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with Lois Bickley
In recent years, meditation has gained considerable recognition as an effective means to reduce stress and improve our quality of life. But beyond this, Buddhist practitioners down the ages have understood that there are even more profound and far-reaching benefits available to those who engage sincerely in this ancient spiritual practice.
Our class series presents a sequence of 21 meditation topics which together form the Buddhist path to ultimate happiness. Each week we will explore, contemplate and meditate on Buddha’s teachings relating to one of these meditation “objects”, as they are known. We will learn how, by understanding the meaning and, finally, taking as our own the spiritual view (or mental attitude) that underlies the meditation, we can gradually attain ever-deeper levels of contentment, peace and joy.
Classes are based on The New Meditation Handbook, which thus provides a useful companion text to the series. Each class is self-contained, although presented in the overall context of the 21-meditation cycle.
The class format includes a brief talk introducing the meditation topic, a guided meditation, and suggestions on how we can carry what we have learned into our daily life. People are also encouraged to stay for a cup of tea and discuss further.
If we train in meditation our mind will gradually become more and more peaceful and we shall experience purer and purer forms of happiness. Eventually we shall able to stay happy all the time,even in the most difficult circumstances. (Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso Rinpoche)