat on the basis of Dana. In other words, when you come to our retreats you are being nourished by the generosity of people who came before you. Your generosity now is the resource that enables us to continue to offer retreats in the future so other people may also benefit and keep the tradition alive.
Be as generous as you wish.
Please, support those who support the Dharma.
To Register
Please include
- Your full name
- Male or female (for room allocation)
- Age
- Method of payment (for Direct Debit details email us)
Please note: We only accept Retreat registrations with full payment.
How to Pay
~ By bank transfer (direct debit)
~ Cheque (AUD only) made payable to Anthony Eastick, send to 38 Urquhart St, Northcote, Vic
For further information about the residential retreat, please download the retreat info
on the link below.
Click here to down load practical information for the retreat
Giving of service or Karma yoga ~ Opendharma retreats are fully run by volunteers, no one gets paid for the work they do. In this way we are able to keep the costs down. Therefore In the same spirit we ask that everyone who comes to our retreats contributes one hour of their time each day towards the running of the retreat. This may be anything from washing up, veggie chopping, cleaning or something else connected with running the retreat. We thank you in advance.
