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PRE- & POST-CONFERENCE WORKSHOPS
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PRE-CONFERENCE WORKSHOPS
SUNDAY 23 NOVEMBER |
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WORKSHOP 1
TOWARDS A JOYFUL, CAREFREE MIND |
| 9:00-12:30 |
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Dr. Thupten Jinpa
Highest graduate of the monastic university system of Tibet, PhD in Religious Studies from Cambridge University, Principal Translator of the Dalai Lama, Visiting Scholar at Stanford University’s Neuroscience Institute’s Project Compassion |
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For a thousand years, the great monastic universities of Tibet have taught the Buddha’s approach to the perfection of the human heart. Educated in these monasteries since childhood, Thupten Jinpa is a master of this approach.
Tibetans are renowned for their easy-going equanimity in the face of incredible odds. A key to their success is their practice of the Mind Training teachings, with their unique focus on transforming adversities into opportunities for spiritual growth and stable happiness.
“Constantly maintain a joyful mind” is one of the often-repeated mottos of these teachings. Jinpa will explain how to bring joy into our lives, no matter how difficult things seem, showing just why the Tibetan people revere these techniques for their pragmatic, down-to-earth approach and their remarkable effectiveness. |
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WORKSHOP 2
BE YOUR OWN THERAPIST |
| 2:00-5:30 |
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Ven. Robina Courtin
Teacher of Buddhism worldwide, Executive Director of Liberation Prison Project, which supports the spiritual practice of thousands of prisoners in the USA and Australia |
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We spend our lives being seduced by the outside world, believing completely that happiness and suffering come from “out there.” But if we look into our hearts we can see that this is not true, that the more we hanker after and cling to people and things and experiences, the more dissatisfied and lonely we become.
Happiness and suffering come from the way we perceive and interpret things, not the things themselves. At the heart of the problem is our instinctive clinging to a limited sense of self, which causes us to respond with attachment, anger, fear and the rest.
Using teachings, discussion and meditation, Ven. Robina will show that by becoming deeply familiar with the workings of our own minds and hearts through meditation and purification practices—truly, being our own therapist—we can gradually loosen the grip of ego-grasping and open ourselves to our marvelous potential for clarity, contentment, love and the other qualities that are at the core of our being.
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POST-CONFERENCE WORKSHOPS
WEDNESDAY 26 NOVEMBER |
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WORKSHOP 1
MEDITATION EXPERIENCE, EMOTION, AND BRAIN SYSTEMS |
| 9:00-12:30 |
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Philippe Goldin, PhD
Head of the Clinically Applied Affective Neuroscience laboratory in the Department of Psychology at Stanford University who spent six years in Asia studying and practicing Buddhist philosophy and meditation |
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Meditation practices can have a profound influence on emotions and the brain. In this workshop, we will focus on experiencing a variety of specific meditation practices, observing their effects on emotion and thinking, and examining their effect on brain systems involved in emotional reactivity, cognitive regulation and self-view.
Philippe Goldin will use his experience as a Buddhist meditator and his skills as a scientist to demonstrate the effectiveness of mindfulness meditation and cognitive behavioral therapy for people who suffer from anxiety disorders.
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WORKSHOP 2
SEVEN STEPS TO AWAKENING KNOWLEDGE, STRENGTH
AND COMPASSION |
| 9:00-12:30 |
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Pamela Cayton
Founder of Tara Redwood School in Santa Cruz, California, the leading pilot school in the West for Essential Education whose curriculum blends the best of East and West |
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Pamela Cayton will introduce the Seven Steps to Knowledge, Strength and Compassion, developed at Tara Redwood School in Santa Cruz, California. Inspired by the Tibetan master, Lama Thubten Yeshe’s vision of Universal Education, now known as Essential Education, these seven steps have been developed over 18 years of trial and implementation.
“Many of us don’t understand the totality of human reality,” Lama observed. “When we become spiritual we often don’t want to accept scientific reality. I think there must be a middle way: education should bring everything together, not make them separate. It should include the essence of spirituality, of philosophy, psychology: all contained in the whole.”
Founded as a pre-school in 1989 and expanded into an elementary program in 1996, the school takes care of 50 children aged 3 through 10 in an idyllic setting of 20 acres of redwood forest and meadow adjoining Nicene Marks State Park.
