Location: Ebenezer Lutheran Church, 1650 West Foster Ave, Chicago, IL 60640. The entrance is the large door in the courtyard facing Foster.
Date: Saturday, October 26, 2019
Time: 1:00 - 5:00 PM. Please arrive between 12:30 - 1:00 to sign in and set up. Doors close at 1:00 PM.
As Fall draws to a close and Winter beckons, we adjust to changes in weather, daylight, and lifestyle. How do we think about and react to these changes? And how do they mirror changes within ourselves?
Meditation is a powerful way to accept and respond to the many forms of change that run through our lives. By observing changes in moods and wants, mindfulness allows us to soften our tendencies to react to external changes. When we are grounded in inner awareness and stability, the external changes don’t affect us so much and we don't project our distorting reactions outward.
The cyclic nature of seasonal change reminds us of similar psychological and personality cycles. Energy levels, moods, thought circles, and egoistic habits can re-occur (”be reborn”) in cycles, too. Breathing patterns interact with both inner and outer, as does all of the body. Mind, too, arises and operates within the interplay of outer and inner.
Santikaro will offer guided practices that draw upon Early Buddhist teachings concerning these themes. Each practice will be followed by a debriefing and discussion. The workshop will be suitable for beginners and experienced meditators alike.
Registration: To attend you must register through Eventbrite. The registration fee is $15 to cover expenses. For Santikaro's effort & teaching, dana (goodwill donation) will be gratefully accepted. All dana supports Kevala Retreat and Santikaro’s work.
Logistics: Street parking is available on Foster and on the side streets just north of the church. There is one flight of stairs up to the meditation room. The floor is carpeted, and chairs will be provided. Please bring mats, cushions, and kneelers if you use them.
Our teacher, Santikaro: Santikaro has been a devoted student of Ajahn Buddhadasa Bhikkhu, a Thai Theravada master with whom he lived, trained, and and served as translator, at Suan Mokkh in Southern Thailand. Santikaro's training continues here in the Midwest, where he and his wife Jo Marie Thompson are co-founders of Kevala Retreat, a modern expression of Buddhist practice, study, and social responsibility, located in rural southwestern Wisconsin. He has been teaching in the Chicago area since his return "home" in 2000 and is active teaching around the Midwest and further afield. Life's vicissitudes have given him some acquaintance with cancer, trauma, addictions, deforestation, joy, and other challenges that he explores regularly. To learn more about our teacher Santikaro and his Dhamma refuge in southwestern Wisconsin, please visit the Kevala Retreat website. For questions or more information about the workshop, please contact Ellen.