Family Services of Greater Vancouver invites you to a

MINDFULNESS-BASED COGNITIVE THERAPY WORKSHOP by Dr. Mark Lau – Winner of the Scientist-Practitioner Award [link]

Friday, January 8 :: 9:30am to 12:30pm :: at the
Unitarian Church :: 949 West 49th Avenue

Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) is a group intervention which integrates cognitive behaviour therapy for depression with mindfulness meditation. Key themes include experiential learning and the development of an open mode of response. Increased mindfulness allows for early detection of patterns of negative thinking, feelings, and body sensations. Participants will learn: the link between the development of MBCT and a model of cognitive vulnerability to depression outcomes from randomized trials of MBCT for the prevention of depressive relapse the MBCT protocol.

Mark Lau, PhD, is a clinical psychologist, Research Scientist and Director, British Columbia Cognitive Behaviour Therapy Network, BC Mental Health and Addiction Services and an Associate Professor of Psychiatry at U.B.C. Prior to moving to Vancouver in 2006, Dr. Lau was Deputy Head of the Cognitive Behaviour Therapy Unit at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto. Dr. Lau has recently been awarded the Scientist-Practitioner Award from the British Columbia Psychological Association and the Excellence in Continuing Mental Health Education Award from the Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto.

Session Fee: $55

Registration: Please call 604 638.3390 x.3166 or email hkim [at] fsgv [dot] ca [link]

Maia Duerr, former executive director of BPF and a great help to Vancouver BPF in getting us going, wrote:

Hi there good folks at Vancouver BPF,

Thought you might be interested in a new blog I have started on socially engaged buddhism — see http://jizochronicles.wordpress.com/

all the best,
Maia Duerr

Thanks, Maia. We’ll follow your posts there. Vancouver BPF

Meditation in Prisons: a follow-up discussion with Bridget MacKenzie and others involved in bringing meditation practice into BC prisons

Monday, Dec 7 :: 7:00–9:00pm
Mt Pleasant Neighbourhood House
800 East Broadway, Vancouver

Please join us to find out more about Vancouver BPF and to connect with others interested in contemporary social issues and action. The meeting will open with a short meditation followed by introductions and discussion.

a documentary based on personal transformation in prisons, where eastern philosophy and meditation are not widely practiced

Am Johal [context] will moderate a panel discussion on it with:

Gabor Maté – physician, writer, author of In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters with Addiction [bio]
Alison Granger Brown – recreation therapist at the Fraser Valley Institution
Anila Ann McNeil – Tibetan Buddhist nun and prison chaplain for Fraser Valley federal prisons
Bridget MacKenzie – prison chaplain for Fraser Valley federal prisons

Monday, 16 November 2009
Doors open at 6:15pm … film 7:00pm … panel 8:30pm
Location: Langara College 100 West 49th Avenue – Newberry Hall (Room A130)

Admission by donation BUT RSVP to reserve a place;
no one will be turned away due to lack of funds;
all money raised will go to prison support groups: to Freedom Project Canada and to Women in2 Healing;
RSVP – Leave a Reply/Leave a Comment below

***Note the six paragraphs on The Dhamma Brothers in this recent prison dharma article.

RSVP – Leave a Reply/Leave a Comment below

Noah Levine is a Buddhist teacher, counselor and author (Dharma Punx, Against the Stream). He is trained to teach by Jack Kornfield of Spirit Rock Meditation Center in California. He teaches meditation classes, workshops and retreats nationally as well as leading groups in juvenile halls and prisons. Noah holds a masters degree in counseling psychology from CIIS. He has studied with many prominent teachers in both the Theravadan and Mahayanan Buddhist traditions.

Schedule follows for Friday evening, Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning.

Pre-register to guarantee your space with an email to kyira [at] diydharma [dot] org.

Friday Oct 2nd
Talk and Meditation on Buddhism as Anti-Establishment Rebellion (7:30pm – please arrive early)
Masonic Hall – 1495 8th W. Avenue (4th floor)
$10-$20

Saturday Oct 3rd
Mindfulness Meditation Teaching and Practice (1-5pm)
Please bring you own cushion or chair if possible.
Yoga for the People – #201-150 W. Hastings St.
$25-$40

Sunday Oct 4th
Talk on Buddhism and 12-step Recovery (10:30am)
Japanese Language School – 475 Alexander St
$5-$15

Scholarships for all events are available upon request. No one will be turned away solely for lack of funds. Everyone is welcome.

