Strength, Courage and the Spirit of Adventure

How would you live if you had real courage, if you had the strength to be truthful with yourself? What would your life be like if you were connected to your natural boldness, passion, and aliveness?

The spiritual journey can be one of excitement, independence, and adventure—a thrilling discovery of our capacities.

The quality of our nature that opens this possibility is essential strength, which gives us the sense "I can"—I can be who I really am. I can be real.

In this weekend retreat, we will explore how, by questioning our assumptions and exploring our personal history, and by learning to open up our anger and aggression in safe and healthy ways, we can reconnect with the fiery force of our natural boldness and strength.

As we contact our essential strength, it helps us to meet the world in a courageous and daring way, and allows us to engage the inner journey with liveliness and passion.

This retreat will be taught by Ashley Wain and Vivienne Leahy.

On the Diamond Approach and the New Aotearoa Group

Every spiritual path deals with our common human situation, and each path deals with it differently.

The Diamond Approach is a relatively new path, for people living a full human life in the world, who want to know who and what they are beyond their usual stories and ideas about themselves. It uses a range of powerful practices, as well as modern psychological knowledge, to help each person to explore their own experience in ways that bring deeper understanding, as well as the gradual revelation of our spiritual nature, in its vast rainbow of qualities and dimensions.

The Diamond Approach has been taught in New Zealand for over a decade. There is a large, established group that has developed over that time, which is now closed to new members. Diamond Approach New Zealand is now in the process of forming a new group, for those with a sincere interest in inner work and spiritual discovery. 

Retreats normally involve meditation, a teaching, experiential exercises in pairs, threes, or small groups, and opportunities to ask questions, share experiences and inquire further with a teacher. 

This retreat will mark the formal beginning of the new group. Retreats will remain open to the public and new people can join the group for the next few years. When the group has reached a sustainable size and composition, it will close to new members. 

Students who join after this retreat will need to make up the material taught from March 2025 onwards, ie beginning with this retreat on essential strength up to when they join the group. 

Times 

Friday     6.30-9.30  

Saturday   9.30-12.30

                    2.00-5.00 

Sunday    9.00-12.00

                     1.00-4.00

End times are approximate. 

Included in the cost of this retreat are three follow-up zoom sessions:

• Small Group Meeting: April 1, 6.30-9pm OR April 5, 9.30am-12pm

• Interim Teaching 1: May 7, 6.30-9.30pm

• Interim Teaching 2: June 14, 9.30am-12.30pm

Cost: $500

Current ongoing DANZ1 students repeating material pay a reduced fee of $225.