Buddhist Geeks Conference 2013

Some of you may know I gave the keynote presentation at the inaugural Buddhist Geeks Conference in 2011. I'm happy to be presenting again in August of 2013. 

This year I’ll be offering a number of presentations, the first of which is a 20-minute TED-style talk. I’ll also be dialoguing with David Vago on the research we started at Harvard last year. This will be the first opportunity for the two of us to make a joint presentation on these findings. We’ll be doing this through a new format called BG Dialogue, a 90-minute discussion including a live question and answer period from the audience.

You’ll find some more specifics on registration below.

All the best,

Shinzen

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Buddhist Geeks Conference

August 16-18, 2013

Boulder, Colorado

This year’s list of presenters includes Reggie Ray, Marianne Elliott, Rick Hanson, Diane Hamilton, Kenneth Folk, Sofia Diaz, Lodro Rinzler, David Vago, and many more....

|| Register here || 

Get your Early Bird Ticket before May 31^st and save $75.

Give Concentration, Clarity, and Equanimity to School Children

I wanted to let you all know about an opportunity to make a positive impact on the future.

Imagine school children learning Basic Mindfulness techniques every day as part of their school's standard curriculum. Imagine how their lives will be different because of the attentional skills they've acquired before graduating high school.

Well, actually there's no need to imagine . . . It's happening right now.

Many of you know Soryu Forall, Ted Holtz, Harrison Heyl, and some of the others at The Center for Mindful Learning. Many of you also know about the program they have for school classrooms, "Modern Mindfulness for Schools." Every day in Vermont, school children are practicing mindfulness techniques with language for young kids. For example Concentration, Clarity, and Equanimity are simplified to the action verbs Focus, Explore, and Welcome.

Now they've created a kickstarter.com campaign to make the program available online, anywhere. They're asking for help. Only a little more work is required to allow people anywhere in the English speaking world to sign up and pay online. (. . . and I hear the German translation may already be in the works.)


You can help by visiting their kickstarter page and choosing one of the rewards.

The objective numbers coming out of the program show how effective it is, as the chart below indicates:

The subjective reports from the educators involved in the program are stellar:

I have been using the new mindfulness program and I am LOVING it!! I have incorporated the skills and techniques across the day as we build our classroom community! When you come to visit the next time, I'm sure you'll immediately notice in my classroom enormous signs painted by the children that say Focus, Explore, Welcome!!! It is all so exciting!   

-- Helen-Anne Cafferty, Teacher, Smilie Memorial Elementary, Bolton, Vermont

Here is the link again if you want to make a contribution and see more details:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1456951202/learn-to-teach-mindfulness-to-kids?ref=live

On Kickstarter, your account is only charged if we reach our fundraising goal. Otherwise, CML will not receive any of the pledges and your pledge will be returned to you. Thanks.

All the best,
Shinzen

A Japanese Proverb for the New Year

Many of you have sent me kind greetings for the holidays. I wanted to reciprocate with an idea around the theme of a new year. 

The Japanese have a proverb: 

"rainen no koto o ieba, oni ga warau" -- 

"when we say next year, the devil laughs." 

It’s an exhortation to have one’s priorities straight—to not put off things that are really important. 

One way to measure the importance of something is how deep, how powerful, and how universally applicable that thing is. By this metric, our mindfulness practice deserves more priority than it often gets. 

The New Year is an opportunity for renewed practice. That’s the highest blessing that I can wish.

Oni Zazen - Shunsō Shōju (1751-1839; Hakuin’s student)