Meditation and Awakening: What They Mean for Your Life Ashiya temple Ashiya, Japan - 5 pm Saturday March 18th 2017. Which type of personality are you—a greed type, hate type, or confused type?  How do you learn to recognize your particular poison, the root cause of life struggles? Someone who points out those tendencies, helps you to let go of "negative loops", and wakes you up is a teacher.  We welcome two highly skilled Buddhist teachers to Japan; meeting them and hearing their words will start you on your way toward emotional freedom and well-being. Sign up here to be notified about any retreat updates and Planet Dharma news.    

If you want the present, you have to open the box. Public Teaching with Doug Duncan & Catherine Pawasarat: April 4 2017, 7pm Join Dharma teachers Doug Duncan and Catherine Pawasarat at the Bewegungslust clinic in Frankfurt, Germany on April 4th 2017. Doug & Catherine Sensei will share some teachings based loosely on the Buddha’s fire sermon. In this discourse, the Buddha compares the process of spiritual ‘Awakening’ to liberating people struggling uncomfortably in a burning house while preoccupied with their toys (we’re not making this up!). In an attempt to lure these endangered souls out of the fire and into safety, he first offered them freedom from fire. Apparently the toys were more engrossing, so the Buddha used ‘skillful methods’ to save them: he offered them even more wonderful toys outside with him, free from the fire and associated danger. The present – the here-and-now – is a wonderful toy. But we have to get out of the burning house to untie the ribbon, tear off the pretty paper, and open the box! Doug & Catherine will share how we can do this, and enjoy doing it, during our busy modern lives. Nothing less than spiritual awakening is the inevitable result. Read this blog from Doug & Catherine Sensei:  If you want the present, you have to open the box. Event Registrations Contact Andrea (organiser details below) for full details. View the Facebook Event page. Sign up here to be notified about any retreat updates and Planet Dharma news.  

This talk will be held in Watkins bookstore in London, UK at 6:30 pm on Thursday April 20th, 2017. Through their living, vibrant teachings Doug and Catherine bring to life understandings from the ancient way of Tantra. Although often seen as esoteric and mystical, Tantra involves a practical engagement with all of our senses, in the life we are living. Photo: aka Tman In attempting to allay our fears and control the world around us, we have our ways of manipulating, managing or disengaging from situations in order to cope.  These are often unconscious ways (our shadow), by which we keep relationships and the external world at arm’s length in order to protect our vulnerable heart Tantra is a method where, rather than denying our wants and needs, we explore our relationship to them. In the process, we navigate a path through our struggles and difficulties, our traumas and traumata. In this talk, which precedes the UK Retreat at Maitreya House, these two meditation masters and lineage holders will show us how this dance of transformation leads us into a clearer, more compassionate, more empowered and loving state. Established in 1893, Watkins is the UK’s oldest esoteric bookshop, specializing in mind body spirit. In the heart of London, it invites teachers to share their wisdom. Sign up here to be notified about any updates regarding this class and other Planet Dharma news.

Discover how to live more consciously in relationship. Join Doug & Catherine Sensei in Calgary for a weekend of learning to love more fully, fearlessly and with compassion - May 12-14, 2017.

How might we reach our personal and collective potentials in a world we truly want to live in? Join Dharma Teachers Doug Duncan and Catherine Pawasarat in Calgary, July 15-16 for a weekend on Conscious Community, connection and collaboration.

Conscious Livelihood: Inspired Living from the Inside Out July 19th at the Centre for Social Innovation - Spadina Doug Sensei teaching at CSI in November 2015 Contemporary society and the consumer marketplace offer mostly an empty substitute for a life well lived. Conscious (or Complete) Livelihood means learning to live in accordance with deeper truths. When we uncover these truths for ourselves through meditation, mindfulness and applied awareness in our day-to-day lives we find that real satisfaction was always within our grasp. Conscious Livelihood directs our aspiration to a radiant, blissful state of being. By seeking the best state of being, and the best supporting conditions to do so, we uncover for ourselves a new, more holistic and inherently satisfying vision that invigorates our life with purpose and meaning. From this state we naturally explore and develop sustainable lives that serve the planet and create the world we truly want to live in. Weaving the Truth: Relative and Ultimate Realities July 20th, 2017 at the Village Healing Centre Doug Sensei with students at the Aga Khan Museum in Toronto Meditation masters have compared the events of our body/mind to a rainbow, a mirage, a dream, a dewdrop in the sun and the like. These events – thoughts, feelings and sensations – seem so real because they are habitual and repetitive. Moreover, we cling to the ones we like and run from the ones we don’t. We have been habituated to see these events as real, when really they represent relative […]

What can we do to increase growth and connection in our relationships? Join Doug & Catherine for a series of three Saturday evening classes in Fernie, BC.

How do we enrich our personal and professional relationships? Join Dharma Teachers Doug Duncan and Catherine Pawasarat for a weekend workshop in Calgary on the art of relationships and spiritual awakening.