Concentration is Key
Time: 7:30pm
Price: $15-$20 suggested donation for drop-ins

By integrating insights and practices from Buddhist mindfulness meditation and the evolving fields of yoga, neuroscience, western psychology, and addiction theory, Blake responsibly and empathetically guides beginning and intermediate meditators into profoundly liberating encounters with even the most difficult dimensions of their experience. He offers tried and true methods for regulating interior states, with these ultimate goals:

1. Learn to inhabit the present moment in an increasingly rich, embodied way.

2. Unwind your most deeply held emotions and trauma.

3. Gain liberating insight into the maddening thinking mind.

4. Learn to generate high states of kindness, compassion, and joy that will provide you with an alternative strategy for regulating your emotional states. 

Bio

After years as a sometimes focused, sometimes hard-partying Hollywood actor, I decided to plunge into serious yoga and meditation practice.

I had always wanted to undertake such a journey, had read a thousand books about it and could think of nothing more meaningful, but it had always seemed somehow beyond my grasp. Call it low self-esteem left over from a rocky childhood. And so it was a profound overcoming when I finally pushed through my fear, and began.

In yoga, I trained extensively with Hala Khouri and Julian Walker in their science and psychology-informed Awakened Heart Embodied Mind training, and with Saul David Raye in his devotional Atma Yoga style.

I also trained in the vipassana meditation tradition for ten years with senior Buddhist teachers including Shinzen Young, George Haas, and Jack Kornfield, attending over twenty-five silent residential retreats in that time. I mentored closely with Dharma maverick and recognized attachment theory expert George Haas, and was honored to teach alongside him before striking out on my own.

By now I have been teaching mindfulness meditation and yoga in Los Angeles for eight years. I believe passionately in the transformative power of these modalities, and especially in their contemporary intersection with neuroscience and psychology. 

And finally, as a longtime poet, musician, playwright and actor, I remain fiercely devoted both to creativity as a spiritual path, and conversely, to exploring the ways spirituality enlivens the creative domain.

 

To learn more about Blake, visit www.veniceyogi.com.

Dharma Circle with Chris Weeks
1st Monday, from January 6th
Time: 7:30-9:00pm

To Register

https://mindoasis.org/classes/classical-texts-and-authentic-practices-of-eastern-spirituality/

Brought to You by Senior Students of Lama Marut

Facilitator: Brian Reid, Senior Teacher

Brian Reid completed an 18-course foundational program and 18-course advanced program in Tibetan Buddhism in 2010 guided by Lama Marut. He formerly served as the Executive Director and Board Vice President at Lama Marut's flagship center in Los Angeles. Today, Brian serves as a Senior Teacher at Inner Way LA and teaches nationwide and abroad.

 

 

Each of the twelve courses consists of six classes, and each class includes a practice to help you directly integrate the teachings into your everyday life. Registrants for each course will have access to the archive of visual and audio recordings of the classes. Classes that will meet weekly and last 2 hrs.

Each class includes a lecture and time for Q&A as well as either a live guided meditation or a recording to work with during the week. Participants who complete all twelve of the classes will receive a certificate of completion from Lama Marut’s spiritual center, Inner Way LA.

• One course: $225.00 USD
• Three courses: $500.00 USD
• Complete twelve course package (save $900.00 USD): $1800.00 USD

For more information on the Two-Year Intensive Series "Classical Texts & Authentic Practices of Eastern Spirituality"

https://mindoasis.org/classes/classical-texts-and-authentic-practices-of-eastern-spirituality/

Community Gathering with Cindy Lee
Sunday, March 15th at 4:30 pm
Price: $25 or whatever you can afford

Dear All,It is nearly four months since the death of dear Lama Marut. A somewhat sudden and unexpected event such as this gave many of us a shock, a chance to reflect and a time to grieve. Like those of you who have been in mourning, I have been processing this loss with sadness and gratitude. One of the joys that has emerged is related to this community: the people who have been a part of Lama Marut’s and my Dharma practice and teaching over the years. Because of this, Inner Way LA has offered to host a “satsang” or conversation with me so that I can thank and speak with the community. Many kind people have asked how I am doing, what I am doing and what has been happening, so I thought I could answer the sangha’s questions and open up a discussion of sorts (although we will be navigating both live and online spaces.) The satsang will be anchored around the topic of death and dying, grief and loss: my favourite topics right now! But I would like to speak to whatever is on your mind and will try to address what I can in relation to any questions that come in. I will be in Australia. Inner Way LA will open up the physical center for the community. Others are welcome to join online via Zoom.
Suggested Donation: $25 or whatever you can afford

Find Your Voice - A standup comedy class
Tuesdays, March 17, 24, 31, April 7
Show: Saturday, April 11
Time: 7:00 - 10:00pm
Price: $275