Community Mentoring Programme: The Ennobling Eight-Fold Path

No events to show

Description

Price Options:

Basic rate: £109

Standard rate: £119

Supporter rate: £129

Theme: 

The Buddha describes the Noble Eightfold Path as a direct route to an unshakeable liberation of the heart - cultivated in the midst of our lives.

In this series of gatherings online, we will continue to reflect on this theme, exploring the steps of Right Intention, Right Speech, Right Action and Right Livelihood. 

Right intention: The cultivation of wholesome thoughts and motivations that guide our actions. The Buddha described three aspects of this being – Intention of renunciation, Intention of goodwill and Intention of harmlessness. 

Right Speech: How we can use speech mindfully and ethically.  The Buddha spoke of four guidelines – Avoid lying, Avoid divisive speech, Avoid harsh speech and Avoiding idle chatter. 

Right Action: This looks at how we behave physically – how we choose to act or not act in our daily lives. The Buddha outlined three main guidelines – Abstain from taking life, Abstain from taking what is not given and Abstain from sexual misconduct.

Right Livelihood: This covers the path of ethical work - exploring how we earn our living and can do so in a way that does not harm others and is consistent with Buddhist values.

Together over four weeks, we will explore the teachings and reflect alongside each other on the insights they hold for our everyday lives. 

The intentions for the programme are:

  • Offering an opportunity to reflect on this core teaching of the Buddha - each evening begins with a reflection on the theme. 
  • Nurturing community with short peer breakout groups in each session. 
  • Providing a curious, non-judgemental space where participants are encouraged raise questions about their path and practice. 

Numbers are limited to cultivate a shared sense of sangha.

Who is it for?

This group is for you if you’d like to explore one of the Buddha’s core teachings in more depth. The mentoring group provides a context to do so where you have time and space to consider the theme each week, to talk through with peers and ask questions to the teacher. It’s also for people who may have questions about their practice, about the dharma, that would like that close contact with a teacher that a mentoring group gives you. As such, it’s for people who have been meditating and / or studying the dharma previously, not for absolute beginners to meditation and dharma study.  

Course content / schedule: 

Week One: Right intention

Week Two: Right Speech

Week Three: Right Action

Week Four: Right Livelihood

 

Praise for Christina:

"I would attend this mentoring group every week!" 
— Previous mentoring student with Christina 

"This has been a very thought-provoking and enriching course which has helped me along my dharma path.

Both the teacher and students meshed well together to bring forth further insights and understandings." 
— Previous mentoring student with Christina 

Event Details

Schedule:

2 Sunday and 2 Monday evenings  on 31 May, 14, 29 June and 6th July from 6:30 – 8.30 UK time.

Realtime attendance is encouraged. 

Recordings:

Recordings of Christina's input will be shared after each session but the discussions will not, to create a safe confidential space around the mentoring parts of the sessions.

Suitability:

For experienced practitioners.

 Cost:

  • The price includes a fee for the teacher, no additional dana will be requested. 
  • Possibility to pay a supporter rate by selecting the option available on the registration form. 
  • A limited number of Bursary places are available for this course 

Teacher:

 

CHRISTINA FELDMAN is a co-founder of Gaia House and a guiding teacher at Insight Meditation Society, Barre, Massachussetts. The author of a number of books, she has been teaching insight meditation retreats internationally since 1976. She is one of the teaching faculty of the CPP programme, dedicated to the study and application of the early teachings of the Buddha and is engaged in teaching the Buddhist psychological foundations of mindfulness to those training to teach mindfulness-based applications in England, Belgium and the Netherlands. Her most recent book Mindfulness: Ancient Wisdom Meets Modern Psychology, written with Willem Kuyken, was published in the summer of 2019.