Discussion Forum Discussion Forum

Retreat Centers

Metta-Retreat 2.-9. Oct 2014, with Visu Teoh, at Pauenhof in West Germany

Toggle
In October 2014, there will be a 7-day-Metta retreat at Pauenhof centre in West Germany from October 2nd to 9th.
It's led by Visu Teoh. I don't know the guy yet, but his writings/biodata indicate that he probably knows what he's doing.
http://visuteoh.net/teachings/metta-meditation-instructions.html
http://visuteoh.net/biodata.html

Here's the description of the retreat in german:
http://pauenhof.de/blog2/retreatskurse-2013/
And a shorter version in english:
http://pauenhof.de/blog2/suedlichesouthern-tradition/visu-teohvisu-teohvisu-teoh/

The talks/interviews will be in English, and there will be a German translation.

I'll be there to deepen my Metta practice and get a perspective on Metta which is probably slightly different than that of Bhante Sujato in order to improve my general intuition on what this is all about.

Does anyone know the guy? Is anyone else going there?

RE: Metta-Retreat 2.-9. Oct 2014, with Visu Teoh, at Pauenhof in West Germa
Answer
8/31/14 5:36 AM as a reply to bernd the broter.
I spent three days with Visu in July, on a Metta retreat (which was longer, but I had no time for more).

He is one of the most approachable teachers I've ever met, has a great deal of his own practice (partiularly in Vipassana, IIRC he trained mainly in Burma), knows the theory damn well also, although he does not talk about it much, unless asked. He is also reasonably critical about some Theravada traditions (e.g. the way women are approached, or how healthy it is to eat chocolate all the time). His English is delightful, very rich in vocabulary. The mix of metta with some vipassana was refreshing and very useful. I was translating for him, so I could see with how much compassion and true interest he was listening to all students. Next time I try the whole course.

Highly recommended.

RE: Metta-Retreat 2.-9. Oct 2014, with Visu Teoh, at Pauenhof in West Germa
Answer
9/11/14 4:13 AM as a reply to bernd the broter.
I already wanted to go to Pauenhof, it´s close to where I live.
Maybe we´ll see each other there if I can make it this time.

Cheers
Sven

RE: Metta-Retreat 2.-9. Oct 2014, with Visu Teoh, at Pauenhof in West Germa
Answer
9/11/14 12:17 PM as a reply to bernd the broter.
Sounds like an interesting retreat. I was looking into Metta retreats when i found this post. I am unable to attend the retreat in Germany, but found that Visu Teoh is doing a 2 day retreat  (27/28 september in the Netherlands). I will attend the 2 day retreat.

Thanks for the tip emoticon !

RE: Metta-Retreat 2.-9. Oct 2014, with Visu Teoh, at Pauenhof in West Germa
Answer
9/28/14 2:30 PM as a reply to bernd the broter.
I just returned from a two day retreat with Visu Teoh. It was really good.

He teaches very accessible, and he really embodies metta.

I highly recommend his retreats!

RE: Metta-Retreat 2.-9. Oct 2014, with Visu Teoh, at Pauenhof in West Germa
Answer
10/10/14 5:38 PM as a reply to bernd the broter.
Hi bernd the broter,

It's just too late for you... did you do the retreat? See it finished yesterday.

I met Visu last year (May 2013) in Malaysia. Really genuinely lovely warm guy. His wife is German and I met her whilst on retreat in Malaysia where they live (Penang) half the year (the other half spent in Europe, where he has his teaching schedule).

I finished the retreat a month or so after his wife had already left for Germany. So, didn't even have a "proper" intro through his wife but after emailing him he was very happy to meet me and indeed took me out 3 or 4 times for dinner/coffee. Very hospitable. And apologetic that they didn't have the space at the time to put me up for a few days. He had been a monk for 17 years before becoming disillusioned with the whole monastic hierarchy plus the us/them (monastics/lay) thing. Was very much into metta meditation. And you could see genuine warmth coming across.

Glad I spotted this thread because he came to mind whilst I was on retreat in Thailand and now that I'm back in UK I thought, be great to return the compliments sometime. 

~Piers