Living in Balance
Tuesday evenings, 7:00-8:30 pm
January 16- March 12 (no class March 5)
Online through Zoom
Suggested Donation: $100
Amid the demands of life upon our attention, energy, and time, living in balance is challenging. This 8-week series offers perspectives on balance and a healthy and sustainable lifestyle from several angles drawn from the Buddhist teachings. We will explore the inner balance of equanimity and how to cultivate it, how to find the middle path, and how to live with an open-hearted and even-minded acceptance of oneself and others. Each class will include 30 minutes of guided meditation followed by a short talk, then dialogue with students about the topics at hand. Students will benefit most from the class who maintain a daily practice of meditation concurrently.
Register here. Be sure to hit "submit" at the end. Instructions for how to pay are on the form. Scholarships available.
January 16, 2024
Dharma Talk - Equanimity is one of the four main enlightened emotions. It allows us to be with what is with wise attention and grounds the three heart-centered emotions of loving kindness, compassion, and sympathetic joy.
Discussion - How does one distinguish true equanimity from pseudo equanimity?
January 23, 2024
Dharma Talk - Equanimity is not passive or indifferent. It is the active and energizing emotion of a balanced and awake mind.
Discussion - The most common delusion we have is to give our thoughts more credence than we should. Meditative discernment helps us to assess what is just a belief and what is true.
January 30, 2024
Dharma Talk - The eight worldly winds of buddhist teaching outlines a set of four opposing states which exist in our lives. Our preferences for these states often push us off balance.
Discussion - participants discuss their thoughts on using curiosity as a tool to be with an experience that may be unpleasant as well as how shame can knock us off balance.
February 6, 2024
Dharma Talk - Mark discusses four qualities that characterize the awakened heart: loving kindness (metta), compassion (karuna), sympathetic joy (mudita), and equanimity (upekkha).
Discussion - Participants discuss their experiences of growing awareness regarding equanimity.
February 13, 2024
Dharma Talk - The Middle Path: balancing the factors of energy and clam/faith and discernment in meditation.
Discussion - Participants discuss finding equanimity during difficulty.
February 20, 2024
Dharma Talk - The Divine Messengers (sickness, old age, death) and how they play a role in our spiritual development.
Discussion - Participants discuss their experiences with sickness and what it means to experience all human conditions with dignity.
February 27, 2024
Dharma Talk - Mark discusses the stream of intelligent causation.
Discussion - How far along should we be in our practice? Non-judgement emphasizes awareness and acceptance not perfection.
March 12, 2024
Dharma Talk - We don't have to judge our feelings or identify with our thoughts. Being in balance allows whatever arises to arise and allows us to see it clearly.
Discussion - Participants discuss their experiences with doing vs being, the challenges of living in the present moment, and the felt experience of our bodies in meditation.