Moving from Anxiety towards Equanimity … and from Fear towards Fearlessness

The Four Noble Truths that form the heart of the Buddha’s teaching invite us to examine our relationship to dukkha: stress, distress, unsatisfactoriness, suffering. Most of us though, have an instinctive resistance to suffering, so we need to practice working skilfully with the different levels of anxiety and fear that often show up in our lives and along the path to freedom. As we learn how to release ourselves from the confines of these afflictive states, we’re able to live with greater ease, happiness, and peace, and to connect with the wisdom and compassion that are our true nature.

Course structure

Each two-hour online class will include a short dharma talk, some silent meditation practice, dyad (pairs) practice, and small group discussion.

During the six weeks of the course, you’re invited to maintain a regular sitting practice and keep a practice journal. There will also be some written contemplations to engage with at home each week, to be posted on an online discussion board in support of our group learning.

Time commitment

Approximately three hours per week: the two-hour class plus an hour for written reflections.

Topics covered may include

An overview of the Four Noble Truths and the context of anxiety and fear in the Buddha’s teachings
The Four Heavenly Messengers of ageing, illness, death, and the contemplative
Social anxiety, comparing mind, and the tyranny of the inner critic
Anxiety and fear in relation to progress along the path to freedom
The four brahmavihāra practices of kindness, compassion, appreciative joy and equanimity as antidotes to all afflictive states
Insight into the three universal characteristics of unsatisfactoriness, impermanence and not-self as supports for releasing anxiety and fear

Prerequisites

This course is best suited to people who have an established meditation practice, have sat at least one seven-day silent insight/vipassanā retreat, and have some familiarity with core Buddhist teachings such as the Four Noble Truths, the Noble Eightfold Path, and the Four Establishments of Mindfulness. Feel free to contact Jill if you have any questions about this.

Teacher

Jill Shepherd is the guiding teacher of Auckland Insight and trained to become an insight meditation teacher under the guidance of Joseph Goldstein and Gil Fronsdal in the US.

Time and dates - three options to suit different time zones

Option 1: Six consecutive Sunday mornings 9:00-11:00 am NZDT, Sunday 3 November - Sunday 8 December 2024
= 3:00-5:00 pm* Saturday afternoons US Eastern time, Saturday 2 November - Saturday 7 December 2024
* except first week of course, when it will be 4:00-6:00 pm due to daylight saving time

Option 2: Six consecutive Sunday afternoons 3:00-5:00 pm NZDT, Sunday 3 November - Sunday 8 December 2024
= 9:00-11:00 pm* Saturday evenings US Eastern time, Saturday 2 November - Saturday 7 December 2024
* except first week of course, when it will be 10:00 pm - 12 midnight due to daylight saving time

Option 3: Six consecutive Monday mornings 12:30-2:30 pm NZDT, Monday 4 November - Monday 9 December 2024
= 6:30-8:30 pm Sunday evenings US Eastern time, Sunday 3 November - Sunday 8 December 2024

See here for other time zone options: https://www.timeanddate.com/wo...

Online: Zoom Room link will be emailed the day before our first session.

NOTE: for those in Auckland, there is also an in-person version of this course that will be run simultaneously in Mount Eden. You can register for that here

Cost:

Cost for all six sessions: NZ$60 plus dāna / donation*

*The course fee covers only a contribution towards online costs and administration expenses. In keeping with Buddhist tradition, the teachings are offered on a donation basis which means the teachers are not paid to offer these classes. Instead, they rely on the generosity of the participants to help them continue to share their teachings with others, and there will be an opportunity at the end of each class to offer donations to support their ongoing teaching.