This 6 week course comprises a brief explanation and step-by step guided meditation. Each week we will focus on a different topic or aspect of meditation. This meditation suits people from all walks of life. We all want peace and calmness - qualities that will serve as our best friends throughout our life. Once we learn to achieve calmness, we can transform our environment into a peaceful place. We rediscover our sense of peace and security. These techniques emphasise the importance of being gentle towards ourselves. If we are gentle with ourselves, we will be gentle with other people also.
The aim of meditation is to understand the nature of one’s mind, in order to realise the truth. Ultimate truth cannot be seen by this gross mind, always under the control of mental impurities. The mind must be placed in its natural state. Even coming for only one class, one can gain benefit.
1. Breathing Meditation
Meditation helps us to relieve stress, anxiety and other unwanted emotions and to gain peace and happiness in our lives. What is meditation, and why is it important for our peace of mind? Learn to stay in the presence of Body, Breath and Mind. With this breathing meditation, learn the relationship between our body, breath and mind to gain peace and harmony.
2. Mindful
Distance
As we see negative emotions arising, we try to learn how to step back and train ourselves to develop a Mindful Distance between
yourself and the arising emotion. We develop patience and acceptance of our ability. If you know you cannot swim and surf well, it
is much more enjoyable watching those big crashing waves and the rip instead of being caught in them.
3. Mindfully Embracing
Rather
than running away from difficulties, we train our mind to be flexible and adaptable. We learn to transform difficult circumstances
into favourable ones, just like good surfers train themselves to adapt to big waves and rips.
4. EAR Method
With this meditation practice through the method of EAR (Experience, Acceptance, Release), rather than trying to improve and change our past incidents, we learn to move forward with acceptance and understanding of the past events, such as traumas, resentment, rejection and so on.
5. Equalizing
Meditation and Altruism, Bodhicitta
We learn to realise that a selfish and self-centred attitude is the source of all our dissatisfactions, pains and sufferings. To overcome such attitude, learn to respect others by extending your love and concerns, realization of seeing there is no essence in focussing on just ME and I for so long.
6. Pure Perception, Vajrayana Practice
Introduction to Vajrayana teachings and meditation. Vajrayana is the core Tibetan Buddhist practice. With authentic visualisation techniques passed down from the Buddha, through an unbroken lineage of masters, we are working with the deep and subtle part of the mind which is beyond words. We learn how Vajrayana practice and meditation of pure perception helps our mind transcend the conventional reality of our emotions, such as anger, attachment, ignorance and so on.