The seed of Khula Dhamma was planted in 2003 when a group of friends who shared the Vipassana meditation practice, moved onto an isolated farm to grow in their practice while living a simple life in nature.
Our name “Khula Dhamma”, combines the Xhosa word khula “grow” and the Pali word dhamma “the way or the path” to highlight our vision - to grow on the path of awakening.
We understand that it is vital that we each take responsibility for our own spiritual growth for the health and development of the community as a whole. Growing this way makes it easy to find our personal roles and ways in which we can enrich the life of the community.
We embrace the diversity of spiritual paths and welcome people of any religion or none.
We appreciate and find it helpfull to be reminded that:-
___ awareness that the destruction of life causes pain and suffering, strengthens our commitment to cultivating compassion and learning ways to protect the lives of people, animals, plants, and minerals.
___ awareness that exploitation, stealing and oppression causes pain and suffering, strengthens our commitment to practising generosity in our thinking, speaking and acting.
___ awareness that harmful sexual conduct causes pain and suffering, strengthens our commitment to cultivating responsibility and learning ways to support the safety and integrity of individuals, couples, families, and society.
___ awareness that unmindful speech and the unwillingness to listen causes pain and suffering, strengthens our commitment to cultivating loving, truthful speech and compassionate listening.
___ awaress that unmindful consumption causes pain and suffering, strengthens our commitment to cultivating good health, both physical and mental, by practising mindful eating, drinking and consuming.
SPIRITUAL LIFE
• We meet together to meditate, and we have regular spiritual discussion which we find is a valuable means for sharing questions, insights and understanding.
• We are currently using our community hall for meditation and intend to build a separate meditation hall.
• We will also build a retreat centre in a quite area on the farm that will compose of a meditation hall and accommodation.
• We have an annual communal 5-10 days retreat held here on the farm. All work stops completely; we create a space for silence, meditation, and /or activities that support the spirit of the retreat.
• We have regular silent days and short retreats.
• We enjoy creating space for sweat lodges, guided meditations, sound journeys and nature walks.
• We acknowledge rites of passage, such as Vision Quests and initiations to also be a tool in the process of self-discovery.
• We sometimes hold ceremony to celebrate natural cycles and “Holy Days”.
SOCIAL LIFE
All social activities are open to anyone who may be on the farm at that time. We value time to work together on the farm, have communal meals, picnic on the beach nearby, sit around the fire at night to chat and star-gaze, create music and sing and dance, watch films together, swim in our dam and take a walk down to the river.
We value openess, authenticity and compassion in our communications. We hold regular Talking/Listening Circles where there is space for everyone to share their views and knowledge. Decisions are based on consent among members. We have found the Non-Violent Communication (NVC) process to be a tool which supports groups to grow together.