06:30 pm - 04:30 pm
Mission Bay, New Zealand
A weekend retreat to reconnect with the natural joy and curiosity of your being.
December 5 - 7, 2025
In times of challenge, difficulty and darkness we may not think that happiness is an option. We tend to think of it as something for children, a brief visitor, something we felt in fleeting moments in the past.
In an age of endless dopamine hits, how often do you know deep, heartfelt joy and delight? In the teaching of the Diamond Approach we see joy as natural to every human heart. It is a quality of our being. It can be rediscovered and developed no matter how old we are, even when external circumstances aren't good.
Essential joy opens through a deep inquiry into our heart's wish, and is liberated as the heart is freed to want what it wants, and to discover what it wants more than anything. As the joy of the heart is freed, it makes us spontaneous, curious, and playful.
Join us for a deep dive into the delight of being.
This retreat will be taught by Ashley Wain and Vivienne Leahy.
On the Diamond Approach and the New Aotearoa Group
Every spiritual path deals with our common human situation, and each path deals with it differently. The Diamond Approach is a relatively new path, for people living a full human life in the world, who want to know who and what they are beyond their usual stories and ideas about themselves.
It uses a range of powerful practices, as well as modern psychological knowledge, to help each person to explore their own experience in ways that bring deeper understanding, as well as the gradual revelation of our spiritual nature, in its vast rainbow of qualities and dimensions.
The Diamond Approach has been taught in New Zealand for over a decade. There is a large, established group that has developed over that time, which is now closed to new members. Diamond Approach New Zealand is now in the process of forming a new group, for those with a sincere interest in inner work and spiritual discovery.
Retreats normally involve meditation, a teaching, experiential exercises in pairs, threes, or small groups, and opportunities to ask questions, share experiences and inquire further with a teacher.
Retreats will remain open to the public and new people can join the group for the next few years. When the group has reached a sustainable size and composition, it will close to new members.
REGISTER
Registration can be found HERE
INFORMATION
For more information about DANZ2 and the Diamond Approach work in New Zealand, you can email Vivienne Leahy at [email protected]
TIMES
Friday—6.30-9.30pm
Saturday—9.00am - 12.00pm and 2.00pm - 5.00pm
Sunday—9.00am - 12.00pm and 1.30pm - 4.30pm
End times are approximate.
FOLLOW UP MEETINGS
Included in the cost of this retreat are four follow-up teaching sessions:
Small Group Process Meeting — Tuesday Dec 16 | 6pm-8pm, OR Wednesday Dec 17, 6pm-8pm.
Follow up Zoom meeting 1 — Tuesday January 20 | 6.30pm - 9.30pm
Follow up Zoom meeting 2 — Saturday February 14 | 9.30am-12.30pm
Follow up Zoom meeting 3 — Saturday March 14 | 9.30am - 12.30pm
COST
$495 (Current ongoing DANZ1 students repeating material pay $195).
LOCATION
The Mary MacKillop Centre, 30 Holgate Road, Mission Bay, Auckland 1071, New Zealand.
ACCOMODATION
Simple and comfortable accommodation is available at the venue. You can choose a room for one or two people for $100 per person with meals, or $70 per person with breakfast only. Most rooms have their own bathrooms, some have shared bathrooms. Groupings of up to 8 rooms share a kitchen/dining area with stove, microwave etc for those preferring to prepare their own food.
The venue doesn't accommodate specific dietary requirements. Meals are simple, usually non vegetarian. Lunch is called dinner and is the main meal. The evening meal is a crockpot, quiche, or similar.
