September 20 & 21 9am-6pm $150 802.442.8315
In this weekend intensive we will be cultivating the practices of Calm/ Abiding and Insight meditation. The weekend will consist of lecture, discussion, guided meditation, and personal feedback from the teacher. Calm/Abiding practice is the foundation of all meditation. Our everyday minds are often distracted, scattered, disorganized and suffer from constant chatter. Calm/abiding cultivates the capacity to concentrate the mind; to completely calm thought and stabilize the attention. The positive benefits of the practice help the mind be peaceful, still, focused, organized and clear. The foundation in calm/abiding meditation allows the mind to then engage in the wisdom practices that give insight into the nature of experience. To support meditation practice we will address how to cultivate the correct body posture, motivation, and give an accurate map of the stages of practice so you can track your progress. After practicing to calm and stabilize the mind, we will then begin to explore the fundamental insight practices of the Indo-Tibetan tradition. These powerful, liberating practices are the heart of the path to awakening. Trough meditation experience the mental structures of the body, emotion, thought, self, and external reality are revealed to be interrelated constructions. The results of insight practice free the mind from obstructions and open deeper levels of awareness and compassion.
The weekend intensive is valuable to both beginners and intermediate practitioners of meditation.
About John Churchill
Born in London, England, John Churchill’s interest in meditative and contemplative studies began as a teenager. After leaving high school, he joined Samye Ling Kagyu Monastery in Scotland where he began his studies in the Mahayana and Mahamudra meditation. He came to the United States to study at Naropa, a Buddhist University, where he majored in Contemplative Psychology with a specialization in mind/body health. John has been a practitioner of meditation and hatha yoga for 20 years and has taught embodied yoga and meditation for the last decade. John is a long time close student of Dr. Daniel Brown, the senior teacher, originator and translator of the ‘Pointing Out Way’, and was authorized as a teacher in the tradition in 2012. John’s relevant interests include the relationship between psychological and contemplative development, and between the body and awakening.