Engaged Mindfulness

This course is now closed

7:00pm 15 November 2019 - 3:00pm 17 November 2019

Cost: £150.00

Venue: Samye Ling

CLOSED - FULLY BOOKED

This course is now fully booked, to be added to the waiting list please contact info@mindfulnessassociation.net.

The tutors will be Kirstine Janson and Fay Adams

Times: The weekend begins at 7pm (evening meal at 6pm) on the Friday evening, between 8am and 8pm on Saturday and between 8am and 3.00pm on a Sunday.

In our mindfulness practice, we come back time and again to our motivation for practising: for the deepest well-being of ourselves and others. And our well-being is inextricably linked with the larger world around us. The ‘state of the world’ is something that might be tempting to turn away from as being too overwhelming, too dire to really look at – but what is mindfulness if not turning towards the places that scare us?  We do this internally in our practice whenever something comes up that is uncomfortable, and we can do the same with what’s uncomfortable and scary out there in the world – whether it’s social injustice, climate change, animal welfare, depletion of resources or the fast rate with which species are going extinct and ecosystems are lost. And from a place of interconnectedness and care, how might we engage in mindful and compassionate action?

In this weekend we will follow Buddhist scholar and environmental activist Joanna Macy’s spiral of the Work that Reconnects. This begins by resourcing and nourishing ourselves with gratitude, before turning towards what’s difficult in the world, and then looking for a new perspective from which we can mindfully and practically go forth. In this way we will explore engaging in the ‘outer practice’ of mindfulness.

During the weekend we will ground this with a rich variety of ‘inner’ mindfulness practices. In particular we will draw inspiration from the somatic meditation of Reggie Ray with its emphasis on connecting with a primordial felt-sense of earth connection. As we weave our way through Joanna Macy’s spiral, we’ll discover how meditating with the earth can deepen each stage. We’ll experience how the earth is an ever-present resource for us that will share the holding of our pain for the world and help us deeply experience our radical interconnectness with all life.

We will also explore resilience practices from Rick Hanson and the ancient Buddhist practice of Tonglen to work directly with challenge and transformation.

Pre-requisites

For this course it is recommended that you have some mindfulness meditation experience. This could be the Level 1 training with the Mindfulness Association or an 8 week mindfulness course whether it be MBSR, MBLC or any other along those lines or it could be equivalent experience.

If you have any enquiries about this course please write to info@mindfulnessassociation.net.

Tariff and Charges Guest Info
The Buddhist principle is to be everybody's friend, not to have any enemy.
Choje Akong Tulku Rinpoche
Meditation means simple acceptance.
Choje Lama Yeshe Losal Rinpoche
Only the impossible is worth doing.
Choje Akong Tulku Rinpoche
Whenever we see something which could be done to bring benefit to others, no matter how small, we should do it.
Chamgon Khentin Tai Situ Rinpoche
Freedom is not something you look for outside of yourself. Freedom is within you.
Choje Akong Tulku Rinpoche
Hasten slowly, you will soon arrive.
Jetsun Milarepa
It doesn’t matter whatever comes, stop judging and it won’t bother you.
Choje Lama Yeshe Losal Rinpoche
Whatever obstacles arise, if you deal with them through kindness without trying to escape then you have real freedom.
Choje Akong Tulku Rinpoche
To tame ourselves is the only way we can change and improve the world.
Choje Lama Yeshe Losal Rinpoche
I find hope in the darkest of days, and focus in the brightest. I do not judge the universe.
His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama
In the practice of tolerance, one's enemy is the best teacher.
His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama
Strive always to be as kind, gentle and caring as possible towards all forms of sentient life.
Choje Akong Tulku Rinpoche
Every sentient being is equal to the Buddha.
Chamgon Kentin Tai Situ Rinpoche
Wherever and whenever we can, we should develop compassion at once.
Choje Akong Tulku Rinpoche
Reminding ourselves of how others suffer and mentally putting ourselves in their place, will help awaken our compassion.
Choje Akong Tulku Rinpoche