Happy New Year – Summer Newsletter 2026
Dear Friends,
Happy New Year 2026.
Welcome to Summer and Welcome to the New Year!
The ending of the year is so often a time of busyness, where we have to be careful that we don’t get stressed and ‘wound-up’, rather that the calming and ‘winding-down’.
I do hope that you have had a pleasant end to the Old Year 2025 and a peaceful beginning to the New Year 2026 with some quality time with family and friends. I also hope that you have had some time to yourself to pause and ponder, sit and reflect on the year that has passed while also contemplating ideas and aspirations, intentions and motivations for this new year?
For myself I spent some days visiting my mother together with my brother. Also sharing some time with new friends and old friends. I also spent time in the garden clearing, cleaning, weeding and planting.
Certainly here on the Sub-Tropical Far North Coast of NSW, Summer is a time for great growth in the garden with the warmth and rain that happens at this time of year.
Summer and especially the New Year can be a time to consider our ongoing Spiritual Growth – particularly practices and wisdom perspectives that we might like to look at, learn about and engage for the year?
This might include ideas such as:
- Developing and Deepening our Meditation – Samadhi practice.
- Focussing on using the Four Spiritual Emotions (Kindness, Compassion, Joy for others, Equanimity) as we relate to others.
- Understanding the Four Noble Truths as a Philosophical approach to experience (This is Stress, It has a Cause, It has an Ending, There is a Practice Path to its Ending) developing dispassion and insight freedom.
- Sourcing the Seven Awakening Factors (Mindfulness, Investigation, Energy, Joy, Tranquillity, Concentration, Equanimity) as we engage the challenges of life.
- Focusing on the Five Spiritual Strengths (Faith/Conviction, Energy/Effort, Mindfulness, Concentration,Wisdom) helping us in our Meditation Practice.
The above are just a few suggestions amidst an amazing Wisdom resource of the Buddha’s Teachings, many of these we can look into further through our Thursday Night Meditation sessions and our monthly Sunday Meditation Retreat Days.
Certainly 2025 did offer up its share of challenges to us all – individually, as a community, society and humanity; hopefully there is ongoing reflection, insight and learning from all these experiences.
I do hope that our New Year of 2026 is a pleasant and peaceful one for us all, with our ongoing motivation to a Mindful and Meditative approach and practice to fulfill our Psycho-Spiritual potential.
I wish you great joy and well-being, good health and happiness in 2026.
Kind Regards with Metta,
John B.
RATANAGIRI MEDITATION SANGHA
Thursday Night Meditation Group
Weekly drop-in sessions start again from Thursday 15th January 2026
6.30pm to 7.30pm NSW time.
At Ratanagiri – 11 Double View Road, Farrants Hill, NSW 2484.
If you are coming for the first time please email us at info@wellawareness.com.au.
YOUTUBE LINK – https://www.youtube.com/@RatanagiriMeditationSangha
RATANAGIRI MEDITATION RETREAT DAY
Theme: ‘Designing and Developing our Right-View Approach for the Year’
Date : Sunday 22nd February 2026
Time: Arrive at 9.20am for a 9.30am start – 12.30pm finish. (NSW daylight saving time)
Venue: Ratanagiri at 11 Double View Road, Farrants Hill NSW 2484
Led By: John Barter
Practice: Samma Samadhi
Cost: Dana – your expression of Generosity for the Teachings and Guidance (suggestion – cash on the day $50 – $100)
If attending online and you wish to contribute Dana, bank details are below –
Account Name: WELL-AWARE-NESS Pty Limited
BSB: 082 738
Account No: 484 342 890
Bring: Your own lunch, notepad and pen, water bottle, cool clothes, rain gear if needed, shoes for walking meditation outside, your own Meditation Cushion if you wish (Chairs and Meditation Cushions are available here).
Parking: (see attached photos below) Please park in the Parking Area below the house. Off Double View Road on the left hand side when driving up the hill – entrance between the 2 white Reflective Posts, just before the yellow Private Road sign. New ‘MEDITATION PARKING’ sign on right hand side of parking entrance. Then after parking return to the road and walk up to the House (Ratanagiri sign by the Stainless Steel Letter Box) – enter on the Left where the Rock Wall is. Walk up to the house.
Registration: Please email us to register your interest in attending this retreat.
Contact Christie at WELL-AWARE-NESS –info@wellawareness.com.au.
ZOOM LINK –
Retreat Days can be attended online on request if you cannot physically attend.
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/82020665739?pwd=JPNtDW7SQder6vomcWj0eZTjDaQ7Gz.1
Sunday Meditation Retreat Days (Full and Half Day sessions) with John B.
- Sunday 22nd February
- Sunday 22nd March (with Ajahn Bhuripannyo)
- Sunday 29th March (with Ajahn Medhino)
- Sunday 31st May
- Sunday 26th July (Vassa Retreat Day 1.)
- Sunday 30th August (Vassa Retreat Day 2.)
- Sunday 27th September (Vassa Retreat Day 3.)
- Sunday 25th October (Vassa Retreat Day 4.)
- Sunday 6th December
