Θ
THE TOPICS
For Seven Mondays
August-September 2014
MEDITATE BECAUSE YOU WANT TO
For the general announcement, background, maps etc.. click here
All these events are at DMG, Level 22 Amarin Tower. 6:30-8:15pm
Monday 4th August
MEDITATE BECAUSE YOU WANT TO
Mindfulness and meditation are the current watchword of psychology.It comes from Buddhism, but has become increasingly secularised. Practically every health or yoga magazine these days carries an article on the miracle of mindfulness. Heart rate, stress, cortisol levels, even gene expression whatever that is. All are said to improve with meditation. All good reasons to meditate. But what about the best reason of all? Meditate just because you want to.
Monday 11th August
FEED-FORWARD LOOP
Neither the Buddha, nor even Freud, thought that the ego is a bad thing. Welcome back your Ego. To settle into meditation you need to prepare the ground. Despite what the magazines say, Mindfulness might not be for everyone. Recognise your level. Prepare your ground. And most importantly, start from where you are, not where you think you are, or where you want to be at.
Monday 18th August
NOT THINKING INSIDE THE BOX
By far the biggest problem faced by meditators is what to do with all that thinking! Don’t we need it? And does it ever stop? And what are we when our cherished thoughts are no longer there? If you are not a little apprehensive about experiencing yourself without a self, you have not yet experienced it. But Zenophobia is short lived. The mind experiences Ekabhava. Find out what that is.
Monday 25th August
INCOMPLETENESS THEOREM
The Buddha taught Four Noble Truths as the cornerstone teaching of Enlightenment. It means diving into Dukkha, and figuring out the Universal Torment. You can’t know Buddhism until you know what is ‘wrong’ with ordinary experience. It is all a matter of perception, and mis-perception. The world is created by your memory. But is everything Maya, Illusion? New Age and Old India teachings seem to say so. What has Buddhism to say on the matter? And where does Godel’s Incompleteness Theorem fit in?
Monday 1st September
LONG-LISTED FOR ENLIGHTENMENT
Once you have figured it all out, and once you have had some experiences at meditation, you have to work out some long term strategy. A true yogi is not built with a crack-down on greed, a clean-up of undesirables, or a re-organisation of new rules and regulations. There are more organic and enduring channels. This is how you were supposed to think of Karma. And this is where Buddhism shines, and leaves the various super-gurus behind.
Monday 8th September
HOW MANY BEANS MAKE FIVE?
You really won’t ever believe me, unless you join this event. The story of Jack and the Beanstalk is pure Dharma! (See – I said you wouldn’t believe me!). So join for this evening and find out haw many beans make five, and why the Buddha too told stories.
Monday 15th September
YOU DON’T EVEN NEED YOGA PANTS
Last of the dharma talks for 2014 – An exploration of the consequences of practising mindfulness – it is called ‘Insight meditation’ – so what exactly are the insights, and what do they matter when you are just trying to get by? And what kind of issues and questions have come up during this year’s Dhamma Talk Series? We’ll wrap it all up in the most useful way possible.