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The Bunya Mountains Meditation Retreat held in Queensland, Australia was the largest international retreat that we have held to date with forty-three students and teachers coming from many different parts of Australia and from as far as Malaysia, Norway, Canada and the USA. Having a group of this size was certainly a real highlight as we felt a greater strength in our goals, a sense of unity amongst everyone and all made many new friends.
The location of this retreat was magical – set on a secluded 22 acres and surrounded by pristine rainforest and an abundance of wildlife such as wallabies and many colourful species of birds, we couldn't have asked for a more peaceful and inspiring place to focus on our spiritual goals.
The focus of this retreat was on the inner work of self-knowledge - the search to discover, understand and change what is within us, and in particular, how we could do this naturally and with the intensity needed to make our changes real and lasting.
With this goal in mind we practiced lots of different spiritual exercises that were geared towards gaining a deeper understanding of ourselves and developing a greater yearning for our spiritual work. During the days we practiced meditation exercises, group mantras (vocalizations that stimulate chakras) to activate psychic faculties such as intuition, and took inspiring walks through the Bunya Mountains rainforest with the aim of being aware and experiencing the peace of the moment. Then at night we all did exercises to experience astral travel.
Listen to the group mantra practice we did of Aum Chi Va Tun E here.
Take a look at some footage from our awareness walks through the forest here.
Aside from these practices, we also just enjoyed the beautiful surrounds and each other’s company. We had a stargazing night, a song and music night with some talented students taking the lead, games of cricket, table tennis and bird feeding. In these moments we started to feel the magic of the spiritual work as it started to flow naturally into everything we did. We also had an early morning practice on one occasion where we pronounced the mantra 'U' outside on a hill as the sun rose and as the birds woke up for the morning.
Listen to the morning mantra U practice we did here.
We all gained so much from our time at the Bunya Mountains and took home a deeper understanding of the spiritual work that left us with a sense that something amazing had taken place over those five days.
Please now enjoy the photos and student feedback from the retreat that you will find below.
Australian wildlife was present at the retreat
Night view of the lodge
(Top L-R): Jason, Kurt, (Bottom L-R): Jasmine and Siva feeding the friendly crimson rosellas and king parrots.
Shane explains the group practice for the morning
The group takes some time to admire the view
Break time and an opportunity to talk and share experiences
Everyone singing together at the inspirational music night
Talking a walk through the rainforest
Everyone smiling on the last day of the retreat
Student Comments
This Australian retreat was an amazing experience. For me, it was the first time I actually met person to person with other gnostics, so I was pretty excited about the whole thing. It was so strengthening to do the practices with others in a group, to talk and discuss in-depth about them and the spiritual work, and generally to be at the Bunya Mountains, a beautiful place perfect for a spiritual retreat. I think everyone came out with their own pieces of experiences and understanding, and one could at times feel the strength generated from the group, especially when doing mantras all together (we were about 43 people!).
I remember being scared in the beginning that my own weaknesses would distort the strength of the group - and I had indeed difficulties with this in the beginning, but thanks to the very atmosphere of people being friendly and helpful, all trying to achieve the same goals and fighting together, this was easily fought off. And even though I didn't have any conscious astral experiences, I can fairly say that I learned very much about the inner psychological work, getting new insights on how to really do the awareness correctly, and taste how to apply one of the three keys naturally. And also, I especially enjoyed the singing we did on one night. It really brought the group together. I think many new friendships were formed on this retreat, which is always magical...
Thanks to everyone participating in this, it was truly great to meet you all, and thanks to the teachers that made it possible. Highly recommended for anyone who wants renewed boost and inspiration!
Knut (Norway)
When I was going to the retreat, I didn't really know what to expect. It was an amazing experience to get together with forty other like-minded people and concentrate on all the practices. Not only do you get the group strength when you are all practicing but also knowledge of many other people and answers to most of you questions, as each one gave feedback on how each practice went, what the main obstacles were and how to overcome them. At the same time, not only you feel more strength but you also take that strength home with so you can put more effort into organizing your day and implementing all the practices you have learned into your normal daily life. Last of all but most important is that the atmosphere of the retreat is just amazing. I don't think I ever felt so much strength and blissfulness for such long period of time, when you do not have any problems other than concentrating on what is the most important in life - the work upon oneself.
Stas (Toronto, Canada)
The retreat in California that I have previously attended was a very pleasant surprise in how much I got out of it. Even though the Master Belzebuub didn't attend, and he had in all the previous ones that I went to, it was still quite amazing. So after that I had the opportunity to, and decided that I would, go to the Australian retreat. Such a big investment definitely didn't go wasted.
I think that on the retreat in Australia I learned more about myself than ever. With the focus being on self-knowledge, I had quite some time to do some serious soul-searching and most of all, to see that I was more than capable of making progress spiritually and psychologically. We did lots of different activities, and I would have thought that the spiritual practices would have the most value and that everything else would be peripheral, but this viewpoint was challenged after nights of stargazing and of singing "campfire songs" together (even though we were indoors). On the night before the campfire songs my mind had been very active when I lay down to go to sleep, but on that night, after singing, a time after which I thought my mind would be really scattered, it was actually much much clearer than the previous one. I couldn't understand why, because I didn't think my day had been that great. Plus, it was really inspiring to do that, and it gave me some more perspective on what spirituality actually is and where it comes from. It was also fun to get some exercise playing cricket and ping-pong, and to push to be aware of myself while doing so. Finally, I understood that it was possible and that I didn't have to limit myself to a certain set of "spiritual" activities, so long as I did place the emphasis on the practices (which I did).
