Experiencing Our True Nature
Join us at Sage & Tansy Wellness Studio in Ione, California for a group meditation practice. We will be exploring the theme, Experiencing Our True Nature. In each one hour session, we will discuss and discover what it means to experience our true nature and explore meditation methods that bring us to the clear, direct experience. We will leave time at the end for questions that may arise from practice.
This class is appropriate for all levels of experience. Those new to meditation as well as those that have been practicing meditation for decades are welcome.
We draw from Theravada (Burmese), Chan (Chinese Zen) and Vajrayana (Tibetan) Buddhist traditions but our presentation is secular in nature and respects people of all religious and philosophical persuasions.
Location
Sage & Tansy Wellness Studio 24 West Main Street, Ione CA 95640
Practice Methods
Our practice involves a combination of methods, each having its own benefits, to produce well-rounded development.
Anapanasati (Pali: Breathing Mindfulness)
The principle practice for beginners is anapanasati meditation, or full awareness of breathing. This is a calming (śamatha) meditation from the Theravada, the oldest school of Buddhism prevalent in Sri Lanaka, Burma and Thailand. It has been used successfully for over 2,500 years as a primary method of settling the mind. This is considered a preliminary practice for insight (vipaśyanā) meditation, which leads to the direct experience of one’s true nature.
We often begin our meditations with following the breath, regardless of level of experience as a means of settling mind and body. This offers a smooth transition to Silent Illumination, our principal practice.
Silent Illumination (Chinese: 黙照禅, pinyin: Mòzhào, Japanese: Shikantaza) is a principal meditation practice of the Cáodòng (曹洞, Soto) school of Chán (禪, Zen) Buddhism. It integrates both calming (śamatha) meditation and insight (vipaśyanā) meditation. Chan Master Sheng-yen described this as a practice that can take one the full way to enlightenment. Referred to as the method of no method or just sitting, it is extremely simple, natural and near effortless, but amazingly rewarding and beneficial.
Direct Contemplation is a method of resting as awareness. Often done outdoors, this Chan practice can bring about a shift of perception from dualistic observation to unified pure awareness.
Pristine Mind Meditation is a Tibetan method akin to the Chan practice of Direct Contemplation and Silent Illumination and is considered the culmination of meditative practice.
Slow Walking Meditation is a walking meditation practice from Theravada Buddhism. It facilitates bringing the deep silence of meditation into activity.
Eight Forms Moving Meditation is a Chan practice that originated from the Shaolin monastery in China and is used to stretch, reinvigorate circulation and clear the mind between sitting meditation sessions.
Mantra Meditation - Mantra meditation is offered for some students as a calming meditation method in place of Anapanasati.
Metta (Loving-Kindness) Meditation is a often used toward the end of regular sitting practice to extend our wish for the wellness, happiness and peace of all sentient beings. This is a crucial practice for purifying and expanding the heart, which is essential for clearly experiencing our true nature.
Chan (Zen) Chinese character
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