Contact Kyira with any questions: kyira [at] diydharma [dot] org or 604-505-7547

An evening with Zen teacher Dr Ian Prattis …
author of Failsafe: Saving the Earth from Ourselves

Tuesday, Sept 22 :: 7:00-9:00pm
Zuru Ling Tibetan Buddhist Centre
318-336 East 1st Avenue

604 874-7655 :: by donation

[poster]* [article]*

*These are Word documents. The text they contain is copied below.

copied from Word document: Zuru Ling poster …

Dr Ian Prattis, author, professor, resident teacher at Pine Gate Zen Community in Ottawa, gives talks and retreats all over the world. Failsafe is his meditation for the planet and deals with global warming, anticipates the economic meltdown and offers wisdom tradition solutions for both.

Failsafe is a book that provides understanding of global eco-crises. It issues a call to change the existing world order by arriving at a deep spiritual understanding of what needs to be done. Step by step methods transform our existing mindset to usher in a new era of planetary care, social justice and peace.

copied from Word document: Article for Driftwood …

Failsafe: Saving The Earth From Ourselves by Dr Ian Prattis

New book says the planet will be fine
It’s the people we should worry about…

In Failsafe I contend that humanity is perilously close to annihilation – but that our collective will to survive will act as a failsafe, forcing us into new ways of being and thinking. The foreword to the book is by David Suzuki. The book addresses global warming, the economic meltdown and provides wisdom tradition solutions to both by investigating the mindset that permitted these crises to emerge. David Suzuki states: “In Failsafe, Ian Prattis offers a way to a perceptual transformation that is absolutely critical if we are to find a truly sustainable future.”

Failsafe is also a critical response to James Lovelock’s The Revenge of Gaia, which paints a darker picture for the future of humanity than does my book. The book provides an in-depth understanding of global eco-crises and economic meltdown. It issues a call to change the existing world order by arriving at a deep spiritual understanding of what needs to be done. Step by step methods are laid out on how to usher in a new era of planetary care, global economic governance, social justice and peace.

“Can we fix the planet?” I ask. “This is the wrong question. Our present values and patterns of consumption are the architects of the present global emergency. The right question is can we fix ourselves?” Failsafe describes how human ignorance will rule until the global situation deteriorates to a breaking point.  This breaking point will then act as a catalyst, activating consciousness so it is propelled into expansion, deliberation and change. The book shows that we have the capacity to make positive changes: That there is hope for future generations to occupy a healthy planet and faith in the human consciousness to save a niche on the planet. Failsafe provides examples and guidance for transformation and change.

There is also a film documentary about the book being made by a film studio in Orlando, Florida. They are an offshoot of Disney Films – www.ideasorlando.com The producers have extensive footage of me speaking at Full Sail University, Orlando and to community groups in Orlando and Gainesville. They are incorporating footage of James Lovelock, inventor of Gaia Theory, and clips from other interviews about the book.

Hope to see you at Zuru Ling on Tuesday September 22, 7pm – 9pm

bigskyfreedom.org – a Vancouver community in the tradition of nonviolent anarcho-Buddhism

First Sit: Sunday, September 27 in Stanley Park from 1pm to 2pm at the Brockton Oval [details]

“Now, decades after the first arsenic alerts were sounded, Bangladeshi authorities and Unicef are finally testing the tube wells in order to gauge the extent of the contamination.

“Their task is a daunting one. It will take longer to test all of the tube wells than it took to dig them.”

Al Jazeera [article] Google [search]

Oneness Day Petition – The Text

I declare:

1. That the message We Are All One, inter-related, inter-connected and inter-dependent … [link]

Many thanks to Awake in Action, hosts for this screening of The Dhamma Brothers on Thursday, August 6. Doors open at 5:45pm, program starts at 6:00pm. By donation. [details]