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According to early Buddhist teachings, our very first experience of every sensory stimulus falls into one of three categories: pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral. From there, we immediately move to liking or disliking – liking if the experience is pleasant, disliking if the experience is unpleasant. This seems quite obvious, and most people would never question this chain of events – of course we like pleasant things and dislike unpleasant things – how could it be otherwise? But in Buddhist meditation we are invited to do precisely this: uncouple pleasant and unpleasant from liking and disliking, based on the premise that this is the very source of our suffering. Our tool for doing this is mindfulness, defined as nonjudgmental present-moment awareness.
A retreat offers a precious opportunity to practice mindfulness for multiple hours in a row, silently, in community. This half-day retreat, open to beginners and experienced meditators alike, will begin with a reflection on pleasant and unpleasant and liking and disliking, move to periods of sitting and walking meditation, and end with a group discussion.
According to early Buddhist teachings, our very first experience of every sensory stimulus falls into one of three categories: pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral. From there, we immediately move to liking or disliking – liking if the experience is pleasant, disliking if the experience is unpleasant. This seems quite obvious, and most people would never question this chain of events – of course we like pleasant things and dislike unpleasant things – how could it be otherwise? But in Buddhist meditation we are invited to do precisely this: uncouple pleasant and unpleasant from liking and disliking, based on the premise that this is the very source of our suffering. Our tool for doing this is mindfulness, defined as nonjudgmental present-moment awareness.
A retreat offers a precious opportunity to practice mindfulness for multiple hours in a row, silently, in community. This half-day retreat, open to beginners and experienced meditators alike, will begin with a reflection on pleasant and unpleasant and liking and disliking, move to periods of sitting and walking meditation, and end with a group discussion.