Special Event

A Note about Dana

Dana means generosity.

Teachers offer their knowledge and experience freely. When making a donation offering to a teacher, know that your commitment to the practice and teachings are the greatest gift. Yet, monetary gesture is also appreciated. Balance what you can afford with the value of the experience and then trust your heart.

Lama Willa Miller Class

Meditation Practice and Dharma talk with Lama Willa Miller

(one of Janine's main teachers)

In the Eye of the Storm:

Adversity as the Path to Awakening

Monday, December 5

6:30 - 8:00 pm

Cost: donation (dana)

* Join us at 5:30 for a FREE yoga class!

When we encounter difficult outer circumstances, our tendency is to want to avoid or fix them. When we meet challenging emotions, we want to suppress them or find a way to escape from what we are feeling. But these very strategies, in the end, often compound our suffering.

What can we do about adversity? The timeless Tibetan wisdom tradition of lojong shows us that we have another option. We can make the choice to “lean into” what is difficult. The profound practice of leaning in helps us discover that the very states we long to avoid—fear, suffering, loss, anger, and grief—are actually keys to developing deeper empathy, wisdom, and joy. We learn to find refuge right in the eye of the storm, to find stillness within the most difficult mind states.

Lama Willa has studied and practiced in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition for the last twenty years in the non-sectarian Kagyu, Nyingma and Shangpa lineages of Tibetan Buddhism. Over the years, her teachers and guides have included Kalu Rinpoche, Bokar Rinpoche, Dilgo Khentse Rinpoche, Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso Rinpoche, Lama Norlha Rinpoche, Lama John Makransky and others.

She completed two traditional Three Year Retreats in the nineties, was authorized as a lama [Buddhist minister] in 1999, and teaches Tibetan Buddhist practice, meditation and yoga in the Northeast. Her teaching specialties include natural meditation (mahamudra), heart-cultivation (lojong), deity practice, body-based Buddhist yoga, and practices for deep retreat. In addition to her dharma teaching, she has a PhD in Religion at Harvard University.

She is author of the book Everyday Dharma: Seven Weeks to Finding the Buddha in You, a practical guide for getting started on the spiritual path.

ALL ARE WELCOME!

Bring a meditation cushion if you have one,

otherwise there will be plenty of blankets, blocks and chairs.