Meditation Instruction and Groups

The St. Louis Wellness Center is home to Shambhala-St. Louis. We are one of the many groups in the world-wide Shambhala Buddhist Community, offering meditation practice and instruction in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. Currently, meditation sessions are offered weekly on Wednesday evenings from 6-7:30 p.m. and  on Sunday afternoons from 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. At the Wellness Center, we train our minds with shamatha practice, the most simple form of sitting meditation. Shamatha is a Sanskrit word that means "peacefully abiding."

These meditation sessions are open to everyone, whether you have experience with meditation or not. If you are interested in learning what your own mind is, how it works, and how it can be a friend to you, please join us! You may drop into the open sitting times anytime you would like.

 

 

WHAT IS MEDITATION?

 

Meditation is a way to make the mind more stable and clear. It is for everyone who has noticed their minds are chaotic or unsettled and who wish for a deeper understanding of their experiences. From our point of view, meditation is not purely a Buddhist practice; it is a practice  anyone can do and can benefit all. Meditation practice is for everyone, regardless of their experience or religious affiliation. 

Meditation is based on the belief that the natural state of the mind is calm and clear. As such, the practice of meditation provides a way for us to train our mind to settle into this natural state. Often, a first reason for meditating is that we wants to find some freedom from our agitated minds. 

 

HOW DOES MEDITATION WORK?

To understand the mind, we are required to slow down and experience our mind just as it is. In the process, we start to see how our mind works. We see that whatever the mind is focused on—anger, desire,  jealousy, or  peace—that is what we also will be focused on and what we will experience. Through our meditation practice, we begin to see that we have a choice in the matter: we do not have to act on every thought. We can abide peacefully in our natural and calm mind state regardless of any unpleasant feelings, thoughts, or experiences. It is the Shambhala view that every human being has a fundamental nature of goodness, warmth, and intelligence and that this nature is available to us at all times and in all situations. Meditation practice allows us to come back to our true nature and to begin living from this natural state of peaceful abiding. We come to acknowledge our natural state through the practices of meditation, awareness, and mindfulness. This natural state can be further developed in daily life, so that it radiates out to family, friends, community, and society. 

 

CAN I BENEFIT FROM MEDITATION?

YES! Everyone can benefit from meditation. It is helpful for stress reduction, addiction, chronic pain, anxiety, depression, obsessive thoughts and worry, eating disorders, general discontent and most other human conditions you can think of. It is helpful to anyone who has a sincere interest in learning to flow with the human experience and in living with an open heart and open mind.

 

SHAMBHALA TRAINING lEVEL ONE:  THE ART OF BEING HUMAN

January 14th and 15th, 2012

Saturday 8:30am-6pm and Sunday 8:30am-3:30pm

 

The ancient wisdom of Shamhala comes alive in our daily existence.  Shambhala Training is a path of meditation that develops fearlessness, confidence, openness,a nd gentleness towards ourselves and our world.  The first in a series of trainings, Level One includes instruction on meditation, talks, individual meetings with teachers, discussions, and a concluding reception.  The practice of meditation helps us to look at our lives in  fresh way.  We discover that our existence is basically good, regardless of our particular circumstances.  The experiece of our innate basic goodness is the ground the development of confidence and gentleness.

 

Program Director:  Lance Brunner is an experienced teacher in the Shambhala-Buddhist tradition, having directed Shambhala Training and contemplative arts programs and retreats for twenty years in a variety of settings all over the globe.  He served as co-chair of the Advisory Board for twenty years in a variety of settings all over the globe.  He served as co-chair of the Advisory Board for the Shambhala Art Council.  He combines his interests in the arts, meditation, and action in the world through his consulting and facilitation, having worked with health professionals, businesses, leadership organizations, and within prisons.  He has been a professor of music history at the University of Kentucky since 1976.

 

Program Fees:  General:  $130, Members: $105 (includes light breakfast and lunch)  Repeat Member:  $55, Non Member: $65

 

Where:  Shambhala St. Louis 425 Marshall Ave.  St. Louis, MO 63119 (inside the St. Louis Wellness Center)

For more information and to register:  Contact our Registrar, Candy Sobel @ 314-651-8882 or by email at coolchange2008@yahoo.com