Dancing with the Messenger

Course offering, Fall 2015

Dancing with the Messenger is an evening class on the art of living with ease in the face of change. No matter how the ground is shifting around us, we have the potential to respond to life transitions with care, curiosity, and a deep appreciation for the human journey.

The seasons follow each other in a natural cycle. Likewise, so do birth, aging, and death. Being part of nature, we are just as vulnerable to the ravages of time as anything else.  Yet, once we reach adulthood, it’s easy to go along, year by year, without really grasping the truth that we, too, are subject to impermanence. Yes, we know that death is a part of life. We’ve had our own encounters with accidents and illness. So why do some life events knock us completely off our centre?

Dancing with the Messenger is an opportunity to explore our attitudes towards aging, illness, and death, while awakening our sense of adventure and delight at the wonder of being alive.

Drawing on the Buddha’s teachings, as well as writings from poets and philosophers across the ages, teacher and storyteller Margo McLoughlin will engage class participants in deepening their practice of compassionate awareness as they explore these challenging topics.

Dates:

September 17, 24

October 1, 8, 15 (followed by a two-week break)

November 5, 12, 19

Time: Eight Thursday evenings, 7:00 – 9:00 p.m.

Location: Oak Bay United Church Chapel

Cost: This class is offered freely. If you would like to attend, please sign up! If you wish to make a donation for the teaching, you are welcome to offer what you can. The suggested range is $90 - $130.

Registration information: Download Dancing with the Messengers, Registration

Return by mail to:

Margo McLoughlin
515 Foul Bay Road,
Victoria, BC  V8S 4G9

Or by e-mail to Margo

Outline:

 Class One:

-       Overview

-       The concept of Samvega or spiritual urgency

-       Meeting the messengers in our own lives

-       Practicing with the Five Recollections

Class Two:

-       The First Messenger is Aging

-       Conscious aging, what does it look like?

-       Waking up to impermanence

-       Practicing patience

Class Three:

-       Appreciation and investigation of aging

-       Becoming an elder

-       Honouring the elders in our lives

Class Four:

-       The Second Messenger is Illness

-       Illness as a spiritual teacher

-       Vulnerability and strength

-       Compassion and equanimity

Class Five:

-       Mindfulness of the body

-       Relating to physical pain

-       Getting to know illness

Class Six:

-       The Third Messenger is Death

-       Seasons of letting go

-       How death reveals the cycles of existence

-       Cultural understandings of death and the afterlife

Class Seven:

-       Mindfulness of death

-       Death and the Deathless

-       Grief and remembering

Class Eight:

-       The Fourth Messenger is Spiritual Practice

-       Integrating our practice into every aspect of life

-       Loving-kindness and the art of contentment

-       Right View and the Eightfold Noble Path