Free Meditation

Anapanasati: Breath Body Being by Christopher Thurston

January 7, 2016

Christopher Thurston will lead Anapanasati: Breath Body Being, a guided meditation. Anapanasati is from the Pali language and means “mindfulness of breathing” (“sati” means mindfulness; “anapana” refers to inhalation and exhalation.) This is a form of Buddhist meditation now common to Tibetan, Zen, Tiantai and Theravada Buddhism as well as Western-based mindfulness programs. Anapanasati means to feel the sensations caused by the movements of the breath in the body as is practiced in the context of mindfulness. According to tradition, Anapanasati was originally taught by Gautama Buddha.

Liberation arises from within yourself. Calming the mind by following the breath, you can become unfettered by the attachments that lead to dissatisfaction. With concentration on following the breath, you can experience impermanence, causes and conditions. This is the revolution of the heart that goes “against the stream.” Meeting ignorance with wisdom, greed with generosity, and overcoming hatred with boundless love.

Christopher is a meditator, a Dharma punk and member of the Awake~NC Buddhist Meditation Society which is the full expression of Buddha’s teachings of self-cultivation, community and interpersonal interactions. For more information visit www.awakenc.wordpress.com/about/

Speaking to religious groups, academic students, and community organizations, Christopher teaches meditation, Buddhism and ethics. He is certified by University of The West (Hsi Lai) in lay Dharma leadership, has a Ch’an training through Fo Guang Shan and regularly teaches Anapanasati (mindfulness of the breath meditation) at NC Buddhist Vihara (Sri Lankan).
Christopher gave a talk about meditation and music improvisation to the Buddhist Community at Duke’s Weekly Group Meetings at Duke University. To listen to the talk click the link below:

https://soundcloud.com/xi-sheng/creative-improv-improve-a-primer-on-music-mindfulness-meditation-and-how-to-stay-in-tune