A consciousness-raising workshop to bring in the New Year.
Tuesday 1st January, 6-8 pm, $25
1227 Malvern Road, Malvern
Bookings essential: theneurobrain.melbourne@gmail.com
To welcome in the New Year, let’s come together for some consciousness-raising on the first day of 2019. Through guided meditation, visualisation and group discussion, this workshop will help us soothe negative thoughts, connect with an intention for the year ahead and cultivate a tender heart.
Art, poetry, philosophy and religion all suggest that we are called on to go through the ‘dark night of the soul’ before can we re-emerge into the light with greater wisdom and compassion. This process requires a profound trust in ourselves that we have, in our own heart-mind, all we need to feel whole.
The Buddha was an ordinary human being who developed his wisdom and compassion to the ultimate degree. He woke up to the nature of reality – the nature of consciousness – and in so doing, he discovered a profound peace and contentment. This enabled him to spend the next 40 years teaching and working to relieve the suffering of his time. Spiritual teachers from all traditions promise us equanimity is possible even as we face the enormous problems besetting humanity today and take action to help others. The Buddha taught that all sentient beings, no matter how broken we feel at this moment, have this potential to let go, find peace and wake up into presence.
The great Indian sage, Sri Nisargadatta, said:
“All you need is already within you, only you must approach yourself with reverence and love.”
To develop greater wisdom, compassion and contentment, our wise ancestors teach us that it can be done by journeying inwards and turning towards our heart-mind with tenderness. This journey inwards, in turn, supports our journey out in the world so we can take action.
Often it can help to come together with others who are on a similar quest; to be willing to connect with our own vulnerability and to hold tenderly the vulnerability of another; and to set a conscious intention about the direction in which we’d like to develop in the coming year.
Planting the seeds of growth in our minds is remarkably effective. It activates our receptivity to attract into our life people or situations that can help us achieve the growth we so desire. That is the power behind intention. I’ve seen evidence of this in my own life and in the lives of my teachers.
On this first day in 2019, let’s explore what we can let go of and what we can connect to in our own heart-mind.