Blog

The Ren Xue community is a very generous one. Many of you helped us complete the Ren Xue Villa (June 2025 Blog) and have attended native tree planting events on the Ren Xue farm (May 2025 Blog). Whilst we appreciate all the kind offers from those wishing to help, ensuring we get it right is important to us. A well-run volunteer programme should support and enhance the RXCA, as well as provide meaningful opportunities for those who volunteer their time, skills and experience.

For that reason, Sarah Holman of Breeze Consulting Ltd in Nelson has been engaged to draft a Volunteer Strategy and Action Plan for us. She has extensive experience in strategy development as well as property. Sarah and her family also own a property in Golden Bay and visit regularly.

When the Strategy is complete, we will share it with you via the website.

In the meantime, there will be Volunteer Tree planting opportunities on the Farm and gardening opportunities at the Villa, so continue to watch this space for information.

Please note we are unable to offer free board and lodging in exchange for volunteering. Doing so puts us at risk of being subject to employment obligations under New Zealand law. We do have the recently renovated Villa on the Ren Xue Farm which provides accommodation for a modest cost. Please contact Sharon at sharon.munro@renxueaustralasia.org for more information if you are interested.

Arthouse Architects and Tennent Brown Architects have been engaged as lead designers to progress the Ren Xue Centre project in Onekaka, Golden Bay. The vision for the  Centre is to create a home for the Ren Xue community. It will be a retreat and multi-purpose centre accommodating up to 200 people. Cat Alker explained, “We looked for architects with a depth of skill and experience whose values and working style could align with the project's spiritual and community-based vision, who could offer authentic sustainable design practices, and who we could be confident would consider the impact on the local community”. The process for choosing an architect for this special project was carried out with great care in keeping with the uniqueness of the project. It’s the first physical home for Ren Xue and a place to achieve the mission of uplifting our lives and helping others.  We feel confident that the design team will bring diverse skills, experience, sustainable design practices, local knowledge and sensitivity to the very special location of the site and the community it serves. Arthouse ArchitectsArthouse Architects | Residential & commercial architectural design. is a Nelson based company, and Tennent Brown Projects | Tennent Brown Architects is based in Wellington. Together, they provide a commitment to understanding Ren Xue principles, have relevant experience of creating buildings that reflect and nurture spiritual practices, local knowledge, and cultural alignment with the Centre Project. The Bodhinyanarama Monastery | Tennent Brown Architects has been a previous project of Tennent Brown Architects that shows their close alignment and understanding of designing spaces for spiritual practices. The lead designer’s responsibilities include architecture, co-ordinating consultants, legal compliance, stakeholder management and communications. Construction of the project is expected to start in December 2026.Ren Xue Australasia Charitable Trust wishes to acknowledge the many people who have contributed to the development of the Centre Project to date. These include  Steve Campbell from Steve Campbell Design Home - Steve Campbell Design, who collated input from the Ren Xue community to develop the brief, and Rua Sargent of Kaupapa Projects Home | Kaupapa Projects | Quantity Surveying in Nelson New Zealand, a Nelson-based construction consultancy firm, who is providing construction and pricing process expertise.

On Saturday, the 14th of September, 30 people gathered at Kiri’s beautiful venue in Golden Bay for a special Heart Healing Workshop. The group was a wonderful mix of beginners and long-time practitioners, all coming together with open hearts and a shared intention to deepen healing and transformation.

This event was the fruit of collaboration between local Ren Xue teachers, weaving their skills and experience into a day that truly touched everyone who attended. The program flowed with Yuan Gong practice, heart-based teachings, guided meditations, healing stories, group Qi healing, and Yuan Ming sessions — a combination that supported genuine inner change and created a nourishing Qi field of joy and gratitude.

The inspiration for the workshop came from Marie-Laure, who shared: “I’ve long been inspired to create a workshop centred on the heart and to develop Yuan Ming as a cornerstone of the Healing Centre within the Ren Xue Centre in Golden Bay, drawing on the teachers’ skills and experience. ”The day beautifully reflected this vision. In the afternoon, participants also had the opportunity to book private Yuan Ming sessions with the teachers, and every space was quickly filled. The feedback from the group was full of warmth—people spoke of feeling lighter, more open, and deeply connected. Smiles filled the room, and the sense of gratitude was shared by all. A heartfelt thank you to the teaching team and to every participant who joined and contributed to making this journey to the heart so special.