In 1917, Charles Sherrington famously described the brain as “an enchanted loom, where millions of flashing shuttles weave a dissolving pattern, always a meaningful pattern, though never an abiding one.”
For over two millennia, Buddhist thought and practice have been utilized to more deeply understand how we perceive our experience, and how we can increasingly be present to that experience. By perceiving our experiences through the lens of understanding and compassion, we can find joy and contentment in this difficult world. Western science is now addressing some of these same concerns as it looks more deeply at the neurophysiology of perception, thinking, and emotion. How can we use these ancient teachings and correlate them with modern scientific understanding, in order to improve to our lives?
We hope that this workshop will be more than just an interesting topic. We believe that the correlation of these ancient teachings with some of the evolving understandings of the functioning of the brain, can be powerful and useful tools, in a very practical way, which can help us live better lives.
Learning objectives for the workshop include answering the following questions:
- What is the scientific understanding of mindfulness?
- What is the current neuropsychological understanding and what is the Buddhist understanding of an emotion?
- Is the world as it appears to us the way it actually is?
- What does neuroscience have to say about the fundamental Buddhist teaching of “no self?”
If you are curious about these questions, and many more, please join us for this workshop.
Workshop Leaders:
Alex Lerner has been practicing with FCM since 2005 and became OI ordained in 2015. He is a mentor for other practitioners at FCM and is frequently holding workshops with a special interest in Neuroscience and Dharma. Dr. Lerner was a physician in private clinical practice in Obstetrics and Gynecology in Tampa, Florida. After his retirement from medicine, he developed an interest in psychology and mindfulness as well as neuroscience and how they all interface.
Ken Lenington has had a meditative practice in various traditions starting in 1970 and has been a student of Buddhism and mindfulness since the early 1990s. Ordained in the Order of Interbeing in 2007, he is active in the Florida Community of Mindfulness where he had served as a mentor and has led workshops, retreats, and intensive practices. Dr. Lenington practiced general psychiatry and addiction medicine in the Carolinas from 1978 until his retirement in 2015.
* Florida Community of Mindfulness, Inc. is approved by the Florida Board of Clinical Social Work, Marriage & Family Therapy and Mental Health Counseling to provide continuing education credits through CE Provider # 50-14766. Total in-class time is 6 hours.
Florida Community of Mindfulness Grievance Procedure
Mail a statement describing your complaint to: Director of Continuing Education, 6501 N. Nebraska Avenue, Tampa, FL 33604.
Questions? E-mail us at info@floridamindfulness.org or call 813-237-0746.
