2016 saw Paul return to his Buddhist roots with a series of teachings exploring both the explosion in mainstream mindfulness and its original roots, as presented by the Buddha 2,600 years ago.
This series of workshops are run through his Back to the Roots company and focus around the question, ‘How might the gentle, ancient tradition of mindfulness be elegantly embraced in the fast-paced, modern world?’
Mindfulness and Wisdom
The new Back to the Roots Autumn / Winter programme 2017 starts on Thursday 2nd November. During this six week programme we will pay particular attention to The Fourth Foundation: Mindfulness of Dharmas. Each session will include opportunities for discussion as well as practice.
We will have a very special guest for session 2 (9th November) – Dhivan, an order member from the Triratna Buddhist Order, whose accessible and engaging style will ensure we enjoy a simple and entertaining engagement with these immensely profound and practical teachings, originally given 2,600 years ago by Buddha.
For further information and dates, please click here to download the leaflet.
Peace to you all, Paul
Here is the audio clip and some photos from our special session, Mindfulness of Dharmas, hosted by Dhivan.
Harnessing the Quiet Power of the Peaceful Mind
New Back to The Roots course starts on 2nd February with a focus on the Mind. During the course we will be introducing some simple, powerful techniques to enhance our focus and inner peace.
The first session will return to practicing the foundational building blocks of paying attention to the Body and the Breath, and two Mindfulness of Breathing practices are provided below to help you do this (a 10 min and a 30 min version.) We will of course never be far away from the roots of these practices and Joseph Goldstein’s wonderful Mindfulness book will be close at hand to keep us on track.
Peace to you all, Paul
Public Forum Evening
A real highlight to the start of 2016 has been the Back to The Roots program. Kicking of on January 14 with nearly 60 people turning up at the Assembly Rooms in Frome, to participate in discussion and practice, and explore.
The idea was to look at the current explosion of Mindfulness and how it has been adopted and adapted for a whole range of applications in the modern world, such as Health, Education, Criminal Justice and the work place (see also Mindful Nation UK).
The centre piece of the evening was a dialogue between ex-monk and psychotherapist, Bryn Jones and myself, where we tried to set the scene for the later discussions. This involved exploring the ‘tension’ between the original intensions of the Buddha, culminating in a ‘direct path to awakening’, and current applications of ‘Mainstream’ Mindfulness, where much emphasis is put on stress reduction and well being.
There was also specific focus on Mindfulness in the business world, where additional attention is given to focus and organisational effectiveness in the business world on focus and effectiveness.
One key outcome for the discussions on the evening revolved around the fundamental question “does it alleviate suffering’?
Here is an audio clip of my discussion with and Bryn.
Back to the Roots 6-Week Course
Following on from the very successful public forum evening I continued my ‘Back to the Roots’ teachings with a 6-week course at the Black Swan Arts Centre, Frome.
We are already well into the course which is going splendidly in the marvelous environment of The Round Tower. The course has included meditation practice, discussion and inquiry and includes an accompanying study book The Miracle of Mindfulness by Thich Nhat Hanh.
Click the audio link below to listen to a sample from session 4.
Here’s a picture of the current group after the grueling night with the Satipatthana Suta (only joking!)
I am already thinking about doing a second course between 22nd September and 27th October 2016, so if you wish to pre-register (we were over booked for the current course), please email me.
For further information on Back to the Roots, or to register your interest in future events, please email Paul or call on 07974 254355.
