Cultivating a Compassionate Heart

with Tenzin Chogkyi, Greg Morris, and Mary Doane

Join us in person at 2929 24th street

The Cultivating a Compassionate Heart workshop is designed to introduce participants to the practice of compassion through evidence-based research, interactive exercises, personal reflection, meditation practices, and group discussions. It condenses key components of Compassion Cultivation Training© (CCT), an 8-week training developed at Stanford University through a collaboration between psychologists, educators and Buddhist contemplatives. Participants will be introduced to the science of compassion, gain insight into their own experiences, and explore practices based on traditional Buddhist meditations which support the unfolding of compassion in their personal and professional lives.

This workshop is designed for anyone who wants to explore the benefits of compassion. This is an experiential workshop and the day will include talks, guided meditations, and time for discussion in small and large groups. The workshop explores the possibilities as well as the challenges in centering compassion as a wise guiding principle amidst the day-to-day experiential and relational challenges we encounter in our relationships, in our communities, and in our world at large. 

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This class is open to everyone. No prior meditation experience is required.

Suggested donation $40 - $80. All are welcome. No one is ever turned away for lack of funds.

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Tenzin Chogkyi (she/her/hers) is a teacher of workshops and programs that bridge the worlds of Buddhist thought, contemplative practice, mental and emotional cultivation, and the latest research in the field of positive psychology. Tenzin is especially interested in bringing the wisdom of Buddhism into modern culture and into alignment with modern cultural values such as racial and gender justice and environmental awareness. She feels strongly that a genuine and meaningful spiritual path includes not only personal transformation, but social and cultural transformation as well. She has been exploring the presentation of traditional teachings using modern pedagogical methods such as experiential exercises, dialogue and small group interaction. Tenzin is a certified teacher of Compassion Cultivation Training, a secular compassion training program developed at Stanford University. She also teaches the Cultivating Emotional Balance program, a secular program using contemplative techniques drawn from Buddhism for managing emotions, developed at His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s request.

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Greg Morris (pronouns: any) is a student and practitioner of bhakti yoga and Advaita Vedanta, as well as a student and devotee of the Tao Te Ching and the four gospels of the New Testament. A lifelong peace advocate and bridge-builder with childhood grounding in Unitarianism, Greg offers their spiritual practice as the foundation of their work as a teacher, as a coach, and as a management consultant specializing in diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging. Greg is grateful to be the recipient and beneficiary of several healing modalities, most notably Rosen Method (Marion Rosen, Robert Harry Rovin), Transformational Bodywork (Stephen Allario, Fred Mitouer), Holistic Sexuality (Marina Romero), Interpersonal Dynamics (David Bradford), and psychotherapy. Greg is a certified teacher of Compassion Cultivation Training (CCT™), a secular program developed by Stanford University’s Department of Neurosurgery under the guidance of Geshe Thupten Jinpa and at the request of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama.

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Mary Doane is the Supervising Instructor of Education Programs at Zen Caregiving Project where she started as a hospice volunteer before becoming a training facilitator and volunteer program coordinator. Mary’s practice on and off the cushion is grounded in common humanity and her personal experience as a family caregiver deeply influences her work. Mary holds dual instructor certification in Compassion Cultivation Training (CCT™), from Stanford University School of Medicine, Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education (CCARE) as well as the Compassion Institute (CI), where she serves as a mentor to emerging instructors. Mary trained in Buddhist chaplaincy through the Sati Center for Buddhist Studies and is also a certified instructor of the Cultivating Emotional Balance (CEB) program, a secular program developed at His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s request.