Insight
Meditation in Brisbane
DharmaCloud is a Brisbane-based group which runs
introductory meditation courses, hosts occasional Sunday morning
meditation sessions, organises in-service teacher training courses
for established meditation teachers and offers occasional meditation
retreats.
Events are normally held
at the Cloudroom, which
is in the grounds of the Morningside Healing Sanctuary, 147
Richmond Road, Morningside on the corner of Bonar Street. The
entrance is in Bonar Street.
Sunday sit and eat
programs, January - June 2010
The next 'sit and eat' mornings
will be on Sunday 7th February and Sunday 6th June
(note new date, not 23 May). The program is:
9:30 Sit
10:15
Break (walk,tea and/or read)
10:45 sit
11.30
break (walk,tea and/or read)
12:00 sit
12:30
lunch (bring a plate to share)
You can arrive before 9:30
or come in any of the breaks. The DharmaCloud library will be
open for people wanting to read during the breaks. You don't
need to let us know you're coming, you can just show up. These
mornings are for people who are comfortable (reasonably) sitting
for 45 minute periods and don't need guidance or instructions.
Cost: free, although there
is a donation box and anything you put there will go to projects
in India we support (Bodhgaya Development Association).
Recollective Awareness weekend with
Jason Siff
Saturday 1st and Sunday 2nd May 2010
Recollective Awareness is a
type of Insight Meditation very different from ordinary mindfulness
practice. It doesn't require that you bring your attention back
to a particular object but instead focusses on a method of looking
closely at what happens when we allow the mind or our attention
to wander in it's normal or habitual ways.
The weekend is suitable for
both people completely new to meditation and for experienced
meditators. There will be meditation periods with some guidance
or guidelines and then review periods, which will focus on different
aspects of the meditation experience.
Jason Siff is an American meditation teacher who has been
teaching Vipassana for over sixteen years. He spent nearly all
the 1980s in Asia, studying and practicing with different teachers
and for three of those years was a Theravada monk in Sri Lanka.
On returning to the US, he started teaching meditation, completed
a Masters degree in Counselling Psychology and then a post-graduate
training in psychotherapy. He founded the Skillful Meditation Project, has written a
number of books and runs workshops, retreats and training programs
for meditation teachers in different parts of the US, Canada
and here in Australia.
Each day will start at 9:00am
and finish between 4 and 5 in the afternoon and there'll be a
break for lunch.
Cost: There is no set cost. It is by donation. Insight
Meditation teachers often rely on donations rather than setting
a fee for their programs.
What to bring: A lunch to share (eg salad, bread
& spreads), meditation cushion or bench (chairs are available
at the Cloudroom for people who prefer to sit on a chair).
No booking needed. Just turn up. If you are only able
to make it for one day, please come on the Saturday.
Introduction to Meditation courses
with Victor von der Heyde
There is
currently (February 10) a course running. Courses generally start
when there is enough people. If you're interested in hearing
when the next course starts, please contact us though the DharmaCloud
email or phone number below.
This course normally runs for
eight evening sessions over a three month period, like four weeks
and then a break and then another four weeks. There's usually
a small group so there's time for each person to talk about what's
happening (or not happening) for them. The aim of the course
is to give people a good grounding in different styles of meditation.
What is covered is types of mindfulness practice, other more
open styles of meditation, meditations that generate a warm and
kind attitude, and Naikan practice, a method of contemplation.
The course is intended for people who would like to learn an
approach to stress management, or to becoming more calm and grounded,
or who would like tools to see more clearly what sort of inner
landcapes we go through and what sort of options we have in those
landscapes. All the meditation practices come from Buddhism and
while the course will cover some aspects of Buddhism that relate
to meditation, you won't be asked to believe anything.
Victor is a member of the Insight Teacher
Circle and has trained with a variety of teachers including
Jon Kabat-Zinn, founder of the Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction
Program. Cost is $80 for the eight session course.
Retreat with Stephen and Martine Batchelor
23rd -
30th October 2010 in Northern NSW
DharmaCloud Library: There is a library for people who come
to DharmaCloud events on a regular basis. It requires a $10 refundable
deposit to become a member. The book catalogue is in two sections:
A to K and L
to Z. There are also tapes, CDs and Buddhist magazines.
DharmaCloud email list: We have an email list for people
who would like to receive occasional emails - very occasional
- of DharmaCloud events. This is just for people in Brisbane
and different from the list used for the quarterly Insight Meditation
News. If you'd like to be on this list, please email us (email
address below).
For further
information call (07) 3343-8243 or email
