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How mindfulness activates wholesome states of mind, including energy and concentration, that lead to full awakening.

In his new book From Suffering to Peace – The True Promise of Mindfulness Mark Coleman, author and senior teacher at Spirit Rock Meditation Center, weaves together contemporary applications with mindfulness practices in use for millennia. His approach to mindfulness and meditation empowers us to engage with and transform the inevitable stress and pain of life, so we can discover genuine peace — in the body, heart, mind, and the wider world. In this evening talk, Mark will lead brief mediations and explore the aspects of his book to help practitioners, of all kinds, access and benefit from the “true promise of mindfulness”.

In his new book From Suffering to Peace – The True Promise of Mindfulness Mark Coleman, author and senior teacher at Spirit Rock Meditation Center, weaves together contemporary applications with mindfulness practices in use for millennia. His approach to mindfulness and meditation empowers us to engage with and transform the inevitable stress and pain of life, so we can discover genuine peace — in the body, heart, mind, and the wider world. In this evening talk, Mark will lead brief mediations and explore the aspects of his book to help practitioners, of all kinds, access and benefit from the “true promise of mindfulness”.

Week 3 of a 6 week introductory course to Mindfulness Meditation. Includes 30 minute meditation followed by talk and discussion with the class.

Exploring trust as an element of practice, as well as the remaining faculties (energy, mindfulness, concentration & wisdom).

In our fourth exploration of how to practice with conflict, we examine four practice resources, inviting listeners to keep in mind, as we explore the resources, a conflict (whether an inner conflict, an interpersonal conflict, or a larger social conflict); conflict is understood as a difference of, or tension between, positions or values or needs. The first resource is that of the tools of our inner practice: mindfulness practice, heart practices such as compassion, lovingkindness, and forgiveness, and ways to work with difficult emotions and thoughts such as anger, fear, sadness, frustration, the judgmental mind, etc. The second resource is that of the "win-win" or "both-and" model of conflict transformation, in which the aim is to move from an "either-or" or "win-lose" framework toward the "win-win" way of meeting the underlying values or needs of both sides; at times, we may need to move away from the "win-lose" framework through "avoidance" (time outs, cease-fires, etc.) or compromise, on the way, if possible, to "win-win." The third resource is that of empathy, taken as a practice central to working with conflicts of any kind. The fourth resource is that of working with attachments to fixed views that typically arise in conflict situations of any kind, especially through through mindfulness, inquiry, empathy, and heart practices.

What mindfulness is and why mindfulness of breathing is such a valuable meditation in our tradition.