Sat 25 Jul 2015, 11:00 - Sat 25 Jul 2015, 17:00
PRESENCE: THE CALM IN THE MIDST OF THE STORM OF LIFE
A day-long meeting with author/teacher Jeff Foster in Brighton
“Whatever is happening in the circumstances of your life, stop. Just for a moment. Bring your attention towards the here-and-now. Let the moment become fascinating. Gently begin to acknowledge what is actually happening where you are. Come out of your conclusions about life, your dreams about past and future, and begin to notice the sensations, feelings, thoughts that are present, right here and right now…”
Date: Saturday 25th July
Location: Lecture Room, Friends Meeting House, Ship Street, Brighton, BN1 1AF
Time: 11-5. Please arrive in time for an 11am start.
Tea and coffee will be provided.
You can bring your own lunch. Alternatively, there are plenty of good and inexpensive cafes and restaurants within walking distance.
The meeting is strictly limited to 40 participants. Please purchase your ticket online in advance. Sorry, we won’t be selling tickets at the door.
To purchase tickets:
http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/1796108
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How can we rest deeply, even in the midst of our pain and doubts? How can we stay mindful and remember our ground, even as our hearts break open and our illusions turn to dust? How can we stop running away from our depression, our grief, our exhaustion, our fears, our failures, and start embracing ourselves exactly as we are?
How can we remember the calm in the midst of the storm of life our very own presence, unchanging amidst this ever-changing world?
This will be a day of talks, meditative and honest dialogues and restful silences; a day of seeing our struggles, our fears, our sufferings in a fresh new light; a day of resting deeply, of letting go of the exhausting search for ‘something more’. A day of being present, aware and alive, meeting whatever arises in ourselves and each other.
Whether you are struggling with your life and are looking for peace and space amidst the chaos, or you are a healer or therapist interested in meeting your clients in a new way, this meeting is for you.
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“Sometimes it’s okay to feel broken! Your sadness, your longing, your frustration, your loneliness, your fear, your anxiety are not mistakes on this journey, for there are no mistakes. They are not obstacles on your path. The freedom you long for is not found in the eradication of these ‘messy’ parts of experience, but held in the intelligence they carry. You need not transcend or ‘go beyond’ anything, but be willing to become deeply intimate with your lived, embodied experience. The present moment is your greatest lover and friend. Your own intimate presence is what you have always sought.
Your heartbreak, your confusion, your not-having-the-answers-right-now, is not pathology, it is path; not a sign of your ‘failure to awaken’, but a confirmation of your exquisitely imperfect humanity. The nature of all feelings, both ‘positive’ and ‘negative’ is wisdom, but you must make a home for them within you, in order to receive their gifts. Even your profound confusion or loneliness has something to reveal to you that certainty and joy could never, ever show you.
Your life cannot go wrong, when you see that everything that happens is an invitation to awaken.”
For more on Jeff’s teachings please see: www.lifewithoutacentre.com
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ABOUT JEFF FOSTER
Jeff Foster studied Astrophysics at Cambridge University. In his mid-twenties, after a long period of depression and illness, he became addicted to the idea of ‘spiritual enlightenment’ and embarked on an intensive spiritual quest for the ultimate truth of existence.
The spiritual search came crashing down with the clear recognition of the non-dual nature of everything, and the discovery of the extraordinary in the ordinary. In the clarity of this seeing, life became what it always was: intimate, open, loving and spontaneous, and Jeff was left with a deep understanding of the root illusion behind all human suffering, and a love of the present moment.
Jeff was voted #59 on Watkins Review’s 2014 list of the world’s 100 Most Spiritually Influential Living People. Jeff has published five books in over six languages. His latest bookFalling in Love With Where You Are is now available from Non-Duality Press.
Jeff’s website can be found at:
http://www.lifewithoutacentre.com/
