We spend much of our lives looking for a refuge. We seek it in relationships, in pleasure, in our social identity and in health. While all of these are important and nourishing for our daily well-being, many of us can still be left with a feeling of lack, even when things are going well. When they are not – when the conditions of life reveal their painful, unstable and uncertain side, we become aware of the need for a more sustainable kind of refuge in ourselves – one that is independent of the ups and downs of life.
The Buddha’s teachings on direct awareness and heart-presence offer us a way into this possibility. They point to our innate capacity to find an inner stability and security that comes not through controlling and manipulating the conditions of life, but through allowing the flow, and resting in presence itself. In the directness of awareness and radical self-compassion we can become nourished and held by our true refuge. No words describe it – rather, as the Buddha said, it is ‘To be experienced individually for oneself’. When we do, we automatically share it with those around us.
In this six week course, we will explore this possibility in a pragmatic, direct way. We will inquire into how we can find refuge in relationship, in the midst of difficult situations and feelings, and in the context of our finite lives on this planet.
Each session will consist of a guided meditation, a talk and an opportunity for dialogue and discussion around your own personal experience of the practices and contemplations offered.
Cost: $120
Unwaged places are available for this course