Thought this event looks fascinating and might be of interest to some of you :) It's online and in-person at Jamyang London Buddhist Center at 7pm tomorrow (Wed 17 Jan) Full details here - https://sciwizlive.com/event/illuminating-consciousness-merging-buddhist-insights-with-scientific-inquiry(https://sciwizlive.com/event/illuminating-consciousness-merging-buddhist-insights-with-scientific-inquiry)

Salaams and peace to everyone! My name is Fran, I am a new Mindsprings member, and a progressive Muslim living near Toronto, Canada. I am wondering if the following two topics have been addressed in a video lesson or podcast here on the Mindsprings site: (Topic One) Gender Identiy, Sexual Orientation and Sexual Expression in Buddhism; and (Topic Two) Death - is it a transition to a new experience in Buddhism? I would be grateful to learn about Buddhist teachings on these topics. Thank you and blessings! Fran

I enrolled in this course and thought I would share it for those that might be interested in Gabor Mate and Richard Schwartz work. It starts or is released beginning of June. It will hopefully be interested especially with the both of them together. The course is run by the publishers Sounds True. I believe there might be a link somewhere below. Otherwise it can be found on their main page. You can try and apply for a scholarship run by the Sounds True Foundation for those in financial hardship as I did, and I was accepted due to my circumstances. Anyway info below 🙂 We would like to invite you to discover a teaching series hosted by our partner Sounds True. In the words of our friend Tami Simon, founder of Sounds True, Gabor Maté, MD, and Richard Schwartz, PhD, are "geniuses of the inner world." Each is an original thinker who trusts their own knowing. In their respective careers, practicing medicine and psychotherapy, they each followed the evidence they discovered in their clinical practice and broke new ground, even when it went against the status quo. Gabor Maté and Richard Schwartz inspire us to dig deep and stay true to what we discover. They are the type of courageous voices we need to help us turn with compassion and utter integrity toward all of our experience, and find the healing and wholeness we seek. Today we’re inviting you to enroll in their in-depth teaching series, Embracing All of You. In this new online video course, they present their respective approaches to self-discovery and healing—Compassionate Inquiry (CI) developed by Gabor Maté and Internal Family Systems (IFS) developed by Richard Schwartz—revealing what these two approaches have in common (a lot!) and, most importantly, how we can apply these approaches to the personal challenges we face. Embracing All of You: Compassionate Inquiry Meets Internal Family Systems reminds us that understanding your multifaceted mind—and making peace with all the aspects that make you who you are—is the key to lasting transformation. In six sessions, you will explore: How Richard and Gabor’s early life experiences formed their outlook and professional lives, and the clinical discoveries that underpin their approaches An overview of the IFS and CI models in two in-depth sessions where Richard and Gabor dialogue and tease apart the similarities and differences between their approaches Understanding addictive behaviors, the relationship between trauma and addiction, and how CI and IFS work with people who want to address an addictive pattern The relationship of early wounds and core beliefs to physical illnesses and disease, with a particular emphasis on using IFS and CI to address chronic diseases and autoimmune challenges How to use CI and IFS as pathways to spiritual discovery Find out more about the course and enroll today! ENROLL NOW This remarkable 6-week course has proved transformational for so many people since it was introduced last year. What kind of discovery is possible for you? With you on the journey, The SAND team & Sounds True If you have any questions please email support@soundstrue.com . Science and Nonduality (SAND) is a community inspired by timeless wisdom, informed by cutting-edge science, and grounded in personal experience. We come together in an openhearted exploration of the big questions of life to embody our interconnectedness and celebrate our humanity.

Wishing you a lovely day and a wonderful year, and a special wh.sh for Kitling 🙏🫂

I am loving the concept of liking and not liking. In today's somatic meditation with Alistair, I noticed relishing the feeling of dropping into my body - my body loves it when I take the time to drop in with a wide open awareness. It feels very healing and nurturing, especially when it is being guided by someone else who is holding the exploration space open for me - for some reason, I can relax into it more. I noticed sensations in my body that weren't totally pleasant and then from last week's meet I remembered: ah - I am not liking..! :) and I smiled at myself internally. I made my breath more gentle and the exploration more subtle to see if I could feel where the not liking was to what I was physically feeling in my body and I noticed it was a subtle feeling of contraction. At some point I dozed off and woke up groggy to the group chat at the end of the session feeling somewhat bewildered. I notice more "not liking" as I acknowledge my grogginess - and simply acknowledging it is enough to let the "not liking" and discomfort associated with it, lift somewhat. I am looking forward to joining more practises over the upcoming weeks and exploring mindfulness with an aim to be present and accepting day to day and turning towards what is.

I'm sure many of you are aware of the amazing collection of wisdom that has accrued over the last 30 years at the Mind Life Institute. They have archived all the incredible symposia where HH the Dalai Lama and a stellar roster of neuroscientists, cosmologists and philosophers have chewed over the biggest issues of our lives: environment, consciousness, compassion and wisdom. But also the site offers an amazing free library of teaching, recordings and information for the world to access. I highly recommend the three-day sessions with HH, but make sure you have a pencil and paper. There's a lot to digest!