What & Where I Teach

WHAT I TEACH

I am available to teach at meditation centers, treatment facilities, and related groups. My workshops range from two-hour introductory sessions, to five-day, intensive retreats, depending on your needs and preferences.

For information about booking an event, contact Kevin Griffin.

All my workshops use some combination of the following elements:

  1. Meditation instruction – this is a central part of all my workshops, and includes vipassana or insight meditation and metta or lovingkindness practice. Instruction is suitable for beginners and experienced meditators.
  2. Mindful speech – using very specific instructions on how to speak and listen with meditative attention, participants interact in pairs and small groups to discuss topics relating to recovery, meditation, and the Steps.
  3. Lecture – a formal discussion of topics relating to the Twelve Steps and Buddhism.
  4. Q and A – my favorite part of any workshop is when I get to have a dialogue about the pressing issues on people’s minds relating to practice and program.
  5. And more – depending on the amount of time available, I teach walking meditation, mindful eating, and open the floor to group discussion, twelve-step-style.

INTENSIVE RETREATS

My intensive Buddhist recovery retreats give people the opportunity to deepen their meditation practice and broaden the scope of their recovery.

Courses are run primarily in silence except for specific times of each day when we use mindful speech in interactive exercises. Mornings are spent in sitting and walking meditation along with insight meditation instruction. Afternoons include an interactive session and guided loving-kindness meditation. In the evening there is a Dharma talk followed by time for group sharing, Twelve Step style. Most courses run for five days.

NON-RESIDENTIAL AND DAYLONG RETREATS

These retreats follow a workshop form with didactic teaching along with meditation and extensive discussion. Here you’ll be guided through the fundamentals of Buddhism and the Twelve Steps, drawing parallels and contrasts. Besides the Steps, material covers the Four Noble Truths, Noble Eightfold Path, Five Hindrances, Five Precepts, as well as teachings on lovingkindness and compassion.

The atmosphere is very personal and engaged.