Portsmouth Buddhist Center
Portsmouth Buddhist Center
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Saturday workshop: Finding Freedom, Seeing Things as They Are

Saturday December 17, 10AM - 2PM, Dh Bodhipaksa will lead an exploration of the “three marks” (or lakkhanas) that characterize our experience - impermanence, insubstantiality and unsatisfactoriness.  This class will build on the theme of our December Sunday community gatherings, offering an opportunity to explore an important topic more fully.  Register below to ensure your place. Here's what Bodhipaksa says about what the day will cover:


"According to Buddhism, our everyday perceptions of ourselves, and of the world we live in, are distorted. First, we go through life under the delusion that there is something fixed and static in our nature. Second, we assume that it’s possible to find happiness by getting circumstances “just right.” And third, we believe that within us there is a “self” that is in charge of us and in charge of the business of sensing, feeling, thinking, and acting.
"That we filter our experience through these cognitive distortions is significant, since they diminish our wellbeing and cause us suffering. Therefore, the Buddha taught a three-fold approach to cultivating spiritual insight that allows us to see through our delusions through an exploration of impermanence, unsatisfactoriness, and non-self.
"This approach involves clearly seeing and appreciating the impermanent, ever-changing nature of our experience, finding peace through accepting the flow of pleasant and unpleasant experiences with equanimity, and recognizing that sensing, feeling, thinking, and acting arise without the existence of a unitary self.
"This, with repeated practice, can leave us with a sense of lightness, peace, and freedom from fear and other forms of suffering."

Some experience with meditation and Buddhism is recommended for this class.  Registration is free - sign up here to ensure a place.  Offered by donation: $40 - $20 suggested.