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Living Kindness Daylong – Spirit Rock
February 19, 2017 @ 9:30 am - 4:30 pm
Living Kindness: Buddhist Teachings for a Troubled World
Spirit Rock Listing
Lovingkindness, or metta, is sometimes depicted as a simple “open your heart and love everybody” practice, but a closer look at the Buddha’s teachings reveals a more complex and nuanced picture. In a time of great conflict and contention in our society, it can be extremely valuable to see how the Buddha addressed these relevant topics:
• the challenges of living with other people;
• the risk of hating anyone, even your enemies;
• and the dangers inherent to conventional loving relationships.
He uses his teachings on lovingkindness to emphasize the importance of sila, or ethical behavior, the potential for opening into deeper meditative states of peace and equanimity, and the importance of developing a non-discriminating, unconditional love on the path of awakening.
The retreat will include meditation, lecture, small group discussion, and Q&A.
On this retreat we will:
• explore several suttas that will open up our understanding of lovingkindess;
• practice several different forms of metta as well as mindfulness meditation;
• look at how these teachings and practices can transform the way we live in the world through the commitment to non-ill will and selfless activity.