Public talk by Paul R. Fleischman, M.D. – September 13th, 7 pm, Harvard University

You are warmly invited to an upcoming special event at Harvard University: A free public talk titled “The Universal Features of All Meditation” – by Dr. Paul R.Fleischman, September 13th, 7 pm.

About Dr. Paul R. Fleischman

Dr. Fleischman is a Vipassana teacher in the tradition of S.N. Goenka, and the author of several books including “Wonder: When and Why the World Appears Radiant,” “Cultivating Inner Peace,” and “Karma and Chaos”. He has been honored with the Oskar Pfister Award by the American Psychiatric Association for being an “…outstanding contributor to the humanistic and spiritual side of psychiatric and medical issues.”

About the talk

Speaking with approximately forty years of personal experience, as well as with professional knowledge, Dr. Fleischman will explore the psychology of meditation, revealing its universal features. These rest on the biological tendency of all life to favor self-modulation. Meditation is the cultivated augmentation of natural homeostasis, and most people are attracted to it because of the feelings of inner peace that it brings. Almost all meditations increase self-knowledge, decrease reactivity, decrease over belief in one’s personal importance, and decrease attachment to the sense of self. Dr. Fleischman will also discuss what attracted him to Vipassana meditation. He will emphasize that meditation is in its essence social as much as individual, and can be understood through the lens of group and social psychology as well as through biology. There are emotional connections that enrich meditation when it is practiced with awareness of its historical roots in Buddhist cultural settings in ancient India, its teachers and other personalities, and its net of personal friendships. Meditation often becomes a lifelong path, in which every moment counts, and personal growth is never considered to end. It usually makes meditators feel they have more capacity to embrace life. Meditation may keep our minds more open to absorb realizations that are flooding in from our expanded, collective enterprise on Earth.

Co-sponsors

This event is co-sponsored by the Harvard Society for Mind, Brain and Behavior

Event schedule and format

This talk is free and open to the general public. It will consist of a one-hour lecture (7 – 8 pm) on 9/13, followed by a 30-minute Q&A session. Similar Vipassana outreach events have taken place at other colleges and universities in the northeast region, including MIT, Harvard, Tufts, Brown and Columbia. These lectures provide an avenue for the general public to learn about Vipassana meditation. (Note : Dr. Fleischman will deliver the same talk again at Brown University on 9/15, and those who miss the talk at Harvard can attend the Brown talk if they wish).

Event Registration

You can find more details about the venue and register for this free event by clicking on the link below:

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/sept-13-2016-the-universal-features-of-all-meditation-tickets-26991311740

Help us spread the word!

You can invite your family and friends if you wish, by forwarding this email to them, or by inviting them via social media using this FaceBook event page. Please share this with your friends.

https://www.facebook.com/events/580378242122707/

Questions

Please email registration-boston@dhara.dhamma.org if you have any questions about this event.