Introduction to Mindfulness: Coming Face to Face With Reality

Bardo Café Presents:

An Introduction to Mindfulness - Coming Face-to-Face with Reality

Mindfulness is everywhere at the moment—in schools, wellbeing centres, psychology clinics, business boardrooms, and dharma centres. But what’s the point?

Is it just being present? Is that it?

This 2-day course will run from 9:00 am – 4:30 pm each day.

On Saturday we will see how to develop your own authentic practice with a detailed look at the technique itself, highlighting the common errors both beginners and experienced practitioners make. By understanding the practice clearly, we will see how to effortlessly sidestep many of the difficulties we face in mindfulness and meditation.

On Sunday we will see how to refine and develop this practice to take us beyond our ordinary experience. The practice of mindfulness is grounded in the Buddha’s teachings, and so this simple practice can lead us directly into the heart of the Buddha’s wisdom. In this way, we come to see how mindfulness can take us far beyond what we may have thought possible.

This Bardo Café event is conducted with the generous support of the Khyentse Foundation.

Event Schedule:

9:00am – 10:30am Session 1

10:30am – 11:00am Morning tea break

11:00am – 12:00pm Session 2

12:00pm – 1:30pm Lunch break

1:30pm – 3:00pm Session 3

3:00pm – 3:30pm Afternoon tea break

3:30pm – 4:30pm Session 4

About Ben Isbel

Ben is a mindfulness teacher with over 30 years’ experience spanning both traditional Buddhist meditation techniques and contemporary psychological approaches to mindfulness. Ben has studied in both the Theravadin and Mahayana Buddhist traditions and holds a B. of Psychology (Honours) and a PhD in neuroscience of mindfulness. Ben began training in the Burmese Vipassana tradition before spending many years studying with Tibetan lamas from a range of different traditions. As a neuroscientist and contemplative researcher, Ben has used advanced neuroimaging techniques to show how mindfulness training can improve cognition, mood, and wellbeing. Having left academic research, Ben now focuses on developing innovative methods to present the essential core of the Buddha’s teachings in a way that is accessible and engaging.