Events

In this session, I’ll introduce the Buddhist teaching of impermanence, or anicca, and how it helps us understand our suffering. We’ll then move from understanding to direct experience through a guided meditation, observing change across three dimensions: the body, emotions, and mind. This practice invites us to notice it and explore what happens when we stop asking impermanent things to become permanent.

Impermanence can be seen as the lack of things staying the same. Or it can be seen as the way things are continuously in processes of change. I prefer the flipside. Change is constant, a current that runs through all of our lives, all the time. What happens when we follow it from behind? Tracking change, not trying to control it but to learn its ways. How could intimacy with change inform us?

Join CEC for a nature mindfulness experience in Toronto’s High Park! Inspired by the beautiful ecosystem of the park, we’ll gather for a period of silent practice and then head off on a walking tour to visit some of the park’s most wise and wonderful trees in their autumnal glory.

You know what impermanence is. There it is, as the sound of the sirens on Bay Street fade away and give space to the sound of someone laughing far too loudly at a coffee shop. There it is again, as your stress melts away and gives rise to some peace. And one more time, there it is, as your silence is lightly disturbed by the ringing of a bell. In this guided meditation, we will explore the space where impermanence happens, and see if we can imagine ourselves getting big around it…like we’re standing on top of a mountain, seeing everything happening all at once.

There are a handful of universally accepted wise sayings that just don’t work for me. Near the top of the list: “This too shall pass”. I know, I know. The Buddha singled out the understanding of impermanence as the tippy-top most importantest thing …and I would never dare to dispute that. But in practice, I’ve found it has a secret little dark side that I think we should explore. Pop in to the CEC community on the 26th to sit together and chat more about it. See you then.

Join CEC for an outdoor meditation and dog appreciation practice in Trinity Bellwoods park! We’ll gather on the north hill of the dog bowl and start with a period of silent practice, followed by a visit to the off leash area. All meditating dogs welcome!

Where does meditation practice lead? Over the course of this afternoon retreat, popular meditation teacher and Consciousness Explorers Club founder Jeff Warren will lead practices and discussion into how meditation can help us drop from the turbulent surface layer of mind and circumstance, into the deeper stream of life just happening. This kind of awareness is both ordinary and sacred, and available to anyone at any time.