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natural awareness

relaxed presence, unfabricated,
flowing, just as it is

photo © by Julia Liebeskind

March 20 workshop
1933 SE 45th Ave
Portland Oregon

Two blocks south of Hawthorne,
at the corner of SE 45th Ave and
SE Harrison Street. map

 

GEORGE DRAFFAN
is a Seattle-based practitioner and teacher of Buddhist meditation and Taoist energy practices... more here

 

Empathy creates connection; judgment creates distance...
Choose connection and the distance will dissolve, and you’ll be able to laugh at your own beautiful, imperfectly perfect human self.

~ Laraine Herring

 

 

Four Immeasurables: The Bodhisattva’s Heart

a series of explorations with George Draffan

January 2 ~ Beaverton
February 6 ~ Portland
March 20 ~ Portland, 1933 SE 45th Ave (map)
May 1 ~ location to be announced

9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

 

  Nagarjuna: emptiness is interdependence

  Milarepa: seeing emptiness, compassion arises

One of the Buddha’s central insights is that suffering is caused by self-centeredness. Kindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity are "immeasurable" emotions that overcome the illusion of a separate self.

What does the radiant warmth of kindness feel like? What gets in the way of kindness?

What allows the the courageous heart of compassion to open, and what prevents it from opening?

How does the energetic presence of joy arise?

What does true equanimity feel like?

The "four boundless ones" are attitudes, intentions, emotions, and ways of relating to others and to our own experience. Over this series of four workshops we’ll explore how the immeasurables are cultivated in different Buddhist traditions.

Each of the immeasurables (and every hindrance to the immeasurables) also has physical, biochemical, neurological aspects -- so we’ll also introduce practices to help open the energy gates and dissolve the knots that block the four boundless attitudes from opening and flowing.

Join us in this exploration of the four immeasurables in mind, heart, memory, and body.

COST: by donation ~ $45 per workshop suggested

WHAT TO BRING

  • a light lunch
    (you can bring something to share if you like)
  • meditation cushion, bench, or stool
    (a blanket makes a good pad underneath)
  • something to take notes with
    (pencil or pen, paper or notebook)