Have you wanted to try meditation as a method to increase calm and focus but find that it’s difficult following through? Is your mind convincing you that meditating is not as important as everything else that’s going on in your life?
In our busy lives, sometimes it is challenging to prioritize a meditation practice. We are not taught to “just sit there.” Many of us are constantly on the move with a never-ending to-do list.
But just think— how would your life change if you did make a shift into more intentional stillness? What would it feel like to experience the joy of just being? How would your relationship to yourself and others change if you were able to cultivate more presence and compassion?
Explore these questions with others through our Stepping into Meditation and Community course. This is an online, interactive, eight-week course that will guide you to the most present, compassionate, and connected aspects of yourself. Through inner exploration and engaging with community, you will learn accessible, time-tested Tibetan Buddhist practices that will allow you to awaken into deeper peace, joy, compassion, and balance in your life.
Course Overview
The purpose of this course is to support us in coming home to our truer selves—the most present, compassionate, and connected parts of ourselves. We will learn accessible, time-tested, and lab-tested Tibetan Buddhist practices that will allow us to awaken into deeper peace, joy, compassion, and equanimity in three spheres of engagement in our life: personal, community, and the world. The content covered in this 8-week course will provide a foundational framework for Namchak practices, culture, and sangha (community) skills.
Time & Format
This course will be delivered online via Zoom. The complete course consists of eight 90-minute sessions. We will start on Monday, August 14, from 5:30-7 pm MT and will meet each Monday until October 2, with an optional Learning Circle Transition on October 9th.
Course Outline
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Week 1: Course Overview, Intention Sharing & Community Foundations
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Week 2: Four Noble Truths, Intention Deepening & Mindful Body Scan
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Week 3: Introduction to Shamata
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Week 4: Mind of the Meditator & Working with Obstacles to Our Practice
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Week 5: Loving Kindness Practice Starting with Ourselves
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Week 6: Introduction to Tonglen- A Compassion Practice of Giving and Receiving
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Week 7: Engaged Bodhicitta: Exploring our Work in the World
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Week 8: Bringing it All Together & Carrying the Gems Forward
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Week 9: Optional Learning Circle Transition
