portlandinsight.org

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A Daylong Retreat with Doug Pullin

The Heart of Awakening

Awareness, Radical Acceptance, and Change

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Saturday, September 21, 2024
10:00 am – 4:00 pm

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► HELD IN PERSON AND ONLINE VIA ZOOM ◀︎
Zoom link provided upon registration

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For more info, email Doug at douglaspullin@gmail.com

We need to have a positive sense of trust, a willingness to look at our own sense of despair, inadequacy, fear, loss, grief, in a way that is not just thinking about it, but noticing that it is “like this.”

– Ajahn Sumedho

Would you like to deepen your meditation practice? The biggest challenge most of us face is to accept that this moment is "like this". When we encounter experiences that we don’t like, our deeply conditioned tendency is push them away. If we are touching a hot stove top, that makes sense. When we are encountering a difficult mental or emotional state, it can be counterproductive, whether it is external or internal.

Spiritual practice is always inviting us to be conscious of our deep conditioning so we can have freedom of choice. Awareness is step one in allowing change. Acceptance is the second step and in many ways acceptance rides on awareness’s wave. Pioneering Psychoanalyst Carl Jung said, “We cannot change anything until we accept it. Condemnation does not liberate. It oppresses.” These are challenging words. Acceptance sounds like the opposite of change. It's not! The opposite of change is resistance, the unwillingness to dance in reality as it is evolving.

Rumi wrote "It is through love that pain turns to medicine." How could this be? How can awareness, acceptance, and compassion practices turn emotional pain into something that heals rather than is a cause of suffering? You are invited to join this day of practice as we explore these crucial questions experientially through meditation, including intervals of sitting, walking, and mindful movement. The program will also include a Dharma Talk and opportunities for personal sharing. I hope you’ll join us!

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Douglas Pullin

Douglas Pullin (he/him) has been teaching at PIMC since 2004. He is a lineage holder and authorized to teach in the Insight Meditation tradition of U Ba Kin, Ruth Denison, and Robert Beatty. Douglas graduated from the Spirit Rock sponsored Community Dharma Leader Training with Tara Brach and James Baraz in 2008.  Douglas is currently a student of Mathew Flickstein in the Bhante Gunaratana lineage from Sri Lanka.

Dana

Suggested donation $70
No one turned away for lack of funds
Full scholarships available*
Drop-in donation at the door is also accepted

*You may self-select dana below. Due to the limits of the registration software, offerings of less than $1 cannot be processed by this form. If you require a full scholarship, please use THIS FORM to register instead.

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Portland Insight Meditation Center
portlandinsight.org

All ages, ethnicities, socio-economic groups, religious backgrounds, abilities, sexual orientations and gender identities are welcome.