DDMBA Ontario Mindfulness Meditation Workshop

Have you ever wanted to know how sitting meditation can be applied to all aspects of daily life?

This workshop is designed to introduce people to the basics of meditation as applied to everyday living. Whether we are sitting, eating, working or involved in any movement, the principles of mindfulness can be evenly applied across all of these activities. This workshop will show you how to do this, under the guidance of an ordained teacher, Venerable Chan Teacher Guo Xing from Dharma Drum Retreat Centre in New York.

Topics for this event include:

-Living Meditation: Levels and Functions
-The Basics: Observing the Body and Mind
-Eight Form Moving Meditation
-Mindfulness and Eating
-Walking Meditation
-Methods of Identifying and Transforming mind and environment

We hope you can all join us for this in depth opportunity to learn and practice under a qualified and experienced Chan teacher.

This event is Free (donations welcome). Due to limited space, registration is required. To register, send an email to meditation@ddmba-ontario.ca.

Thank you, and Blessings to All,

DDMBA Ontario
http://www.ddmba-ontario.ca

Mindfulness for Stress Reduction: Intro to Six Part Workshop

In this introductory talk, Theodore will discuss the nature of stress and its causes and demonstrate basic mindfulness techniques. This workshop is based primarily on the work of Jon Kabat-Zinn who has worked with those in chronic pain and depression. Theodore also will share from the standpoint of 30 years of meditation practice and his own human condition. The Workshop is intended for those who have had no prior meditation experience or wish to deepen their beginning practice. The 6 part workshop will be lead by Theodore and assisted by Adele Brown. The dates for the workshop are Feb. 24 and Mar. 3, 10, 17, 24, 31.

Reservation for the talk is not necessary but pre-registration for the workshop is required. Register early as space is limited.

Theodore Tsaousidis has been practicing meditation and psycho-spiritual healing for the past thirty years. Born in a rural community in Greece and immersed in a tradition of village healers, he was always innately connected with nature and the spirit world. Consequently, he has been conscious of his spiritual journey from an early age. Over the years, Theodore has deepened this ancient connection. He has studied healing and shamanic teachings with various teachers and in diverse traditions including the Tibetan Vajrayana Buddhist tradition. Since 1983, he has been a formal student of Zen Buddhism. He sees meditation and shamanism together as a great alchemy for the healing of self and others. Theodore is blessed to be guided by three teachers, Sensei Sunyana Graef, his foundational and meditation teacher, Zasep Tulku Rinpoche, who guides in Tibetan healing teachings and Gitta Bechsgaard, his classical yoga teacher. Theodore is also the steward of Snow Lion: The Meditation Shop.

www.sittingatthegate.ca theodore@sittingatthegate.ca

Adele Brown MSW is a Registered Social Worker in private practice. Her focus, along side her general practice, is Bereavement Counselling and Stress Reduction Using Mindfulness Training. Adele takes a holistic approach and understands that a “spiritual” component is not separate from life’s crisis, difficulties or goals. Adele is sensitive to different faith systems including Buddhist philosophy and psychology, Christianity, and Earth-centered spirituality. She believes that every individual is innately connected to their source of healing but through life’s conditioning and experiences that connection is veiled. Her practice reflects and honours the conviction that through support and guidance we can move toward the realization of that healing source. Adele uses a variety of modalities to facilitate growth.

GESHE SHERAB FREE PUBLIC TALK KITCHENER/WATERLOO: STEPS FOR A HAPPY LIFE

GESHE SHERAB is a humourous and fluently articulate teacher and speaker. His Kitchener/Waterloo talk will focus on the Preliminary Practices. These practices purify obstacles and accumulate positive energies, leading to a direct experience of truth and greater sense of peace and happiness.

Geshe Sherab Workshop: Thriving in Troubled Times

THE CENTRE FOR COMPASSION AND WISDOM IS pleased to host Geshe Sherab from the celebrated Kopan Monastery in Nepal. Geshe Sherab will be teaching in Burlington for 10 days in February as part of his North American Tour. On his first weekend at the centre, he will give three free public talks in Toronto, Kitchener/Waterloo and Burlington. All are most welcome. No advance registration is required for talks.

Geshe Sherab is young, articulate, fluent in English and an inspiring speaker. Geshe-la is also the headmaster of Kopan Monastery, Nepal, the spiritual centre of the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition (FPMT). He has lived for several years in the U.S. also, so is familiar with North American culture, and knows how to relate the Dharma to the western mind.

Born in Nepal of Tibetan parents, Geshe Sherab received his education at Kopan Monastery as a boy, and completed his studies at Sera Je Monastic University and at Gyume Tantric College in India. He has lived in the U.S. working at the FPMT Central office and several nearby Dharma Centres in New Mexico. He returned to Nepal after several years in the U.S. to become Headmaster of Kopan Monastery. Geshe-la has just retired from his role as headmaster in order to have more time to devote to meditation and teaching internationally.

