Online: Obstacles to Practice – Exploring the Five Hindrances
with Elaine Retholtz
Mondays, March 13th – April 10th, 2023 | 9:30am – 11:30am ET
Make a resolution to begin or deepen in your meditation practice in 2023.
This winter, we will begin with an introduction to mindfulness meditation, focusing on the Satipatthana sutta – or the four areas where mindfulness should be developed. In subsequent courses we will be exploring how to cultivate mindfulness in various aspects of our lives through:
•Exploring the Five Hindrances – the energies that cause us to forget our intention to be present in a kind and compassionate way.
•Cultivating the Seven Factors of Awakening – these wholesome qualities that help us remember and connect to the simple joys of non-clinging.
•This summer, we will explore the practice of cultivating lovingkindness and the other “divine abodes” of compassion, joy, and equanimity.
•In the fall, we will look more closely at what the Buddha called the “Three Characteristics” of all experience – Dukkha (variously translated as unsatisfactoriness, suffering, or vulnerability), Impermanence, and the not-self characteristic.
Here is an opportunity to develop connections with other practitioners as we explore together in a non-conceptual way various aspects of practice on and off the cushion. Think of this as a learning laboratory, and what we are “studying” is our own hearts, minds, and bodies.
Module 1: Obstacles to Practice – Exploring the Five Hindrances
While we may come to meditation hoping to experience calmness of mind, as we practice, we find that we are visited by “guests” such as desire, ill will, restlessness and worry, sleepiness, and doubt.
These are the energies of the “Five Hindrances”. They are like clouds that obscure the mind from seeing clearly. This course will offer an opportunity to explore how to practice with and understand these energies in our formal meditation practice as well as in our daily lives so that they can be skillfully abandoned.
There will be an opportunity for practice, instruction, and talks, as well as group dialogue and inquiry. There will also be ongoing practice assignments each week to support the practical application of these teachings into your daily life.
Registration:
Please register at the highest level that your generosity offers.
Explanations of levels follow below.
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Module 1:
All Four Modules:
Module 2:
Module 3:
Module 4:
Registration Fees include Teacher Support
New York Insight Meditation Center has streamlined the registration fee levels. Members of our Circle of Friends are eligible to receive 20% off of the Sustaining Rate via a code provided in the email confirming membership, which you can enter after clicking the Sustaining Level registration.
*Benefactor Level: Supports NYI’s ability to offer the Subsidized Base.
**Sustaining Level: This level reflects the actual costs to support this program. Circle of Friends members eligible for 20% discount with code. Click here to join.
***Subsidized Base: Made possible by the generosity of Benefactor Level above and other donations to ensure participation by those requiring financial assistance.
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Teacher(s)
Elaine Retholtz
Elaine Retholtz has been studying and practicing the Dharma since 1988. In addition to teaching Dharma at New York Insight, she is a certified Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction teacher and has a deep interest in helping students integrate mindfulness practice into daily life. Elaine is committed to deepening her own understanding of issues of diversity and the way racial conditioning in the United States affects all of us — both as individuals and in relationship to the institutions we are a part of, including New York Insight. She’s been involved in New York Insight’s diversity efforts for many years, serving on the diversity committee, and working with others to create spaces – for diverse groups of practitioners as well as for white practitioners meeting separately – to explore these issues within a Dharma frame.