The Eight Worldly Concerns: Overcoming the Obstacles to Genuine Happiness
Exploring the ‘Eight Worldly Concerns’, said to be the driving attachments and aversions that keep us bound between dissatisfaction and pain.
During this 4-week course, we explore the ‘Eight Worldly Concerns’, said to be the driving attachments and aversions that we constantly cycle through in our pursuit of happiness and avoidance of pain. These are four hopes and their corresponding fears, and fixation with these ‘worldly winds’ is said to be an obstacle to experiencing genuine, lasting wellbeing and happiness. Together, we explore how to cultivate a kind of equilibrium amidst the waves of ups and downs in our life, leading to a profound sense of peace and contentment. This does not entail a passive approach to life, its challenges, or our aspirations, but rather greater freedom in how we meet them. Exploring these deeply in our own experience offers insights into what our daily obstacles to wellbeing and inner peace are, and how to overcome them. These classes consist of guided meditations, talks and discussions covering a different aspect of Buddhist meditation each week.
What this course covers
- Week 1: Gain and Loss
- Week 2: Fame and Insignificance
- Week 3: Praise and Blame
- Week 4: Pleasure and Pain
Sessions
- Week One - Introduction and Gain & Loss 86 minutes