WEEK LONG TEACHING – “THRIVING IN TROUBLED TIMES”
Mon Feb 15 to Sun Feb 21st

PART ONE: “STEPS FOR A MEANINGFUL LIFE” – Monday morning to Friday afternoon sessions, Feb 15 -19th.

PART TWO: “INTERDEPENDENCE & SELFLESSNESS” – Friday evening to Sunday afternoon.
Feb 19th – 21st.

Single, day, afternoon and evening sessions also available. See website for event fees, options, and registration details www.centreforcompassionandwisdom.com

WEEK LONG TEACHING – “THRIVING IN TROUBLED TIMES”
Mon Feb 15 to Sun Feb 21st

PART ONE: “STEPS FOR A MEANINGFUL LIFE” – Monday morning to Friday afternoon sessions, Feb 15 -19th.

PART TWO: “INTERDEPENDENCE & SELFLESSNESS” – Friday evening to Sunday afternoon.
Feb 19th – 21st.

Single, day, afternoon and evening sessions also available. See website for event fees, options, and registration details www.centreforcompassionandwisdom.com

TRUE AWAKENING – an enlightenment intensive

Have…Do… Be

We walk, we talk, we drive, we work, we buy, we pay, we sleep, we dream… in an endless cycle of having and doing where we “have-do-be” a particular person while we’re doing what we do, to get what we want. Often the way we have to be is not the way we are, but the way the world requires us to be. So we act out the parts, play the roles and wear the masks…over and over again.

Over time, “one develops a false sense of self in order to survive… After years of acting, performing and pretending, one’s loses sense of who one really is … One’s True Self is numbed out!” (John Bradshaw)

We wonder what the having, doing and being are all about.
We ask: “Is there more to life than this? Is this all there is to us?

Who am I ?
What is life?

We search through the books, videos, philosophies, religions and seminars only to find that, just like the roles we took on, the explanations we have believed have come externally from a source other than ourselves.
We question the answers.

Perhaps you are at this stage in your life…searching, questioning, exploring, wanting to know the truth through your own experience…wanting to live more fully…more from the depth of your true self? Perhaps you are ready for one of the biggest leaps in your spiritual growth:

TRUE AWAKENING is a remarkable process that brings you to the “direct consciousness” of your true self and the true nature of life. The retreat is a 4 evening/5 day process that combines the eastern practice of contemplation on an age-old question such as “who am I?” with a communication structure based on modern methods of western insight psychology. Periods of sitting, walking, meals, rest and silent meditation are spaced optimally within a monastic-like rural environment so that you can take full advantage of the opportunity to focus on realizing the Truth without the usual distractions of everyday life. The process is followed by a half day of integration to bring the experience of the weekend into your life.

No religious or philosophic belief system is taught.
The workshop leader only gives instruction on the technique and guides you through any difficulties that occur as you do it. Remarkably, the process produces spiritual realization that is similar in depth to that which is recorded in writings from many diverse spiritual traditions but without years of meditation and spiritual practice.

Self-Realization

When Self-Realization occurs you become aware of the fact of your true self, life or another. The illumination is simple, obvious and indisputable. You are enveloped in a sense of unity and completeness. A profound feeling of peace, contentment and lightness permeates your body. You feel totally embodied as if you have finally “come home” to your Self.

Benefits

Self-Realization is completely satisfying because it is fulfilling in and of itself. It gives you the ability to be more open and authentic in relationships, the persistence to accomplish personal goals, the centeredness to face life’s difficulties and a greater capacity for joy.

What participants have said about TRUE AWAKENING:

“I can’t property express how blessed I feel. All I know is that it (self-realization) is more real than anything…this sense of deep meaning and connection helps me trust that the human spirit has limitless possibility. Brenda McMorrow – Singer/songwriter, London

“All of my worries about the future…and past hurts seemed in that moment of awakening, very small when compared to the vastness of which I was apart. In that moment I knew real joy…” – Oriah Mountain Dreamer – Author from “The Invitation”, Toronto

“Within one year of the workshop I left my business and took a chance on a new career…money is not important, nor is status. What is important is that I am now doing what I was originally meant to do with my life” – Mel Steiner – Artist, Toronto

“It’s like I did 5 years of meditation in one weekend!” Beth Clark – Yoga Teacher, Kingston

“I now have a strength that comes from a different source, an inner strength. It just is. Coming from that source life is easier and when things get difficult, I have the power and deep knowledge to deal with it” – Suzy Wasitis – Homemaker- Mississauga
Retreat Leader

Russell Scott has coordinated healing programs and worked as a counselor in treatment centres in Northern Ontario. As well as having been the director of the Ecology Retreat Centre near Orangeville, Ontario for over 10 years he now owns “True Source Seminars” through which he has lead personal growth workshops across Ontario for the last 20 years. As a seasoned workshop leader, he has been involved in over 50 TRUE AWAKENING retreats.

NEXT RETREAT
February 18 (6pm) to 22 (2pm) 2010

For more information:
519-942-8339 or
info@TrueSourceSeminars.com
www.TrueSourceSeminars.com