Participants will hear about and experience the theories and methodologies used at Tara Redwood School, which blends the best of East and West, educating equally the minds and hearts of the children. |
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WORKSHOP 3
LOOK INSIDE, SPEAK THROUGH MOVEMENT,
WORK TOGETHER™ |
| 9:00-12:30 |
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Gina Gibney
Director of Gina Gibney Dance, an all-female dance company in New York City, which works with survivors of domestic violence, sufferers of HIV/AIDs and youth at risk |
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Gina Gibney will conduct an experiential workshop in movement and creativity based on her company’s ground-breaking work with survivors of domestic violence. Participants will explore the power of movement as a tool for reflection, self-expression and collaboration.
No prior experience with movement is necessary. Gibney’s highly regarded Domestic Violence Project was conceived to unite survivors of domestic abuse—who often have grave issues of self-determination and autonomy—with professional dancers, who through years of training have learned to control their physical environment with freedom and confidence.
Many, many times this program has demonstrated that movement, physical awareness and creativity can play a remarkable role in healing trauma. |
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WORKSHOP 4
RESTORATIVE JUSTICE: GOING BEYOND BLAME AND ANGER |
| 2:00-5:30 |
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Sujatha Baliga, JD
Soros Justice Fellow with Restorative Justice for Oakland Youth |
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In her interactive and experiential workshop, Sujatha Baliga will present the highly effective methods for resolving conflict used in her work in the Bay Area. She will demonstrate how these simple techniques, which have been used for thousands of years in many cultures, can help us move beyond the blame and hurt that so often arise in our efforts to resolve problems in our daily lives.
Through these methods, RJOY’s pilot project in a middle school located in a highcrime area of Oakland, California, has had remarkable success in its first year: suspensions have dramatically decreased and expulsions and physical fighting are nearly obsolete. A similar pilot project is taking shape in the county’s juvenile justice system.
Sujatha draws upon the experience of New Zealand’s Maori people: In response to high rates of incarceration of their children, the Maori urged the government of New Zealand to adopt a justice system based on their indigenous methods of conflict resolution. In 1989, the government agreed and implemented restorative justice as the official state method of addressing youthful wrongdoing. In the years that followed, the use of restorative justice has effectively ended incarceration for almost all juvenile crimes nationwide. |
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WORKSHOP 5
NO REGRETS: ADVICE FOR LIVING AND DYING |
| 2:00-5:30 |
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Yeshe Khadro
Executive Director of Karuna Hospice, a community-based palliative care service in Brisbane, Australia, renowned for its especially personal approach |
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Life is precious; there is so much we can do, for ourselves and others. But it is also impermanent, and so often it’s our denial of this simple reality that brings unnecessary anxiety, depression and fear.
Yeshe Khadro, an Australian Buddhist nun who runs Karuna Hospice, a community-based palliative care service in the city of Brisbane, will show how changing our old perspectives can make life more joyful, more meaningful, giving us energy and courage and allowing us to open our hearts to others.
She will talk about and guide participants in meditations that help during the actual dying process and during bereavement; and how to renew a sense of self and purpose after the death of loved ones.
She will also show No Regrets, a film of His Holiness the Dalai Lama during his visit to Karuna Hospice last year, giving advice to the terminally ill, medical professionals and the general public on grief and loss, and how to give and receive emotional and spiritual support. |
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WORKSHOP 6
HEARING THE CALL OF THE DRUM |
| 2:00-5:30 |
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Ben Eiland
Of Apache and Mexican descent, Ben has been a consultant and educator for the American Indian Training Institute on the topics of Addiction and the Native American, and Historical and Cultural Trauma. He is Program Director of Substance Abuse Treatment Services for Haight-Ashbury Free Clinics in San Francisco.
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The Drum is arguably the most recognized instrument among Native Americans and non-Native people alike. Drums for many generations have certainly been at the hub of Native American lifestyle, forming what has become the vehicle of religion and spirituality as well as social gatherings where a pow-wow drum is at the forefront.
For Native Americans, the beating drum is compared to the beating of a human heart and is said to represent the heart beat of the earth. Drums become the vehicle to connect one’s spirit with that of the earth and the Great Spirit; they are believed to speak to the drummer.
If you are called by the Drum you will feel a need to follow it. |
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