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ABOUT GAVIN
"When a human heart turns deeply and
sincerely to truth and love,
awakening to our true essence becomes an immediate
and ever present possibility.
We live our precious human
life in devotion to what Christ called "The
One Thing."
This clarity of intention
and unshakable resolve is
perhaps the greatest friend to awakening"
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Gavin lives on the Big Island of Hawai’i.
He was born and raised in South Africa.
After a year of military service, he studied
at The University of the Witwatersrand, graduating as a
CPA. He left South Africa in 1974 and lived in Europe, England
and Iran before settling in the USA. In 1981, he attended
his first Insight Meditation retreat at the Buddhist Retreat
Centre in Ixopo, Zululand, where he met his teacher, Joseph
Goldstein. In the next years, he ordained as a Buddhist
monk at the Taungpulu Forest Monastery in California before
beginning a period of long-term retreat at The Insight Meditation
Society in Barre, Massachusettes, where he met his other
teacher, Michelle McDonald.
Gavin is
a recipient of the “Unsung Hero of Compassion”
award, presented to him by His Holiness the Dalai Lama for
kindness and quiet dedication to others.
He was
honoured by the Mens’ Resource Centre in Amherst,
Massachusettes with the “Challenge & Change”
award in 1998 for “someone who personifies the positive
ideals of masculinity.
"It is a tremendous burden to not act
from love."
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Gavin leads
retreats in Hawaii and South Africa. He is a student of
Tai Chi, Yoga and Qi Gung. He is the author of In
the Lap of the Buddha (Shambhala Publications,
Boston 1994). His published writings include:
- Spinning Tales, Weaving
Hope (New Society Printers), an anthology
of writings related to peace, justice and the environment
- Voices of Insight (Shambhala
Publications, Boston/London), an anthology of writing
by Insight Meditation teachers, an interview in:
- Tricycle, The Buddhist
Review,
and articles in:
- Shambhala Sun
- Yoga Journal
- Turning Wheel,
Journal of the Buddhist Peace Fellowship
- Karuna, Journal of
Buddhist Meditation
- Inquiring Mind ,
Insight Journal of the Vipassana Community
- Tricycle
With snorkeling, swimming and hiking
in Hawai’i Gavin continues his lifelong passion for
intimacy with the ocean and nature. He is active in community
efforts to protect and nurture the Hawaiian green sea turtle.
He is single heartedly and wholeheartedly committed to serving
the AIDS orphans, vulnerable children women and men of Ufafa
Valley, KwaZulu, South Africa and those who serve them at
the Woza Moya Project.
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