The Australian Institute for Consciousness Studies provides ongoing meditation classes on attentional and emotional balance. Learn meditation in an open friendly environment, in which a balance of instruction, discussion and meditation is provided.

When: Every Thursday Night
Where: TBA
Time: 7.00pm – 8.30pm
Cost: Waged $10.00/ Cons $5.00

Why Learn Meditation?

Western culture is familiar to the notion of physical training but, not so familiar with the cultivation of the inner qualities that support genuine happiness. As the mind plays a major role in our determining experiences, it makes sense to spend at least some time developing the causes of mental fitness. Why? Because it is through training the mind that we can begin to develop genuine happiness. Rather than trying to squeeze genuine happiness out of the external world we can bring this mental state to everything we do. Meditation, therefore, is an integral part of a larger process of becoming healthy.

photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/90664717@N00/

While meditation is both a diagnostic and therapeutic tool used in the project of becoming healthy. This process begins with learning to relax. In classical mindfulness meditation one learns to pay deep attention to the minute processes of the breath while remaining undistracted by discursive thought. This ongoing recollection of a familiar object (the breath in this case) is the foundation of advanced contemplative practices, whereby minds such as friendliness, open-mindedness, humor, and integrity are developed. Why are these mind developed? Because they are the real causes of genuine happiness; the foundation of human flourishing.

The implication of developing positive states of mind, discordant with human flourishing; minds such as depression, stress, and anger, cannot manifest. It is difficult to be cheerful and relaxed; yet stressed all at the same time. Becoming aware of this potential, we can begin to develop these minds and thereby bring them into our everyday experience.

Meditation can help overcome our ingrained psychological assumptions about our potential that limits our human capacity for flourishing.

Learn the tools to develop your inner world; learn to meditate.

For more on what is meditation see this article