Uncontrived Mindfulness: ending suffering through attention, curiosity and wisdom

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Event Description

Uncontrived Mindfulness: ending suffering through attention, curiosity and wisdom

Sept 12, 10am-1pm ET online on Zoom

Please join us for this engaging workshop where Vajradevi will introduce key ideas from her new book which draws on the satipatthana sutta with a focus on awareness and right view. She will also lead meditation in the style of the book, encouraging a receptive and natural way of being with experience, and with the precision of a dharma perspective. There will be time for questions and interaction during the session.

Praise for Uncontrived Mindfulness: Ending Suffering through Attention, Curiosity and Wisdom —

Vajradevi is a practitioner who shares her own experience of practising mindfulness simply and clearly. She makes traditional concepts accessible because she knows them from the inside, and Uncontrived Mindfulness is full of stories of how Vajradevi has learned to be mindful of her own life. The uncontrived relaxation of her writing matches her message that mindfulness isn’t a technique or an achievement so much as a ‘wise involvement with experiences’ that is both focused and at ease.          – Vishvapani Blomfield, author of Gautama Buddha: The Life and Teachings of the Awakened One

A wonderful book, written with that independence of mind characteristic of deep practitioners. Reading is like being taken into the author’s mind: just the tone reveals how what’s being described is affecting her.  – Kamalashila, meditation teacher and author of Buddhist Meditation: Tranquillity, Imagination & Insight

Vajradevi’s approach to satipaṭṭhāna – mindfulness and meditation – is both refreshing and distinct. There are already many excellent books that go into the details of the Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta and the technicalities of the original Pali terminology, and a vast plethora of general books about mindfulness. Vajradevi takes us straight into the experiential core to which these teachings are pointing. This is mindfulness as the direct way to awakening from the delusions which produce our suffering. ‘McMindfulness’ it is definitely not! Her own substantial practice, together with the benefits of having studied satipaṭṭhāna with some very good teachers, shines through. It makes a huge difference to realize that effective mindfulness practice does not have to be constantly effortful and contrived. Vajradevi points us to the awareness that is already naturally present – hence, ‘uncontrived mindfulness’. As I’ve found out myself, recognizing this does make all the difference to practice. The simple, lucid style, personal stories, and practical exercises make this into an extraordinarily hands-on and helpful book for new and experienced meditators alike.           – Tejananda John Wakeman, Chair, Vajraloka Meditation Retreat Centre, North Wales

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