The Buddhist Studies Program is designed for people who have attended three or more mindfulness meditation retreats and have a commitment to daily meditation practice. This ongoing program is designed to deepen our understanding through the study and application of the teachings of the Buddha. Each class will include a short talk, small-group discussions, and guided sitting time. Participants will be expected to use the teachings as a focus for their daily practice.
All Common Ground programs are offered freely in the spirit of generosity. To learn more about supporting the center and our teachers, click here.
Zoom/In-person Buddhist Studies Course: Relating Wisely with the Hindrances with Shelly Graf & Mark Nunberg
6 Mondays, September 12th – October 17th, 7:30 – 9:00 p.m. with an optional sitting period from 7:00 – 7:30 p.m. Register Here
This six-week course examines the Buddha’s teachings on the five hindrances that undermine the clarity and stability of mind. These afflictive states are often regular visitors for meditators. With practice, sense desire, aversion, dullness, restlessness, and doubt can be more quickly recognized with a non-judging awareness in a way that neutralizes their disturbing and obscuring effect on the mind. Developing these skills goes to the heart of calming the mind and living in a skillful and compassionate way.
The Buddhist Studies courses are designed for people who have attended three or more mindfulness meditation retreats and have a commitment to daily meditation practice. This ongoing program is designed to deepen our understanding through the study and application of the teachings of the Buddha. Classes will include dharma talks, large and small group discussions, and guided sitting time. Participants will be expected to use the teachings as a focus for their daily practice. This course is led by Mark Nunberg and Shelly Graf.
Mark Nunberg began his practice in 1982 and has been teaching meditation since 1990. He co-founded Common Ground Meditation Center in Minneapolis in 1993 with Wynn Fricke and continues to serve as the center’s Guiding Teacher. Mark has studied with both Asian and Western teachers and finds deep inspiration in the teachings of the Buddha. Mark practiced as a monk for five months in Burma and completed four three-month retreats at Insight Meditation Society Retreat Center, as well as many months of intensive retreat practice at The Forest Refuge. Mark continues to be a grateful student of Buddhist practice.
Shelly Graf has been practicing in the Insight Meditation tradition and has called Common Ground their spiritual home since 2003. They are a graduate of Insight Meditation Society’s four-year teacher training program and lead residential retreats at IMS and other retreat centers nationally. Shelly currently serves alongside Mark Nunberg as one of Common Ground’s Guiding Teachers. Shelly has an interest in integrating the teachings of the Buddha as deeply as possible into the fabric of our lives and as such, they have a special interest in waking up to whiteness as part of this total and fully integrated path of awakening. Whatever Shelly’s role may be, they will always be a grateful student of Buddhist Practice first.
