Intro to Buddhist Meditation Techniques and Insights
Alternate Sundays in November and December - 3:30 to 5:00 PM 
November 4, 18, December 2, 16
with Shana Lieberman Klinger, M.A. Psychology
Cost: $60- $100/for all 4 sessions(*scholarships available  Pre-registration required. To register for the series: contact shana.l.klinger@gmail.com or 401-258-3056

The Buddha was driven to understand why there was suffering, why things aren’t the way we want them to be, and how to live with the reality of dissatisfaction in a way that allowed true freedom, happiness, and benefit to others.  His insights were based on doing meditation practices that are still totally relevant today.  Like him, we are confronted in our daily lives with different kinds of suffering, both inner and outer, and big questions about how to lead meaningful and happy lives. Read More.

This four session series will explain basic Buddhist
principles and insights as they apply to our 21stcentury lives, as well as introduce four categories of meditation techniques:  

• calm (concentration); 

• kind (compassion, loving kindness and altruistic motivation); 

• clear (mindfulness)

• and wise (living by choice and in alignment with one’s ethics and deepest understanding).  
  

  Session 1 - Sunday, November 4:  Why can’t things be perfect?  

  We will hear the story of the Buddha’s collision with unsatisfactoriness, his journey to become free through meditation, and his most fundamental teaching and insights, called the first and second of The Four Noble Truths.  

  • Introduction to meditative technique of “calm” – concentration (shamatha)

  
  Session 2 -  Sunday, November 18:  Seeing things clearly, just as they are

  The Buddha practiced meditation so deeply that it allowed him to understand the very nature of reality, to see it clearly, and through so doing, to become free from what bound him to suffering.  The third of The Four Noble Truths describes this possibility of the cessation of suffering.

  • Introduction to meditative technique of “clear” – mindfulness (vipassana)

  
  Session 3 -  Sunday, December 2:  What’s love got to do with it?

  The noble heart – the intention for ourselves and all beings to be happy and free from suffering - is regarded in Buddhism as the pinnacle of true love.  Sometimes called the Bodhisattva Path, this aspect of Buddhist practice harnesses the power of altruistic motivation combined with deep understanding about the sources of suffering.  Together with loving kindness and compassion practices, these provide great inspiration for both mundane and spiritual life.

  • Introduction to meditative technique of “kind” – compassion, loving kindness, altruistic motivation

  
  Session 4 -  Sunday, December 16:  A blueprint for living wisely

  The Buddha’s blueprint for living wisely is laid out in the Eightfold Noble Path, as described in The Fourth Noble Truth.  We will learn about its eight elements: three have to do with ethics, three with meditation, and two with our attitudes and understanding.  

  • Introduction to meditative quality of “wise” – living in alignment with ethics and our deepest understanding.