Open Mindfulness Live Online Course
8-Week Course, Saturdays, 2-4:30PM EDT (April 6- May 25)
Public Introduction: March 23rd, 2-3:30 EDT
Open Mindfulness is a secular training in meditation that draws inspiration from the Buddhist awareness traditions of Mahāmudrā and Dzogchen. Presented in 8 weekly classes, the Open Mindfulness Training is a way for anyone, regardless of their background, to connect with the inherent goodness, peace, and compassionate power of presence. Seminars have been running in France since 2014, and are now offered in six other countries in Europe.
Lineage
Open Mindfulness was developed by Lama Denys Rinpoche, a lineage holder in the Tibetan Buddhist Tradition, who was willing to offer the heart-essence teachings of the tradition to a wider secular audience. Over a period of many decades, Denys Rinpoche has developed and refined a large body of teachings and practices of a contemplative path that is accessible to anyone from any tradition, secular or religious.
The Unique Features of the Path of Open Mindfulness
The heart of this path is “Openness,” an approach to mindfulness that develops three essential types of meditation as parts of one integrated experience of mindful presence: Attentive Presence, Open Presence, and Kind Presence. These dimensions are explored in 44 different practices and 73 presentations over the course of an eight-week training.
The training begins with the cultivation of attentive presence, the ability to aim and sustain attention in a relaxed way. Attentive presence develops a full and gentle attentiveness with precision, poise, and appreciation.
Attentive presence is then integrated in open presence. Open presence is the experience of freedom, of letting go and opening one’s body and mind with acceptance, courage and fearlessness. It develops the ability to face whatever arises without prejudice and in full recognition of the infinite horizon of what is possible.
Within open and attentive presence, the presence of the heart is uncovered and given the space to unfold, connecting us fully with the poignant reality of our own experience and our connection to one another. Kind, empathetic presence combines the precise and detailed awareness of attentive presence with the vastness of open presence, and unlocks the resources of the inherently good heart for altruistic action in the world. The presence of the heart is cultivated in various relational mindfulness exercises and practices of inquiry and deep listening that touch the heart and open those areas of our minds and bodies that are otherwise cut off and remain in the shadows.
These dimensions are explored through a variety of body exercises, breath practices, and awareness practices. The mediations and presentations offer an extremely intuitive approach to the various dimensions of mind, and give the practitioner a familiarity with a great variety of meditation styles and ways of working with the senses, thoughts, and emotions. The training offers tremendous support for personal practice, and is a great way to create a foundation of sanity and strength of heart that is so necessary in our world right now.
