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It is a timeless spiritual truth that we all have an immeasurable treasury of love within us. Over 2,500 years ago the Buddha taught his disciples meditations on Loving Kindness as a way to reconnect with that inner wealth. In modern times these meditations continue to provide a gentle yet powerful tool for opening our hearts and minds, and developing our love, empathy and kindness far beyond conventional limitations. The Loving Kindness practice gently erodes the habits that block our natural feelings of love. We begin by cultivating love for ourselves. We do this to weaken our habits of self-judgement and low self-esteem, and to cultivate an authentic friendliness with ourselves. Far from perpetuating selfishness, learning to care for ourselves in a healthy manner paves the way for extending greater love for others. The practices lead us, in a systematic way, to an increasingly genuine and unconditional love for all. Loving Kindness is a practice that has proved tremendously helpful to both those who are already experienced in other forms of meditation and those who are completely new to meditation. The retreat will provide the tools to establish Loving Kindness as a source of nourishment and well being and to integrate it meaningfully into our everyday life. This retreat will include video teachings of Sogyal Rinpoche, guided meditations, group discussion and personal guidance to clarify our practice. Much of the retreat will be conducted in silence to encourage a contemplative atmosphere. This retreat will be presented by Andrew Warr. Andrew Warr has been a student of Sogyal Rinpoche since 1984. He is one of a small number of Rigpa Senior Instructors who have been authorised by Sogyal Rinpoche to travel internationally to lead retreats. He now specialises in presenting Loving Kindness meditation. In this article Andrew talks in depth about the loving kindness practice and his own meditation training. Melbourne Retreat: 4 days 6 April to 9 April 2012
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