Living Meditation Series
Mondays, 7-8:30pm, $10/class

Series 1: Meditations for a Kind Heart
July 5th: Cherishing Others
July 12th: Taking Away Suffering
July 19th: Giving Happiness


Series 2: Meditations for a Clear Mind
These meditations lead you on a voyage of exploration of your mind through which you can discover your own inner potential for lasting peace and happiness.
July 26th: Body of Light
August 2nd: Clarity
August 9th: The Root Mind


Series 3: Meditation For Relaxation
August 16th: Inner Peace
August 23rd: Pure Light
August 30th: Inspiration
Registration: $10 per class, no pre-registraiton is required, just drop in. There is a reduced rate for students/unemployed.


2010 Fall Series: Eight Steps to Happiness
This class is designed to help you create a better life for yourself and others. Teachings are based on the inspiring book Eight Steps to Happiness, which reveals essential methods for developing universal love and compassion, the source of true happiness for both self and others. This class is perfect for beginners and includes guided meditations as well as teaching and discussion.


Clear Light Buddhist Center
614 E. Townley Ave, Phoenix, AZ 85020

Located two streets south of Dunlap and one street west of 7th Street
map

THE BENEFITS OF MEDITATION
The purpose of meditation is to make our mind calm and peaceful. As mentioned earlier, if our mind is peaceful we shall be free from worries and mental discomfort, and so we shall experience true happiness; but if our mind is not peaceful, we shall find it very difficult to be happy, even if we are living in the very best conditions. If we train in meditation, our mind will gradually become more and more peaceful, and we shall experience a purer and purer form of happiness. Eventually we shall be able to stay happy all the time, even in the most difficult circumstances.

Usually we find it difficult to control our mind. It seems as if our mind is like a balloon in the wind – blown here and there by external circumstances. If things go well, our mind is happy, but if they go badly, it immediately becomes unhappy.

Such fluctuations of mood arise because we are too closely involved in the external situation. We are like a child making a sandcastle who is excited when it is first made, but who becomes upset when it is destroyed by the incoming tide. By training in meditation, we create an inner space and clarity that enables us to control our mind regardless of the external circumstances. Gradually we develop mental equilibrium, a balanced mind that is happy all the time, rather than an unbalanced mind that oscillates between the extremes of excitement and despondency.