Fri 10 Aug @ 7 pm

For many of us it is hard to find enough time to practice the Dharma let alone penetrate its vastness and depth. The focus of this talk is how to practice the Dharma in a way that is authentic, consistent and yet realistic considering the many pressures and activities that fill our daily lives. The key is our view. The Mahayana Dharma hinges on our basic orientation and motivation. If we can make this clear and heartfelt then our meditation practice and the way we live flows from this. The main point is to integrate the view of emptiness with the daily practice of mindful awareness and compassion.

Choden will offer some teaching and practical advice on how to clarify our view and set up a daily meditation practice that fits within our time constraints and commitments. There will be teaching, guided mediation and an opportunity for questions and discussion. This talk is open to anyone – Buddhists, Mindfulness practitioners and anyone else who has a passion for letting the sacred touch their lives.

Cost: Members no cost; Public R60
Dana (offering) is suggested; Dana (offering) to the teacher allows participants an opportunity to practice generosity and the teacher an opportunity to practice unconditional gratitude.

To book or for more information please email capetown@kagyu.org.za or phone the Centre's office 021 7612978

Choden’s Bio

A monk within the Karma Kagyu tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, Choden (aka Sean Mc Govern) completed a three-year, three-month retreat in 1997 and has been a practicing Buddhist since 1985. He is originally from South Africa where he trained as a lawyer and learned meditation under the guidance of Rob Nairn, an internationally renowned Buddhist teacher. He is now involved in developing secular mindfulness and compassion programmes drawing upon the wisdom and methods of the Buddhist tradition, as well as contemporary insights from psychology and neuroscience. He is an honorary fellow of the University of Aberdeen and teaches on their Postgraduate Study Programme in Mindfulness (MSc) that is the first of its kind to include compassion in its curriculum. He co-wrote a book with Paul Gilbert in 2013, entitled ‘Mindful Compassion’ that explores the interface between Buddhist and Evolutionary approaches to compassion training. He is also the co-author of two upcoming books: ‘Mindfulness Based Living Course’ (due to be published in November 2018) and ‘From Mindfulness to Insight’ (due to be published by Shambhala in April 2019). In 2016 he completed a one-year retreat focused on the foundation practices of Tibetan Buddhism.