Meditation Study Series
Meditation Study Series
Our next online series is on Tuesday evenings starting January 27th at 7pm.
Join our seasonal meditation study series for intermediate and experienced meditators in a supportive community. Facilitated by (Rev.) Andrew Blake of Sarana Institute.
What to Expect
Our Tuesday evening series is a gathering of like-minded meditators interested in deepening practice and integrating Buddhist teachings into daily life. Each class will include sitting and walking meditation, a contemplative practice, and space for council and group discussion of the teachings.
This course is open to all levels of meditation practice and those interested in integrating Buddhist approaches and teachings into their lives and healing. If you are new to meditation, please don't hesitate to contact us before registration.
Description of our Upcoming Series
Winter Meditation Series: "Changing the World from the Inside Out"
In our next series, we return to what it means to make meditation alive - bringing our sitting practice off the cushion and into the world. Our guide, Ogyen Trinley Dorje, offers a potent and accessible invitation in his book The Heart Is Noble: Changing the World from the Inside Out. He explores how to be fully in the world with all its complexity. Rather than another treatise on Buddhist philosophy, the 17th Karmapa invites us to examine our direct experience of life.
Based on a series of meetings with college students, he writes, “we all meet… [in] our shared concern about our lives and our world… On that ground, we can meet as friends.” This spirit will guide our 9-week series as we explore themes such as: meaningful living, healthy relationships, gender identity, consumerism and food justice, social action and environmental protection, conflict resolution, and sustainable compassion.
Alongside our regular mindfulness (shamatha), reflective contemplation (vipassana), and group council sharing, this series will challenge us to steward compassion into action - often called Engaged Buddhism. Our sitting practice is preparation for life; we’ll ask how we are engaging it. We will also cultivate layers of compassion, deepening our capacity for universal or boundless compassion through tonglen, known as “giving and receiving.”
This series is ideal for anyone interested in building a meditation practice, deepening compassion skills, engaging life from a heart-centered place, and exploring Buddhist concepts and methods. All levels are welcome in our Tuesday Sangha led by (Rev.) Andrew, who brings nearly 50 years of study and practice.
Dates and Times
Tuesday Evenings from 7 - 9 pm ET on Zoom
Starts January 27th for 9 Weeks
Registration Fee
There are a few options for registering:
Base Fee: $250
Supportive Fee: $300 for those who can contribute more
PWYC Fee: Any amount that you can contribute
*as a spiritual gift, the dharma is not a commodity bought and sold. Our registration fees go to support Rev. Andrew and the work at Sarana Institute. If the suggested fee is challenging, pay an amount that works within your finances. Everyone is welcome in our sangha, and finances must never be a reason not to join us.
About (Rev.) Andrew Blake
(Rev.) Andrew Blake, Buddhist Chaplain, Psychotherapist and Co-Founder of Sarana Institute
Andrew is the Director of Program Development at Sarana Institute, and his wife, Angie, is a co-founder. In 2010, Andrew was ordained as a Buddhist Chaplain by Roshi Joan Halifax, a leader in compassion, caregiving and end-of-life. His thesis, Mindful Listening at End-of-Life, was recently published and explores the roles of mindfulness, empathy and compassion, from both neuroscience and Buddhist psychology perspectives, as skills to prevent caregiver “empathy fatigue.”
A teacher and educator of mindfulness meditation, Buddhism, End-of-Life caregiving, and his Mindful Listening work, Andrew has created training and curriculums at the University of Toronto through the Applied Mindfulness Mediation Program, at Sick Kids Hospital through The Mindfulness Project, at Hincks Dellcrest Centre, as well as numerous conferences, hospitals, hospices and organizations involved in service, healthcare, end-of-life care, volunteer caregiving. In addition to his teaching, he guides individuals and families at end of life and serves as an officiant at memorials and funerals. www.andrewblake.ca
