Contemplative Group Dynamics Returns to Portland in April
Dear Shambhala Community,
I’m looking forward to returning to Portland to hold a Contemplative Group Dynamics weekend Friday, April 8 – Sunday, April 10. It’s been four years since visiting Portland to offer the workshop and the form has developed over this time.
What we are discovering in our group work is how immediately we are affecting 
one another, even in the simplest ways, moment to moment. The practice proceeds by a sequential application of the four foundations of mindfulness using speech. We start with body sensation, for example someone says “harm hands” another says “cold feet” noticing spontaneously how we understand these expressions by sensing our own body. As the weekend unfolds we touch more complex communications engaging emotions such as sadness or delight. All the while sustaining the grounding in the body and attentive to the drift toward conceptuality. In this way we cultivate our mindfulness-awareness as we develop a contemplative group.
This practice took form within the Philadelphia Teachers Sangha a group of MBSR teachers. We met to support one another’s practice and teaching and also did regular retreats together. We were curious about the transition between formal silent practice and post-meditation. How do we engage speech as a link among us without triggering habit patterns that are familiar and not satisfying? The first formal Contemplative Group Dynamics seminars took place at the Philadelphia Shambhala Center in 2008 (which I have been a member of since 1975) and since then have been presented for faculty of Naropa University and the staff of the Shambhala Mountain Center as well as in many secular settings in the US and Europe. This summer we will be doing a six day residential retreat at Holy Isle in Scotland, a retreat centre owned by Kagyu Samye Ling.
This time around the Portland Shambhala Center was already booked so we have another venue in Portland while offering a discounted rate for Shambhala members and friends. For information about the program please contact me at [email protected] or to book please contact Onkatsu at [email protected] or call 503-810-5642.
All best wishes,
Larry
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Lawrence Ladden
