Learn and practice meditation techniques aimed at helping us develop our own inherent compassion at this free workshop. The day will include training in tonglen or “sending and taking” meditation in which we will learn to increase our compassion for others (ranging from our nearest and dearest to those who annoy or even harm us) while decreasing our attachment to our own self-image. We will also learn to use slogans to extend our practice from formal sitting sessions to the remainder of our lives. By increasing our compassion for others, we simultaneously decrease our own ego-clinging and the pain it causes us.
Led by Lama Nancy, resident teacher at the Ann Arbor KTC Tibetan Buddhist Meditation Center, the day will alternate instruction with periods of practice and discussion.
Some prior experience in meditation recommended but not required. Please register by emailing Lama Nancy at nburks.61053@yahoo.com. For further information, call Pat Forsberg-Smith at 734-678-7549 or see our website: annarborktc.org.
Schedule: 10:00-12:30 Morning session
12:30-1:30 Lunch break (bring a vegetarian lunch if you wish)
1:30-4:00 Afternoon session
Location: Ann Arbor KTC Buddhist Meditation Center, 614 Miner St., Ann Arbor 48103
Free; donations welcome.
Lama Nancy Burks has been a student of Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche since 1978. In February 2000, she completed a traditional 3-year, 3-month meditation retreat under his guidance at Karme Ling Retreat Center in upstate New York. In addition to teaching and leading meditation practices at the Ann Arbor KTC, she is available for individual instruction and guidance.
“Look at all experience as a dream. . . . Be grateful to everyone. . . . When misfortune fills the world and its inhabitants, Make adversity the path of awakening.”
–From “The Seven Points of Mind Training” in The Great Path of Awakening: The Classic Guide to Lojong, a Tibetan Buddhist Practice for Cultivating the Heart of Compassion by Jamgon Kongtrul, Translated by Ken McLeod, Shambhala, 2005