The Mudita Parents Retreat

Thursday, June 27, 2013

The First Gift, Saturday 6th July, 2013: The Four Noble Truths

The first session of this group will be held on the 6th of July, 2013 in a private hall in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The topics for discussion would be some basic teachings of the Buddha including the four noble truths.

The preliminary program:

9:30 -10:00 AM
Introducing some basic Buddhist concepts: The Four Noble Truths. The Eightfold Noble Path, basic types of Buddhist meditation practices and steps in breath meditation.

10:00-10:30
A Guided Meditation

10:30-11:00
Questions and Answer session on the above topics and meditation

11:00-11:30 A snack and closing remarks

11:30 The end

Anybody who is interested in attending these sessions please send an email to buddhistwisdomgroup@gmail.com

References:

A Study Guide

The Four Noble Truths

by:

Thanissaro Bhikkhu

http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/study/truths.html

Meditation: First two Chapters of the book: "Mindfulness bliss and beyond"

Paying gratitude to parents: The words of Buddha

"I tell you, monks, there are two people who are not easy to repay. Which two? Your mother & father. Even if you were to carry your mother on one shoulder & your father on the other shoulder for 100 years, and were to look after them by anointing, massaging, bathing, & rubbing their limbs, and they were to defecate & urinate right there [on your shoulders], you would not in that way pay or repay your parents. If you were to establish your mother & father in absolute sovereignty over this great earth, abounding in the seven treasures, you would not in that way pay or repay your parents. Why is that? Mother & father do much for their children. They care for them, they nourish them, they introduce them to this world.

"But anyone who rouses his unbelieving mother & father, settles & establishes them in conviction; rouses his unvirtuous mother & father, settles & establishes them in virtue; rouses his stingy mother & father, settles & establishes them in generosity; rouses his foolish mother & father, settles & establishes them in discernment: To this extent one pays & repays one's mother & father."

— AN 2.32

"The Lessons of Gratitude", by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.Access to Insight, 28 July 2012,http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/thanissaro/lessonsofgratitude.html . Retrieved on 27 June 2013.

The only true way to repay your parents

The only true way to repay your parents is to strengthen them in four qualities: conviction, virtue, generosity, and discernment. To do so, of course, you have to develop these qualities in yourself, as well as learning how to employ great tact in being an example to your parents. As it happens, these four qualities are also those of an admirable friend (AN 8.54), which means that in repaying your parents in this way you become the sort of person who'd be an admirable friend to others as well.

-Thanissaro Bhikkhu

"The Lessons of Gratitude", by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.Access to Insight, 28 July 2012,http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/thanissaro/lessonsofgratitude.html . Retrieved on 28 June 2013.

The Mudita Parents Retreat

Thursday, July 18, 2013

Pictures from the first session: The Four Noble Truths

Thursday, June 27, 2013

The First Gift, Saturday 6th July, 2013: The Four Noble Truths