This seminar is back by popular demand.
Even after gaining some stability in Buddhist practice, it is perfectly normal to have some emotional attachment or belief that there is still a me in there somewhere. There seems to be someone or something having all these experiences. So, is the experiencer me or not?
When I first got to this point in my own journey, I felt really dissatisfied. Although I had some ability to quietly rest my mind, that seemed to be just another experience. I didn’t feel like I was transcending mind, or discovering a lack of an independent self. In addition, the classic Buddhist thought experiments on emptiness, while intellectually satisfying, didn’t seem to lead to any radical shift in my experiential understanding.
A friend had been telling me about an extraordinary teacher in Nepal, Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, who was perhaps the greatest master alive for leading disciples to an experiential understanding of the innermost nature of mind. So, it was out of desperation that I went to Nepal.
I spent about ten days at Rinpoche’s mountain hermitage, just above Kathmandu Valley. Every evening I went to receive guidance. Rinpoche had me look in a very particular way, to see if I could pin down what my mind really is. He said to me, “just put aside all the teachings I’d received and all the answers I thought I knew. Just see you can experientially find where the mind is”. This examination of mind is found in all the Mahayana schools. It also is an important preliminary for the ultimate practices of the Vajrayana tradition.
This examination of mind isn’t simply analytical; it’s about tasting for ourselves the unfindable mind, beyond philosophical understanding. Join me during the Finding the Mind seminar. Let’s investigate the sense of there being an experiencer and see what we can discover.
Programme
The seminar starts on Thursday at 16:00 and ends on Sunday at 12:00. Please arrive by 15:30 to allow for a relaxed check-in.
During this weekend we will have several sessions of 1- 2 h, with breaks in between.
Delicious breakfast, lunch and dinner will be served and you will have enough time to enjoy Gomde´s surrounding forests, the pond and the gardens.
Language
The sessions will be taught in English with translation into German
Your contribution
We want to make it possible for everyone to participate in the seminars in Gomde. Therefore, we offer the seminars, accommodation and catering for a donation and give you a guideline as to what amount would help Gomde to cover the fixed costs.
For this seminar it is: 310 euros
If you can give more, you will enable others with fewer financial resources to attend. If you can give less than the guideline amount, please let us know when you register.
We look forward to seeing you and practising together!
