Nalagiri House

15/10/2024

For your pleasure...

Free Buddhist meditation and Dharma teachings. Join us live every Sunday at https://sangha.live/liveThe extremes of addiction to sense pleasure and addiction...

02/10/2024

The Spectrum of Sensuality - Where Do I Stand?

Sangha Live - Sunday, October 13th @ 11 am (PDT) / 7 pm (BST)
Register Now >>> https://sangha.events/Vince13Oct

The extremes of addiction to sense pleasure and addiction to self-mortification are not the path to happiness. The spectrum of human sensuality spans from pleasure to pain, pleasant to unpleasant, from hedonic excesses to self-harm, encompassing a vast range that is likely different for everyone. What is considered the Middle Way for a monastic might be different and some distance, as it were, from the Middle Way practised by a layperson.

It's important to be at ease and find joy and contentment in the midst of the ordinary and the mundane.

But there is also a place for new sights, new sounds, new tastes, new smells. new physical experiences, and new thoughts. This is true even when the new experience isn't necessarily pleasant, as you would know if you had ever used a public toilet in Tibet.

14/09/2024

I do hope that you are well and happy. Below are some details of three diverse events, and a new venture.

First, there are just a couple of places still available for the Buddhist Recovery Summit from October 10-13 in New Jersey. Check out the 30% discount code below.

Second, I will give an online talk for Sangha.Live on Sunday, October 13th, exploring the spectrum of human sensuality. Details below.

Third, if I weren't in New Jersey on the same dates, then I would be sitting with my good friend Joa Scetbon who is offering a formal silent Zen Retreat near Paris. This is not a 'recovery' retreat but an opportunity to experience quietude and calm in the heart of the Forest of Fontainebleau. Highly recommended.

Lastly, you are never too old for an adventure, so I have included details of an evolving Travel Blog below that, I hope, will inspire you to pack a small bag and explore the world.

Take good care,

Vince

Take good care, Vince PS: In case you missed it, in March this year I gave a talk on Higher Truths & Advanced Understandings for the Buddhist Recovery Academy which can be seen here »

22/07/2024

Freedom without and from Expectations - Audio Recording

For anyone who couldn't make the retreat organised by London Insight Meditation

Keep Sitting - Keep Smiling 🧘🙏❤

In July 2024 London Insight Meditation hosted Vince Cullen for a day retreat on the theme of "Freedom without expectations".

13/07/2024

A day of active reflection and practice - Freedom without Expectations - at The King Alfred School for Insight Meditation

All welcome 🧘

https://www.londoninsight.org/event/in-person-freedom-without-expectations/

06/06/2024

In-person and Online events for 2024

I do hope that you are well and happy. Below are details of the four diverse events I will be offering, or participating in this year.

* 4 June - 22 October (Online) for Pacifica Graduate Institute
Certificate Program - Conscious Ageing
Module 5 – The Heart of Forgiveness in Troubled Times

* 20 July in London for London Insight Meditation
Daylong Workshop – Freedom without Expectations

* 10 October - 13 October in Stillwater, New Jersy, USA
Buddhist Recovery Network presents Summit 2024

* 13 October (Online) for Sangha Live
The Practice of Wise-Heartedness

More details here: https://mailchi.mp/d89f70a0d734/talks-workshops-and-retreats-2024

Take good care,

Vince 🙏🧘❤

I do hope that you are well and happy. Below are some details of the four diverse events I will be offering, or participating in this year. Also, in case you missed it, in March this year I gave a talk on Higher Truths & Advanced Understandings for the Buddhist Recovery Academy which can be seen h...

26/05/2024

FREEDOM WITHOUT EXPECTATIONS

The way out of suffering, the Buddha said, is the Middle Way; the middle path between the extremes of sensual existence. The first and most critical step of the Middle Way is appropriate understanding. And the first things I need to understand correctly are the realities, limitations and possibilities of being human.

The Buddha’s primary insight can be paraphrased as life is painful and then I die. If this is true, how do I respond to the difficulties and disappointments of my life and the certainty of death?

Through a day of talks, meditations and group work we will explore the ‘true’ realities of existence and what an appropriate response might be in our mental attitude, our engagement with the spectrum of sensuality, and the unavoidable vicissitudes of life.

Join me at King Alfred School on July 20th in a workshop kindly organised by London Insight Meditation.

EVENT DESCRIPTION The way out of suffering, the Buddha said, is the Middle Way; the middle path between the extremes of sensual existence. The first and most critical step of the Middle Way is appropriate understanding. And the first things we need to understand correctly are the realities, limitati...

09/05/2024

I will be teaching the fifth module - on Forgiveness - of the 'Ageing As A Spiritual Practice' certificate program being offered by Pacifica Graduate Institute.

More details can be found here:

https://retreat.pacifica.edu/aging-as-spiritual-practice/

"There are those who do not realize that one day we all must die. But those who do realize this settle their quarrels." - Buddha

With our extended longevity and the wisdom of depth psychology, we now have the precious opportunity to extend our psychological and spiritual development. We can open the portals of shadow-awareness, pure awareness, and mortality awareness. We can release past trauma, regret, and unfinished busines...