News

“AWAKEN!” with Jonathan Chambers, 10-18 Oct 2020

Categories: Events,Future Events,Meditation Sits,News,Retreats

We have the pleasure to announce that Jonathan Chambers will be teaching in Queenstown in October. Jonathan is a long-term practitioner of Buddha-dharma, meditation and yoga and is a registered craniosacral therapist.

Jonathan will lead a series of classes exploring how Buddhist Dharma, supported by meditation and embodiment practice, can transform the way we view and respond in challenging times. All are warmly welcome. If you have the “On Generating Bodhicitta” study guide and/or “Drikung Namchag” (Yangzab) prayer book, please bring them.

There is a registration fee of $10 per class, which helps cover costs associated with hosting visiting teachers. In accordance with tradition, payments to the teacher are by dana / donation. More information on dana, fees and payment options is available here.

Jonathan is offering craniosacral therapy on a dana basis whilst he’s in Queenstown. Please see his website for more information, and contact Jonathan directly using the contact information on the website to arrange to see him.

Details of the schedule are on the poster (click the image) and below, followed by more details on the teachings and about Jonathan.

Schedule

  • Sat, 10 Oct, 09:30-12:00
    This body, this breath: Developing present moment awareness
  • Sun, 11 Oct, 09:30-12:00
    Truth and Tenderness: Approaching emptiness though Vipassana and Samatha
  • Tue, 13 Oct, 19:00-20:30
    Guided practice
  • Thu, 15 Oct, 19:00-20:30
    Guided practice
  • Sat, 17 Oct, 09:30-12:00
    There is no ‘Other’: Developing Wisdom and Compassion through the Parami and Tonglen
  • Sun, 18 Oct, 09:30-12:00 (followed by potluck lunch)
    Harnessing the potential of an awakening universe: An intro to Buddhist Tantra.

Detailed description

Beneath the myriad challenges we face in these ‘unprecedented times’, a call resounds. It echoes in the depth of all our hearts – in the very fabric of the universe. Can you hear what it is saying? “AWAKEN!”

The trajectory of ‘human progress’ has never before clashed so abruptly with natural law. For many, the wish to create a happy life is being undermined by a troubling uncertainty. In times like these, it is easy to become overwhelmed, to feel helpless, to resign ourselves to distraction. But these responses won’t help to quell the ripening of centuries of collective human blindness.

There is another possibility: to view this time as nothing other than a Great Awakening. A chance to align whole-heartedly to the deeper truth of human potential. A potential that can be seen bursting through the cracks in our collective unconscious, if you know how to look. In Buddhism we call this potential Bodhicitta: the Enlightenment Mind.

In this series of classes we will discover how Buddhist Dharma, with the support of meditation and embodiment practices, can entirely transform the way we view and respond in challenging times like these. We will learn how to treat every moment as an opportunity for awakening – how to become warriors of Truth and Tenderness – and how to manifest a better world by aligning our collective creative power with natural law.

About Jonathan

He began teaching yoga in 2011, under the wing of world renowned Ashtanga teacher John Scott. In 2013 he was given the blessing to teach Dharma and meditation by his root teacher, Lama Mark Webber.

Jonathan has studied with many other great teachers in complementary wisdom traditions including Daoist Qigong. He has a background in earthquake engineering and music and lives in Nelson, New Zealand with his partner and two young children. He integrates a full family life with a dedication to the practice and teaching of a universal path of healing and awakening.