Best of all was the chance to meet a lot of Australians and a few from overseas as well, which really lifted my spirits. Practicing with about forty other people was a marked difference, one that I didn't fully notice until I came back to America and got back into routine life, which seems so different now. I managed to learn more about interacting with people, discovered that I'm not nearly as afraid of social activity as I was before (I was singing pretty loud that night), and made a lot of friends as well - which is really one of my favorite parts of a retreat, because friendship has been a huge motivation for me to keep going.
The landscape was beautiful, the walks were great, and everyone really came together in this search for self-knowledge. The whole thing was done really well.
Thanks to all the Teachers, Trainees and students who made it possible and great. I took home a lot of new understanding and strength with me to carry me through the new year.
Kevin (Berkeley, USA)
I really had a good learning experience at the retreat. As I'm located far from any centers and been practicing the exercises alone, it was a fresh new experience for me to practice in a group. It did take some time to get used to group practices but it was worth the trip.
It was also my first time having a direct discussion with teachers. Each teacher has their own style of teaching and this helped me to understand the subject better.
Meeting other students with different background was interesting. Each of them had their own reason for being interested in gnosis and their story often inspires others.
Overall the retreat was managed very well. It was fun and great learning experience. Thanks to all the teachers for putting in great effort to organize this event.
Siva (Malaysia)
The retreat at Bunya Mountains was a truly wonderful experience. As an online student, this was a fantastic opportunity to meet with like-minded people and to get a real sense of both the joys and difficulties of our work, and to clarify questions that I had. There was a perfect balance between practices and free time, which we could to use to further our practices, enjoy the wonderful energy of our surroundings, read or just relax. There were so many highlights, including our night of star-gazing, a sing-along with some amazing talents, our large group mantras and magical early morning mantra, and the wonderful walks through the rainforest. I just wish I could have "bottled" and brought back the amusing sound of the catbirds! ... but, I did bring back an incredible sense of strength and peace from my experience at the retreat.
Sue (Sydney, Australia)
I really enjoyed the retreat. I think I learnt something from everyone there. I went in wanting to improve my awareness and the disintegration of the egos as I thought I was going about this half hearted. The exercises during the days helped me to see and improve on parts of the inner work that I needed to work on. Over the course of the week I began to understand what it really means to work on myself moment to moment which is so important to progress with this work. The last couple of days I saw how the inner work can be done in a relaxed, fun and enjoyable way and gained a greater understanding of the virtues that can be gained on the path.
It was great meeting everyone at the retreat and getting some face to face teaching rather than just online. Now the challenge is to keep up the momentum that was built during the retreat!
Trent (Canberra, Australia)
During the Australian Retreat I had a fantastic time. It was really enjoyable to catch up with and meet students from around Australia and the world and take part in some wonderful practices with everybody.
I myself used the retreat to springboard my spiritual work into the new year. I went into the retreat in a heavy state and full of negativity. After the 5 days I came out the other side, enthusiastic and ready to take on any ego. In this regard the retreat went beyond my expectations. It did take some effort on my behalf, but with the strength that came from the group this was made a lot easier.
During the retreat I really focused on the awareness and the technique for eliminating the egos. I wanted to investigate and find a better way to live from moment to moment. I was fortunate that this was one of the main focuses for the week.
I discovered that I had some bad habits with the techniques and by further investigating this, I found how to do the work more naturally, and more importantly how enjoyable it was. I had moments of awareness and it made me realise how valuable it is to fight for these moments so as to inspire and strengthen yourself.
As a wise man keeps telling me, what I realised from the retreat is the importance of the fundamentals. “You have to get back to basics”
Thanks to everyone for putting in their efforts and making the retreat a really special time! I hope to see you all soon when we can do it all again.
Mark (Sydney, Australia)
Prior to the Retreat, I was stuck in entropy and weighed down by the everyday pull of my life. There was always an excuse such as work, the kids, house chores etc that easily distracted me from the spiritual work. I felt lost. The retreat has given me new found inspiration to keep trying, as well as a renewed drive to practice!
I was a little apprehensive and scared as this was my first retreat. However as soon as I arrived I could feel the strength within the Teachers, as well as within the diverse number of people. It was amazing to be in the company of such a large group, who were dedicated and united in the goal for self-observation.
The awareness walks provided me with more than just the moments of awareness but insights into the egos in the centres that I often neglect, such as the motor and instinctive centres.
The group mantra practices and the nightly astral practices were also beneficial! Setting clear daily goals also helped me work hard to achieve them.
I also found that listening to other students' feedback (as well as giving my own feedback) showed me that I wasn’t alone in my struggles as well as giving me alternative ways to further investigate different techniques.
I also enjoyed just having a chat to everyone as well as the star gazing night and the music performances! Thank you!
I want to extend my appreciation to the Teachers as well as the other students for helping me rediscover the motivation to keep going.
All the Best
Laraine (Sydney, Australia)
The Bunya Mountains Retreat was a fantastic retreat. I thoroughly enjoyed meeting people from all over the world, people who had so much to offer with their experience and insights. For a moment, on that mountain that seemed like an island in this chaotic world, untouched by time and worries, I felt what it was like to be surrounded by spiritually focused people with a common purpose – elevating and encouraging.
The music was great, the singing, naturally, was excellent. The sporting activities were relaxing, and to be fair in my observations, the Brisbane crew certainly dominated the hacky-sack arena with both skill and precision.
I find retreats are truly helpful, and this one certainly was; they take the focus back onto spiritual things, away from bosses, companies, bills, cars, money and the like, and remind you just how quickly you can pick things up with a little effort, to change your life – for when you go back to it.
Thanks to everyone who made this time away possible, and a big thanks to everyone who came to it from far and wide; it was a pleasure to meet you all and all the best for the future - until next time.
Kurt (Brisbane, Australia)
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