Compassion One Year Training - Module Two
Category: Meditation
Dates: October 12, 2012 - October 14, 2012
Venue: Samye Ling
Course Leader: Mindfulness Association Ltd
Price: £100 (per weekend)
Please book your accommodation at Samye Ling by clicking here
Book and pay for your course place by clicking here
We are re-running this successful and comprehensive training in
compassion which is a follow on programme for those who have completed
the one year mindfulness training. However, it is also open to other
people who have a stable mindfulness practice. This training is
delivered over four weekends and is a secular and experiential training.
During the training we will be drawing on certain wisdom resources,
namely Evolutionary Psychology and Neuroscience (module one), and
Mahayana Buddhism (module three). While there have been many approaches
to compassion throughout the ages, right now there is a big conversation
going on between Buddhism, Science and Psychology about the meaning and
application of compassion, and this will be our main focus.Book and pay for your course place by clicking here
In this course there is a strong focus on self-compassion and the use of compassionate imagery. Emphasis is placed on experiential learning, and for this reason there are home assignments between weekends that include regular compassion practice, daily life exercises and journal writing. Each module will take place over a weekend and the four modules will be spread out over approximately one year. Rob Nairn will be directing the training as a whole but is only available to lead module one. The other tutors will include Choden and Kristine Janson.
The weekends begin at 7pm on Friday evening and conclude at 3pm on Sunday.
Module 2 - Deepening Acceptance and Kindness
October, 12-14, 2012
In the second module we explore acceptance and kindness in more depth. Acceptance means facing things as they are and not kidding ourselves. It calls upon us to drop into the raw immediacy of our experience and get in touch with the reality of who we are. This is the source of being authentic, and it enables us to relate to others with empathy. Compassion also involves the stimulation of positive emotional systems such as kindness and love. It is important that we do not just jump into the pain of our own experience or throw ourselves headlong at the suffering of life unprepared. We need a resource to rely upon. For this reason it is important to build up our inner resources, by building up our compassionate capacity as we started to do in Module 1, before opening ourselves to pain and suffering. The practices will involve deepening acceptance and kindness.
Module 3 - Doing the work of compassion
December, 7-9, 2012
On the basis of having cultivated a kinder and more accepting attitude and an increased compassionate capacity we then move on to doing the work of compassion in the third module. This is also the point where we move from self compassion towards compassion for others, although in fact we always place self compassion at the heart of our practice because this is what gives us our authenticity and enables us to relate to others with empathy. In this module we focus on the four limitless contemplations of equanimity, love, compassion and joy. They bring a sense of balance and perspective to our practice of compassion by helping us step outside our narrow preferences, by generating love and friendliness to our inner and outer worlds, by responding appropriately to pain and suffering, while also appreciating the good things in our lives. We will also introduce tonglen, the practice of taking and sending, that is practice for actively engaging with and transforming the suffering we encounter in our lives.
Module 4 - Embodying Compassion
March, 8-10, 2013
In this module and we bring all the threads together from the previous three modules. The fourth module brings it all back to our moment by moment life experience. It is not enough to learn about compassion or do compassion practices - the crucial thing is to learn how to embody compassion in how we live our lives. In essence, this means remaining in connection with the authentic pain of life, while firmly established in the resources of kindness and love, and living a life that is not wrapped up in selfish concerns. During this module there will be the opportunity for deepening practice and for participants to set up an ongoing compassion practice for going forward in their lives.
Please note that you may only book a place on this module if you have already attended module 1. If you want to attend module 2 without attending module 1, please contact info@mindfulnessassociation.org.
More details can be found on our website www.mindfulnessassociation.net
