This year-long series brings a new topic and teacher to you each month in 90 minute workshops. **Complimentary for anyone who donates $100+ to our year-end fundraiser! Support our vision of Connecting a Compassionate Global Community by making a donation and then participating in this immersion.
Free for Donors
It's not too late! Give to the Mind Oasis Year-End Fundraiser to get your coupon
JANUARY - My Octopus Teacher
with Karuna
17 January 2021
9:00am - 10:30am CT
We’ll use the film My Octopus Teacher as the discussion point by which we dive into what compassionate action is and how we can manifest it in 2021. Karuna will weave in the four limitless qualities of Buddhism with an emphasis on karuna - compassion!
You’ll want to watch the film in advance of the workshop.
Available on Netflix, My Octopus Teacher shows how, in 2010, Craig Foster began free-diving in a cold underwater kelp forest at a remote location in near Cape Town, South Africa. He started to document his experiences and, in time, met a curious young octopus that captured his attention. He decided to keep visiting her den and tracking her movements every day for a year to win the animal’s trust. The two form a bond where she plays with Foster and allows him into her world to see how she sleeps, lives, and eats. In the film, Foster describes the impact on his life of his relationship with the octopus.
Foster describes the effect of this mentorship that the octopus provided him with as teaching him a lesson on the fragility of life and humanity's connection with nature.
The film is stunning and will provide a wonderful basis breaking into small groups to discuss!
FEBRUARY - Mantra & Music to Stimulate Compassion
with Maria Novak
21 February 2021
9:00am - 10:30am CT
Music, mantra, and singing are ancient tools which can generate the energy that creates loving compassion for ourselves and others.
Join us in this workshop to discover simple ways to use these tools on a daily basis in order to feel energized, happier, and to spread compassion and loving-kindness everywhere you go!
MARCH - Seva as the Yogic Path to Compassion
with Allison Joy
21 March 2021
9:00am - 10:30am CT
Learn about yoga from the heart with Allison Joy ❤️
The body is the miracle vehicle we have been given to make the most of this lifetime. What does it mean to make life truly meaningful? in this workshop we will explore how the intelligent design of our human body opens the door to enlightenment. When we use our body (and every layer of our whole being) in service to others the path of true awakening is opened to us.
In this yoga and meditation workshop, we will explore the inner subtle body as a way to connect with the limitless fountain of compassion within. Through breath, movement, and meditation we will expand beyond our perceived boundaries and see our infinite potential.
APRIL - Self-Care as the Basis of Compassion
with Turi Hetherington
18 April 2021
9:00am - 10:30am CT
iRest Yoga Nidra invites us to rest back into life. Learn how fueling your cup is as important as helping others.
MAY - A Special Meditation Challenge Workshop
with Surprise Guests!
16 May 2021
9:00am - 10:30am CT
This will be a very special Compassionate Action workshop with very special guests. Stay tuned!
JUNE - Path of the Bodhisattva: Compassionate Action in Body, Speech, and Mind
with Gina de la Chesnaye
20 June 2021
9:00am - 10:30am CT
A bodhisattva is one who is interested in using their precious life to be of benefit to others. Lean all about putting your practice into action!
OVERVIEW - A Year of Compassionate Action
with Karuna and Friends
Watch for announcement of additional guests and topics in the coming weeks!
Year-long Immersion
Third Sunday of the month
9:00am - 10:30am CT
A Year of Compassionate Action
During this year-long immersion, we’ll come together in community each month to learn something about compassion and the application of compassion in our daily lives. Our vision is that participants will come together as a community and get to know each other.
“In the Buddhist tradition, compassion and love are seen as two aspects of the same thing: compassion is the wish for another being to be free from suffering; love is wanting them to have happiness.”
-- His Holiness the Dalai Lama
Compassionate action is moving from feeling into taking helpful action. Each month we will host a guest teacher who will share a teaching and a practice around compassion. We’ll also go into breakout sessions in order to give voice to our experience from month to month.
“The brahmaviharas are four prized emotions or mindstates that give us a framework to cultivate positive behaviors and minimize harmful ones. They are called the “divine abodes” because they are the mindstates in which all the enlightened ones reside. They are also known as the “four immeasurables” or “four limitless ones” because they represent love and goodwill toward all sentient beings, without limit.
The four brahmaviharas are:
Loving-kindness (Pali: metta)
Compassion (karuna)
Sympathetic joy (mudita)
Equanimity (upekkha).
The late Buddhist teacher Ayya Khema described the brahmaviharas as “the only emotions worth having.” By cultivating the four immeasurables, you not only develop limitless love but undo what the Buddha called their “near enemies”: indifference, pity, envy, and jealousy.” -- Lions Roar Article “What Are the Four Brahmivaharas?”