Introduction to Meditation: Getting to Know Your Own Mind

We all want to be happy. But often the relentless pace and challenges of life make it impossible to know where to look for happiness.

Through the wisdom of meditation, however, we can find peace and contentment. To our amazement, we discover a profound stillness that is always with us, beneath the turbulence of all our thoughts and emotions. When we allow our mind to settle, quietly, in its own natural peace, then what happens is quite extraordinary.

This introduction to meditation Is is a unique course that has been specially developed by Sogyal Rinpoche after many years of teaching in the West. It brings together over 2,000 years of Buddhist wisdom and experience in a way that is authentic, accessible and completely relevant to modern life.

Led by experienced meditators, it offers a complete introduction to meditation and shows how it can unlock our natural confidence, compassion and creativity. Students will gain a genuine experience of meditation and all the tools they need to take the benefits into every aspect of their life.

Course One- Getting to Know Your Own Mind, offers a complete introduction to meditation in five bi-weekly Wednesday evening sessions:

Session 1 - September 21
Session 2 - October 5
Session 3 - October 19
Session 4 - November 2
Session 5 - November 16

Students acquire all the tools they need in order to have a genuine experience of meditation, establish a daily practice, and take the benefits of meditation into every aspect of their life.

The following topics are covered in Course One:

• Session One: A basic introduction to the true purpose of meditation and how to practise it.
• Session Two: Meditation as a way to inner peace and contentment
• Session Three: Understanding mind and how to work with it
• Session Four: The benefits of meditation
• Session Five: Integrating the practice in daily life

Course One- Getting to Know Your Own Mind is suitable for anyone who wishes to learn to meditate or deepen their knowledge of meditation—including absolute beginners who have never heard about meditation or Buddhism, and more experienced students from Rigpa or from other traditions.

It is also a recommended foundation for Courses Two through Six, which present a series of ever-subtler methods for stabilising and deepening shamatha meditation practice.