This program will be held online via Zoom. All registrants will receive the link to join the program in their Order Confirmation email. Times are ET.
“Compassion—literally to ‘suffer with’—asks you to not be afraid to be part of this world. When you are that wide open, you see that the grief you feel is just the other side of love. You only mourn what you love.” Joanna Macy
“Our environmental crisis is the ultimate opportunity to realize our interdependence and act accordingly with compassion and wisdom… We must not only recognize but also act on our belonging to each other and the earth.” Jessica Morey
How do we face the enormity of the climate crisis with clarity, courage, and a loving heart? How can we wrap our minds and hearts around something so vast as the destabilization of the ecosystems on which humans and most species depend for life and—instead of going mad or numb—grow interested? How do we slow down enough to take effective action before it’s too late? Contemplative practice has a central role to play.
Our world is in crisis. When we look in the face of climate change, ecosystem collapse, and the many interconnected injustices, we might feel overwhelmed, afraid, angry, alone, or numb. In this seven-week community of practice, we come together to explore how we can apply the Buddha’s 2,500-year-old teachings to some of our most pressing collective challenges.
We’ll explore the Brahmaviharas of loving kindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity as resources for honoring our pain for our world while cultivating gratitude, connection, and love to sustain us in taking action toward a life-sustaining society. These teachings can help us strengthen the recognition of our interdependence and belonging with the earth and a mutuality of care.
Through dharma study, meditation, and relational practices we’ll learn from each other and create a space of support. In community, we’ll acknowledge our pain for the world and explore how it can inform loving action toward a vision of the world our hearts know is possible.
This program is appropriate for both new and experienced meditators of all ages and all levels of experience. Each session will include formal meditation practices, teachings, time for discussion, reflections, and questions. Everyone is welcome.
Full and partial scholarships are available.
Jessica Morey is a meditation teacher and coach who has been practicing meditation for almost three decades. She studied engineering and worked in clean energy finance before founding Inward Bound Mindfulness Education, a nonprofit organization bringing in-depth mindfulness and compassion training to youth. Jessica brings a sense of playfulness and care to her teaching and is focused on how we can bring our meditation practice off the cushion and into our relationships and our work. Contemplative practice has been central to her life and work–whether focused on clean energy and climate policy, or growing an international youth mindfulness organization.
(Closed Captions (CC) for CIMC Programs are generated through “livestreaming” via Rev.com. CIMC programs are not livestreamed to any other platform for any other use.)