Feb 1-3, 2008
Though we long to live in deeper intimacy with what is most true and alive, we often loose our way amid the pressures and responsibilities of daily life. Zen practice provides a deceptively simple structure that allows us to reconnect to our basic sanity. Rather than looking outside ourselves or trying to understand life through thinking and analyzing, we discover the aliveness that is already present.
In this workshop, we will introduce and practice a variety of Zen and mindfulness practices as tools for our shared human journey. Through guided meditations, silent practice, mindful dialogue, and group inquiry, we will explore together the possibility of living in deeper connection to the sources of our aliveness, the vividness of this moment.
This workshop is open to anyone who wishes to move to a fuller and more connected life. No prior experience in meditation is necessary. New and experienced meditators and followers of all paths are welcome.
In 1981, just before they married, Melissa and David began studying Zen with a variety of teachers, which eventually led to both receiving formal Dharma Transmission. They are firmly rooted in the ancient traditions, and they are, along with UU minister Rev. James Ford, the guiding teachers of Boundless Way Zen, the first Zen community in North America to bring teachers of different Zen lineages together with the intention of creating a distinctively Western vision of Zen.
David Rynick studied sociology, pottery, aikido, and dance improvisation, became an art teacher, then the headmaster of a private school for 13 years, until he became a full-time life and leadership coach and consultant in 2004.
Melissa Blacker has had careers as a music teacher and performer and a psychotherapist specializing in grief and trauma. Since 1993 she’s worked at the Center for Mindfulness, founded by Jon Kabat-Zinn at the UMass Medical School, where she is a senior teacher and a director of professional training and education.