Compassion for Ourselves:
What it is, what it isn’t, why it can be difficult, and how it can make us happy
4 Thursday evenings in June: 6/7, 6/14, 6/21, 6/28 from 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm
Manifesting Compassion in our Relationships:
Widening our compassion to others, and creating a better world
Daylong retreat on Saturday, June 16, from 10:00 am – 4:30 pm
In this series of classes (four Thursday evenings plus one daylong) we will explore how to increase our ability to be compassionate with ourselves, our loved ones, and people we find challenging to interact with. We will also explore how we can meet the suffering in our world and actively respond to it from a compassionate stance. We will explore how to bring compassion into our social justice activism. We will apply the teachings and practices of Buddhism and Nonviolent Communication (NVC) in this class.
Research at Stanford medical school is showing that compassion results in a deep sense of well-being, it promotes the immune system, and also results in decreased levels of stress. According to Dr. Doty, founder of Stanford’s Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education, “Compassion is what is going to save our species”. Buddhism considers compassion one of the two wings of the great bird of awakening along with wisdom. According to the Dalai Lama – “If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.” Modern research and Buddhism are unified in the belief that we can increase our ability to be compassionate.
at Diamond Light Meditation Center
2791 24th Street Room 14 (upstairs)
Sacramento, CA 95818
parking lot in back, ADA accessible
Note: No prior knowledge or experience with Buddhism of NVC is required to participate. All are welcome. It is not necessary to participate in both the Thursday night series and the daylong, but is recommended in order to experience the full scope of our compassion.
Venerable Tenzin Chogkyi: Venerable Tenzin Chogkyi is a Buddhist nun, activist and popular Buddhist retreat leader and teacher. She loves bridging the worlds of Buddhist thought, current affairs, and the latest research in the field of positive psychology. As well as being passionate about her spiritual practice she also cares deeply about prison reform, animal rights, equal rights for all and bringing an end to human trafficking and other modern forms of slavery.
Venerable Tenzin first became interested in meditation after reading Be Here Now and Autobiography of a Yogi in the early 1970s. She describes her spiritual path over the next 20 years as “meandering and haphazard” until she bought a one-way ticket to India in early 1991 with the intention of meeting His Holiness the Dalai Lama. In the end, she became a student not only of His Holiness, but also of Kirti Tsenshab Rinpoche and Lama Zopa Rinpoche during the year she spent studying at Tushita Meditation Centre in Dharamsala, India and Kopan Monastery in Kathmandu, Nepal. She also completed several long meditation retreats over a six-year period.
Sunil Josef: I started studying Nonviolent Communication (NVC) in 2004. NVC has had a transformational effect on my professional and personal life. I am continually amazed at the power and simplicity of this way of living life. While I am not a certified NVC trainer, I am happy when the fruits of my personal practice can benefit others. I consider myself a lifelong NVC learner and explorer.