Online: Cultivating Joy in Uncertainty – An Eight-Week Course
with Jon Aaron
Wednesdays, January 8th – February 26th, 2025 | 10:00am – 12:00pm ET
We live in what can be described as an uncertain, “poly-crisis” moment, with multiple existential threats: climate change, numerous wars, failing democratic norms, widening social inequities, and extreme polarization.
Many of us feel this deeply, physically, and for some, materially as well. Sometimes this compounds the smaller-scale crises in our lives. The mind tumbles into catastrophizing and what some call “horrified anxiety”—a close enemy of karuna, compassion.
In fact, every moment is uncertain. The Buddhist tradition characterized the world we live in as one of anicca, or impermanence; it’s one of the three marks of existence.
While we can accept, understand, and experience this, the current state of the world might cause considerable anxiety, if not outright panic and fear.
But the Buddha’s teachings offer a way to transcend this and become free, regardless of our circumstances. Everything arises from causes and conditions, and conditioned things are impermanent and lack any solid, fixed nature. Everything is always on shaky ground—and, on the upside, much is possible. We can experience that non-fixedness as dukkha, or suffering, but that’s not the end of the story. Non-fixedness is also infinite potential, possibility, creativity.
Join us for an online eight-week course with New York Insight Teacher Jon Aaron exploring how we can live with uncertainty, not from a place of fear but with buoyancy, curiosity, and ease. We’ll discover how the teachings provide practical ways of coping with these various threats and how we can cultivate joy in uncertainty instead of battling it in the doomed hope of clinging to certainties that ultimately will not last.
Each class will include a period of meditation, a talk, and time for discussion.
By strengthening our capacity for joy and grace, we can move forward into the muck (personal and societal) with compassion and fortitude, however that arises within each of us.
All classes will be online via Zoom and recordings of the sessions will be available to all participants.
Registration:
Please register below. If you are able, registering at the “Supporter” level enables others to attend at the “Subsidized” level. Thank you for your generosity! (Please note that the registration price includes a base level of teacher support, and you will have the opportunity to donate more after the program.)
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Volunteering
All of our programs rely on volunteers to support our teachers and staff with various tasks and responsibilities. Volunteering allows you to participate in our programs at no cost. To inquire about volunteering opportunities, please fill out our inquiry form, and we will get back to you as soon as possible.
Teacher(s)
Jon Aaron
Jon Aaron is a Dharma and mindfulness teacher based in New York and Chicago. Since 2006, he has taught at the New York Insight Meditation Center, offering Dharma and MBSR classes. He regularly leads retreats around the U.S. He is primarily grounded in the Theravāda tradition, alongside non-dual and Mahayana approaches. His teaching emphasizes integrating Dharma and mindfulness into daily life to foster clarity in addressing personal and social challenges. His teachers include Matthew Flickstein and, more recently, Kittisaro and Thanissara through their Dharmapala program. Jon also studied contemplative care at the Zen Center for Contemplative Care and completed the Integrated Study and Practice program at the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies. He is a certified MBSR teacher and teacher trainer and a Somatic Experience Practitioner®. In response to the pandemic, he and his partner, Upayadhi, launched the Space2Meditate community, offering daily meditation since March 2020. Additionally, he co-hosts the podcast Diggin’ the Dharma with scholar Doug Smith, now in its third season. JonAaron.net