http://www.fourwindslao.com/Welcome: Vinyana Buddhist Meditation Group is based at Four Winds Garden Retreat near Cairns, North Queensland. We deliver meditation retreat opportunities and provide a unique service for those who want to study the Dhamma and practice Buddhist Meditation.
All are welcome to engage in our activities and projects. Whether you are just beginning an interest in Buddhist philosophy and practice or if you already have experience you are welcome to visit and practice in our peaceful surrounds. We deliver short and longer term courses, as well as meditation and information sessions.
You are also invited to participate in our outreach activities to give aid to those members of our Buddhist community in greatest need.
THE VINYANA GROUP IS A BUDDHIST MEDITATION GROUP FOR PEOPLE INTERESTED IN THERAVADA BUDDHIST LAY PRACTICE. IT IS BASED AT THE FOUR WINDS RETREAT CENTRES BEING DEVELOPED IN AUSTRALIA AND LAOS.
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS IN LAO PDR:
Four Winds Garden Retreat
Village freight enterprise
Clothes for Kids Dana Project - Northern Lao
Students' Dormitory - Muang Ngoi Gow School
Medical Kits for Clinics - Northern Lao
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION ON HOW YOU CAN HELP PLEASE GO TO OUR
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS PAGE About our PracticeOur approach to practice follows the tradition established by Luang Por Chah, the famous Lao/Thai master. He urged his disciples to develop an wholistic approach with equal attention to moral behaviour, regular meditation, the promotion of wise patterns of thought and to be ever mindful of our moods.
About Us The Directors:
Peter and Semone have a long association with Buddhist practice and philosophy in Australia. Semone was a founding resident at Wat Buddha Dhamma near Wiseman's Ferry. This was the first Theravada Buddhist Forest Monastery in Australia. Originally set up by Pra Khanti Palo and Aya Khema in 1978 the Wat had resident monks and lay community living and practising the Dhamma on a pristine 300acre property in the Dharug National Park. Semone lived there for four years practising and providing lay support to the Sangha.
Peter spent more than five years practising and training as a bhikkhu in the forest tradition of North East Thailand under the guidance of Loom Por Sah, between 1977 and 1983. Peter learnt to speak Thai and Lao and was able to translate original talks given by Ajahn Chah into English, particularly during the 1980 rains retreat. That year Ajahn Chah resided for the Vassa at Wat Bah Pong. During that retreat Loom Por was at the peak of his teaching prowess and gave many inspirational and spontaneous desanas.
In the day time he would sit under his Kuti and receive guests from all over Thailand and the world. Peter took the opportunity and spent many hours during the retreat under the kuti chatting with Loom Por, listening to him talk to guests and generally indulging in the aura of this great teacher. It was to be Loom Por's last effective Pansah before a creeping illness gradually took control of his body and debilitated him. By 1982 Loom Por's effective teaching years were over though he lived on until 1992 when over a million people attended his funeral celebrations, such was the reverence he had achieved.
In recent years Peter and Semone have had a successful career in Community Development and Vocational Training working with Aboriginal communities in Central Australia. In 2010 they decided to take a new direction in life and began to travel again in South East Asia. Gradually they have returned to the practice of Dhamma and are developing two properties as meditation retreat facilities.
Four Winds is located 80 kilometres South of Cairns in North Queensland. It is a 26 hectare property, one third of which is World Heritage Rainforest. It is situated in an ideal location for a retreat, close to the beach, mountains and waterfalls. The block in Lao PDR is at Paksi on the banks of the Mekong River just 20 kilometres South West of Luang Pabang in Northern Laos. It is just five kilometres from the beautiful Kuang Si waterfall.
Our mission:
* to design a routine of daily Buddhist best practice suited to people who do not have easy access to members of the Theravada Bhikkhu Sangha.
* to develop a lifestyle that will provide the best circumstances for lay Buddhists to practice at the highest level.
* to build a world wide support network of lay practitioners of the Theravada Buddhist tradition
* to facilitate the research and contemporary study of Dhamma and provide information to assist practitioners in the form of courses, articles, observations and advice.
* to promote the Vinyana Group way of practice and understanding of Dhamma as a contemporary approach to Buddhist practice.
* to establish meditation retreats in suitable locations around the world.
* to coordinate the delivery of Dana Projects in needy Buddhist communities. In particular we aim to support community development in remote communities of Lao PDR through Dana projects in village schools, clinics and temples.
Contact Us Address Lao PDR: Sayaburi Rd., Ban Paksi, Luang Phabang,
Phone: 856 020 23889004
Australia: 1076 Bramston Beach Road, Bramston Beach, Queensland, 4871
Phone: 61 07 40674184
Email: cde.fourwinds@gmail.com