Spiritual Bypassing: When We Do Not Want to Look Honestly
with Bhante Sukhacitto
Friday, May 31st, 2019 | 7:00pm to 9:00pm
Sometimes, we want to escape our problems and challenges of life and turn to meditation for a rest or to experience quiet and peacefulness. In some ways, we may now be spiritually distracting ourselves from our feelings, thinking that we are walking a healthy spiritual path. This effort is often referred to as spiritual bypass, which ultimately serves as a defense mechanism.
This defense mechanism, in this form of Spiritual Bypass, shields us from the truth, disconnects us from our feelings, and helps us avoid the things we could be looking at. It is more about checking out than checking in, and we often don’t even realize that we are doing it. How can we use Dhamma practice to integrate meditation and insight more fully into our lives? Can Dhamma principles guide us in all that is happening? In this evening program, we will explore these questions and our practice by meditating with a talk and exchange and looking at honestly at our meditation practice and our intentions.
This event is offered by donation. The suggested donation is $25, but anything you can offer is greatly appreciated and no one is turned away for lack of funds. Please RSVP by selecting a ticket quantity and then enter the amount you would like to donate next to “Enter Donation Here” field. You are also welcome to donate in person at the event by cash, check, or credit card. Donations will be split between NYI and the teacher.
Registration:
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Teacher(s)
Bhante Sukhacitto
Bhante Sukhacitto was born in Germany in 1963 and first came into contact with Buddhism in 1986 in Thailand by attending a meditation retreat, offered through Wat Suan Mokkh. He ordained there as a monk in 1990. He returned to the West in 1993. Since then he has lived at various monasteries, including Dhammapala Monastery in Switzerland for six years and Amaravati Monastery in the UK for 4 years. On his first Insight Dialogue retreat in 2005, he was amazed by the powerful experience of meditating together with other people and subsequently joined many more Insight Dialogue retreats. In 2010 he began his teacher training with Gregory Kramer and other teachers. In his experience, interpersonal meditation is an extremely helpful aid for the development of wholesome qualities. It bridges the gap between traditional silent meditation and our everyday lives and relations with other people. Bhikkhu Sukhacitto sees Insight Dialogue as an important tool for liberation. For 3 years B. Sukhacitto was running Kalyana Mitta Vihara, or “House of Noble Friendship,” a small community where relational practice was part of the living. He still dreams of helping to establish a relational Dhamma practice based residential community. More info: insightdialogue.org