Against the Stream Buddhist Meditation Society, Los Angeles, CA

The Four Noble Truths were the Buddha’s first teaching after he found freedom from his own suffering. The timeless wisdom of this teaching yields potent tools you can use in daily life to find freedom from difficult emotions. The Twelve Insights that underlie the Four Noble Truths are specific, practical life instructions that can help you relate to the challenges in your life with significantly less stress and anguish.

This daylong retreat is based on a new chapter that Phillip Moffitt wrote for the paperback edition of Dancing with Life: Buddhist Insights for Finding Meaning and Joy in the Face of Suffering. The program will consist of dharma talks, sitting and walking meditations, and time for questions and answers. Phillip will talk about what causes difficult emotions to arise from a Buddhist psychological perspective and explore how to use mindfulness techniques to transform difficult emotions. In particular, the emotions of anger, anxiety, disappointment, helplessness, and feelings of inauthenticity will be addressed. He will also speak about the difficult mind states of ambivalence and ambiguity and how to skillfully work with them.

The practices and teachings that Phillip will present can help you build the capacity to stay present to all life experiences regardless of the emotional intensity and establish an inner ground from which you can develop authenticity and an enduring sense of well-being.