When the Student Is Ready
Through meditation, we recognize inner qualities that bring out the best in us and help us stay on track - real ones like wisdom, compassion, and patience that grow stronger with training and practice. These are the qualities that lead to everyday freedom - to lasting contentment that's not subject to the fluctuating conditions of our inner and outer worlds. It took over a decade of study and practice before I felt more than a glimpse of this type of emotional freedom. To what do I attribute this shift? There's an old saying, "When the student is ready, the teacher will appear," and it took me a while to find mine.
Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche is a meditation teacher in the Tibetan tradition who has inspired me in ways that are tough to articulate yet meaningful beyond measure. Through his organization Tergar International, he has created a secular meditation training program called Joy of Living that can be followed by anyone, regardless of religious or cultural orientation. Though rooted in the ancient Buddhist teachings of Tibet, Joy of Living is not religious, instead focusing on the basic functions of our minds. By recognizing qualities of mind like mindfulness, wisdom, and compassion, we gradually transform our relationship to what's happening at the moment and approach thoughts, feelings, and sensations with greater compassion and acceptance.
On Saturday, December 7th & Sunday, December 8th, Dr. Cortland Dahl (who co-founded Tergar with Mingyur Rinpoche and serves as its Chairman) will offer a Joy of Living workshop at UCLA's Mindful Awareness Center. On Friday night, December 6th, Cort (who is also a research scientist at the Center for Healthy Minds and Chief Contemplative Officer of Healthy Minds Innovations) will put on his scientist's hat to give a public talk entitled "The Science of Mindfulness." His Friday night talk is also at UCLA's Mindful Awareness Research Center.
Cort is a close friend and colleague of mine, and I'm excited to attend all of his events. If you live nearby, I hope you'll join me. For those who don't live in LA, or who are unable to attend, Mingyur Rinpoche's Joy of Living program is also available online.