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Buddhist Recovery Network - Academy
Next Teaching
Next BRN Academy teaching with Mary Stancavage -- April 7th 2019
Meeting URL - Join us at 1PM Pacific Time at https://zoom.us/j/518564313
Letting Go of Our Stories
As soon as we’re born we’re faced with what life throws at us and we develop ways of coping that may or may not be beneficial. We’re also bombarded with messages from family, friends, school and society at large about who we are and what we should or shouldn’t be. These habits and messages become embedded and we may not even be aware of them, but they influence us on a daily basis. This is what the Buddha means when he talks about our conditioning. This conditioning can harden into the unwise stories we believe; craving and addiction are a destructive way of handling these beliefs.
In order to move towards freedom we have to wake up to our conditioning and disentangle it. Slowing down the mind and taking a step back to see the impersonal nature of the mind and developing a deep intimacy with our experience is how we move toward letting go of the craving and addiction. This talk will offer ways to examine our stories and the baggage we carry with us and investigate how to let them go in order to live a more liberated life.
About the teacher
Mary Stancavage has practiced meditation, yoga, and cultivated a spiritual practice for almost 30 years. This practice has coincided with her journey in recovery. She began her investigation into Buddhist teachings in the 1990's and studied with Noah Levine in the Thai Forest Tradition beginning in 2005. In 2009 she was empowered by Levine to teach Buddha-dharma. She taught meditation at recovery centers in Los Angeles and has worked intimately with the Refuge Recovery Program over the last several years. She was also a long-time board member of the Buddhist Recovery Network. Mary currently serves as Director of Against the Stream Buddhist Meditation Society where she has co-facilitated Year-to-Live groups since 2008, and has a weekly dharma class. She also is a member of the ATS Teachers' Council. She completed the Buddhist Chaplaincy Program at the Sati Center and served as volunteer chaplain at Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center. Mary sits on the board of the Buddhist Insight Network. In addition, she has a Masters from UCLA, and worked as an archaeologist in the Middle East.
Help us to pass the teachings on freely by supporting us by attending and with your generous dana.
Welcome to the Buddhist Recovery Network Academy!
The BRN Academy is a new incarnation of the former Healing and Insight Teaching Faculty, co-founded by Vimalasara (Valerie) Mason-John and Giles Collins. The Academy has invited some of the leading teachers in the field of Buddhist recovery. On the first Sunday of every month for half an hour each teacher will explore the sharp edges of suffering through the lens of the Buddhist Teachings.
The Academy brings together teachers from different Buddhist lineages and approaches. Themes like addiction, alcoholism, depression, stinking thinking and compulsive behaviours will be explored through a 5 minute meditation/reflection, a 15 minute talk and ten minutes for questions.
Being aware of the pressures imposed by international time zones, the Academy attempts to offer as convenient times as possible for most people currently involved with the BRN. The teachings will commence on the first Sunday of every month at:
- 1:00pm US Pacific time.
- 3:00pm US Central time.
- 4:00pm US Eastern time.
- 9:00pm UK (BST) time.
- 8:00am the following day (Monday) Sydney, AU time.
- 10:00am the following day (Monday) New Zealand time.
Note: the 'room' will be open 15 minutes ahead of time for a prompt start as indicated on the timetable.
We at the BRN are very excited by this new development, and we hope you will join our Academy and benefit from this invaluable opportunity.
With warmth and kindness,
Vimalasara
President, Buddhist Recovery Network
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