Tuesday 26 August 2014

This week @ sangha - sutta study + a virtual course with Rick Hanson

Hi all. This note might arrive a day late - I was going to write it last night but I would have had to fish my computer out from the cupboard under our bed in the van (we are doing our road trip to Cairns). That would have required me to turf our cattle dog off the bed, and he was just looking too comfy! Here's the view that greeted us through our van door this morning.

This week @ sangha
This week at sangha we have our monthly sutta study session with Winton Higgins. It's been fantastic how many people have been braving the cold over the past few weeks to support their practice and sangha. I really hope you'll all continue to do so this week with Winton making the trek out to walk us through the next chapter of Satipatthana Sutta. As always, it's best if you can read this month's chapter before the session (Chapter VI) but if you can't, don't let that deter you, Winton is great at placing each chapter in context and giving an overview of the key points.

A year long on-line course in wellbeing
I also want to let you know about a year long online course with one of our favourite authors/teachers/neuro-psychologists, Rick Hanson (of Buddha's Brain fame). It's an experiential, yearlong Foundations program designed to hardwire more happiness, resilience, self-worth, love, and peace into your brain and your life. The 'foundations' are 12 pillars of Well-Being: Self-Caring, Mindfulness, Learning, Vitality, Gratitude, Confidence, Calm, Motivation, Intimacy, Courage, Aspiration, and Service. It's a combintion of videos, experiential activities, slides/written material and a community forum. For more info and to register, click here.

Monday 18 August 2014

This week @ Beaches - Gawaine Powell-Davies

Hi all.

This week @ Beaches Sangha we have the return of Gawaine Powell-Davies. I haven't had an update on the topic of his talk but if history is anything to go by it will be thought provoking and lyrical and the catalyst for much discussion. We'll just have to treat it as a .......



Hope to see you there.
LL

Monday 11 August 2014

This week @ Beaches + Mindfulness madness


Hi all.

This week at Beaches Sangha Jampa will be giving the first of a series of talks on the “Wheel,” (pictured above). This one is called "The Ego Empire". Jampa will explore the elements below and the practical significance they hold for how we live our lives.

The Ego Empire 
The ignorance-driven world that we normally identify with is traditionally represented in Buddhist iconography as “The Wheel of Life,” aka, “The Ego Empire.” The “Wheel” graphically depicts the driving force behind the self, the operating mechanism that sustains the self, and the psycho-physical outcome of our mind’s misguided attempt to secure the self in space and time.


Mindfulness madness
Also, I've just published a new blog post called 'Mindfulness madness". This looks at the concerns I have over mindfulness being the current craze/ fad of the moment as it seems to be. Feel free to subscribe to the blog - I don't post often but the posts are always relevant to you mob :-) Also feel free to comment.

Hope to see you Thursday.
LL

Tuesday 5 August 2014

This week @ Beaches - choose a precept

Hi all. Sorry this message is a day late (I know for some of you the sangha email is your weekly reminder that it's Tuesday :-)) I thought I'd done it last night....I'm not taking intoxicants, I swear!



This week at sangha Betsy's going to give an overview of the 5 precepts. Precepts are essentially undertakings to behave in a way that's helpful to letting go of our self created angst and living more mindfully, wisely and kindly. 

As part of our desire to keep sangha practical, after the overview we're going to offer an opportunity to choose one that has meaning for you and decide on a practical action that you are going to try and implement in your life. Then we'll agree on when and how we might use the support of our sangha to help us be mindful of our efforts and energised to continue them.

Two things in preparation for this week's session:

  1. Have a read of this document on the precepts, and
  2. Bring a pen and some paper with you.
I look forward to seeing you Thursday night.
LL