Mindfulness and Awareness: Shambhala and Buddhist Meditation Instruction in St. John’s, Newfoundland
We must practice mindfulness: watching the mind and bringing it back to the
present moment again and again. That is perhaps the most essential component of
any training. You can’t be somewhere else mentally while your training is going on
here.”
-Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche
Mindfulness practice trains us to be present and to relate non-judgmentally to things as they are. It brings us back to the basics. This time-honoured way of working with the mind, developed in the Buddhist tradition, has gone mainstream in recent years, as evidenced by web sites such as Mindfulkids, Mindful: Living with Awareness and Compassion, and the Centre for Mindfulness and Justice.
When we practice mindfulness meditation, we begin to see that we don’t have to get caught up in the storylines in our head—what I should have done, what I’m going to say the next time I talk to that person, how I’m going to solve this problem–the list is endless. Instead, we start paying attention to now–this reality here, our breath–and mind and body begin to synchronize. “You are not working with your mind alone,” Chogyam Trungpa writes about meditation practice in Shambhala: The Sacred Path of the Warrior. “You are working with your mind and your body, and when the two work together, you never leave reality.”
Andrew Safer St. John's, Newfoundland
We must practice mindfulness: watching the mind and bringing it back to the
present moment again and again. That is perhaps the most essential component of
any training. You can’t be somewhere else mentally while your training is going on
here.”
-Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche
Mindfulness practice trains us to be present and to relate non-judgmentally to things as they are. It brings us back to the basics. This time-honoured way of working with the mind, developed in the Buddhist tradition, has gone mainstream in recent years, as evidenced by web sites such as Mindfulkids, Mindful: Living with Awareness and Compassion, and the Centre for Mindfulness and Justice.
When we practice mindfulness meditation, we begin to see that we don’t have to get caught up in the storylines in our head—what I should have done, what I’m going to say the next time I talk to that person, how I’m going to solve this problem–the list is endless. Instead, we start paying attention to now–this reality here, our breath–and mind and body begin to synchronize. “You are not working with your mind alone,” Chogyam Trungpa writes about meditation practice in Shambhala: The Sacred Path of the Warrior. “You are working with your mind and your body, and when the two work together, you never leave reality.”
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Photo: Catherine Safer
The following workshops and programs take place in the Conference Room on the second floor of the Pastoral Care Centre, 200 Military Road, St. John's (west side of Basilica complex, "Main Entrance")
Mindful Mondays
Every Monday night, 6:45 for 7:00 start, sitting and walking meditation until 8:00. On alternating Monday nights starting November 28th, the Shambhala book study group meets from 8:00 to 9:00. On alternating Monday nights starting December 5th, discussion from 8:00 to 8:30.
Upcoming Workshops
The next Mindfulness workshop series at the Family Life Bureau begins on Wednesday, March 28th, 7:00 to 9:30 pm. Register online or call Sr. Loretta Walsh at 579-0168 or e-mail: flb@nf.aibn.com.
Study Group
Study group on Shambhala: The Sacred Path of the Warrior by Chogyam Trungpa: Every other Monday night, (March 19th, April 2nd, etc.) 7:50 for 8:00 start.
Link: http://www.mindfulnessawareness.ca/
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