Listening with Curiosity - Post Election Conversation

with Tenzin Chogkyi, Mary Doane, and Greg Morris

Often our own meditation practice can seem separate from the rest of our lives – it’s hard to know how to bring the personal insights we might have and qualities we are developing in deep meditation into our relationships with others. How do we bring our practice off the meditation cushion and let it inform how we relate to others?

Now that the campaigning and voting is over, we are left to process the results and prepare for the newly elected to take office. When these results aren’t what we hoped for, or even if they are, the prevailing narrative that we are divided can feel true and the future can seem less hopeful. There is another option – we can seek understanding and move forward together as a nation. This conversation explores anchoring in our common humanity alongside our differences as a path toward meaningfully bridging those differences whether we feel as though we ‘won’ or ‘lost’ during the election.
________________________________________________

Join us in person at 2929 24th street
________________________________________________

Registration required. Registration limited!

We will be using the format suggested by an organization called Living Room Conversations which offers a simple, sociable and structured way to practice communicating across differences while building understanding and relationships. We will be meeting in small groups with specific prompts and guidelines to allow for deep sharing and listening. Rather than debating or convincing others, we take turns talking to share and learn, and be curious. No preparation is required, just come with an open mind and curiosity!

________________________________________________

Tenzin Chogkyi (she/her/hers) is a teacher of workshops and programs that bridge the worlds of Buddhist thought, contemplative practice, mental and emotional cultivation, and the latest research in the field of positive psychology.

Tenzin is especially interested in bringing the wisdom of Buddhism into modern culture and into alignment with modern cultural values such as racial and gender justice and environmental awareness. She feels strongly that a genuine and meaningful spiritual path includes not only personal transformation, but social and cultural transformation as well. She has been exploring the presentation of traditional teachings using modern pedagogical methods such as experiential exercises, dialogue and small group interaction.

Tenzin is a certified teacher of Compassion Cultivation Training, a secular compassion training program developed at Stanford University. She also teaches the Cultivating Emotional Balance program, a secular program using contemplative techniques drawn from Buddhism for managing emotions, developed at His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s request.
________________________________________________

Mary Doane is the Supervising Instructor of Education Programs at Zen Caregiving Project. Over the past two decades, she has been dedicated to the organization’s mission, starting as a hospice volunteer and training facilitator. Mary’s personal experience as a family caregiver deeply influences her work.

Mary holds dual instructor certification in Compassion Cultivation Training (CCT™), from Stanford University School of Medicine, Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education (CCARE) as well as the Compassion Institute (CI), where she serves as a mentor to emerging instructors. Mary is trained in Buddhist chaplaincy and is also a certified instructor of the Cultivating Emotional Balance (CEB) program, created at the Mind and Life Institute.

________________________________________________

Greg Morris (they/them) is a student and practitioner of bhakti yoga and Advaita Vedanta, as well as a student and devotee of the Tao Te Ching and the four gospels of the New Testament. A lifelong peace advocate and bridge-builder with childhood grounding in Unitarianism, Greg offers their spiritual practice as the foundation of their work as a management consultant specializing in diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging.

In addition, they are the recipient and beneficiary of several healing modalities, most notably Rosen Method (Marion Rosen, Robert Harry Rovin), Transformational Bodywork (Stephen Allario, Fred Mitouer), Holistic Sexuality (Marina Romero), Interpersonal Dynamics (David Bradford), and psychotherapy. Greg is trained as a teacher in Compassion Cultivation Training (CCT™), a secular program developed by Stanford University’s Department of Neurosurgery under the guidance of Geshe Thupten Jinpa.

Host or Publisher SF Dharma Collective