Mark Øvland
Space and Love and Jigsaw Puzzles
Sunday July 15th 2018
Space and Love and Jigsaw Puzzles
Sunday July 15th 2018
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“What is it that leads to suffering, and what is it that leads to freedom?” Two and a half thousand years ago this was the question the Buddha posed himself. The answers he came up with were so profound, so liberating, and so counter-intuitive that through the millennia people the world over have consistently thought to pass them on, from one generation to the next. Today these teachings are as accessible and relevant as ever and offer us a rich repository of tools and techniques for bringing ever greater freedoms into our hearts, minds, and lives. On this retreat we will pick up and use one of the most powerful of these tools, as we look to explore the inner and outer worlds of causes and conditions. We will see how our experience of anything at all is shaped by these conditions coming together, like the pieces of a puzzle, and how understanding this level of creation can bring spaciousness, love, and unimaginable freedom. This retreat is open to everyone. As well as periods of sitting and walking meditation there will be reflections on the teachings and an opportunity for Q&A. The day will be held in silence. Mark has been committed to spiritual practice since an experience in his mid-twenties opened his being to a wholly different sense of reality. In the years between then and now he has given himself to study and service, living first as a monk of the Ramakrishna Order then later as a coordinator at both the Barn Retreat and Gaia House. Mark is a founding trustee of Freely Given Retreats and a co-initiator of the Dharma Action Network for Climate Engagement (DANCE). He has been a student of Rob Burbea since 2010. |