beauty, liveliness, wisdom
Contemplative arts
Contemplative arts bring beauty, Liveliness and wisdom into our lives and our surroundings. You can help us, to learn to appreciate our world as it is and to experience it more directly and more vividly. This “direct perception” and spontaneous creativity is accessible to everyone. In this way we open up aspects of awareness, that we often disregard or ignore in everyday life.
All arts can incorporate a contemplative approach, including design, Music, Dance and poetry.
Bringing flowers to life
Ikebana
Things like space and imagination are expressed in flower arrangements. We could say, that Ikebana is a way, to delve into ordinary social phenomena: Sensory perceptions and how to manage your own life and artistic discipline.
Ikebana is a meditative path, to develop mindfulness and elegance. For this reason, the process of arranging flowers is just as important as the result. As with the other traditional contemplative arts, the attitude is what matters.
In Vienna Ikebana is practiced in the tradition of Sogetsu School taught.
More about Ikebana
Excerpt from a text by Chögyam Trungpa
It looks like this, that the whole principle rests on it, to create space, and at the same time the arrangement can be bold and eye-catching. So you shouldn't be too timid or too fascinated by the little beauty, which is in the branch.
This particular style of flower arranging, Ikebana, comes from Sogetso School. The Japanese Sogetso school does not only emphasize this, Arranging flowers, but also on it, to shape and create an environment out of many things.
My meeting with my teacher in England caused an incredible shock and surprise, namely, that Ikebana offers such a new dimension of reality. The first time, when I saw a flower arrangement, was very surprised about it, what dignity and reality can be expressed through this special arrangement. There is beauty and cruelty. Maybe there is an invitation, enticement, and actually the whole thing is like the Buddhist teachings. It is therefore not just a work of art. It is a manifestation of reality, which is easier, but presents a very spacious form. Ikebana practice teaches, how to approach your life. It requires a lot of mindfulness, Non-aggression and no stress.
discipline
If you don't have a bit of discipline in your state of mind, then you create confusion rather than order. That doesn't necessarily mean, that people, who study Ikebana, need to sit and meditate. But they could use Shamatha-Vipassyana principles in their practices, in their work, use. If you do that, you start, Chaos, boredom, Noticing inadequacy and everything else. Then you start, develop a sense of humor.
It's about, that every arrangement has a winning quality, must have a spacious quality. And the flowers, if I may say so, shouldn't stare at you, but should be arranged as they have grown.
Contemplative Photographs
Miksang
Miksang means “good eye”. Through the practice of seeing clearly, in the, what is fundamentally there, become the magic and freshness of everyday life (again) currently.
More about Miksang
The idea: Capturing the “magic of everyday life” with the camera. Photos, that arise without pre-conceived ideas, without the desire for a “good” photo. See clearly, appreciate and depict the unique moment.
The contemplative approach to photography is based on the meditation master's teachings on Shambhala and Dharma art, Artist and scholar Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, specifically on his teachings about the art of perception.
In the Shambhala Center in Vienna there is an active Miksang group. Im Event calendar you will find appointments for training courses and meetings.
You can find current photos on ourFacebook page.
Reinforce the awareness of space
Mudra rudding
You learn through mudra, relying on this space as a source of creativity. Woman or man develops unconditional trust in the benevolence and accuracy of the space.
Mudra Space Awareness was developed by Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche based on his own training as a lama dancer.
It's a method, about body, To bring speech and consciousness into harmony so that true presence can be developed. By working with postures, We learn from sounds and movement, to be there fearlessly and share honestly.
More about Mudra Rooms in Room
How we perceive the space around us, is influenced by our imagination. The space around us appears inviting and benevolent, we will relax more. The room appears unwelcoming and threatening to us, let's tense up.
Mudra spatial awareness is a method, about body, To bring feeling and consciousness into harmony in space. We develop trust in the process, to be fearless and fully present in every – really every – situation. The practice consists of unique exercises in different postures, with sensory perceptions, Language and movement.
Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche developed Mudra spatial awareness as a contemplative practice for the Mudra theater group at the Naropa Institute in Boulder. The exercises are based on Trungpa Rinpoche's training in Tibetan monastic dance. The basic idea is, that theater and everyday life are no different from each other. Whatever your role, there is always the possibility, to expand precision and openness.
First of all, we have to become aware, that we are trapped in our thoughts. This is by no means easy – we have extremely complicated lives. We are busy with it, to want to get better. We want to get rid of blocks from the past so we can express our true selves. We're busy eating well, good to drink, to work hard, a lot to work on,…..busy, busy, busy. To become aware of space we must pay attention to what and who we are.
The Five Buddha Families
Maitri space awareness
Die 5 Buddha families offer an unusual approach to understanding personalities and their environments. Each of these families or energies represents a different aspect of our originally clear consciousness.
These energies are experienced by working with specific postures and colors. The interaction of everyone 5 We become aware of energies in their full range, we no longer just identify with our usual behavioral patterns, that unnecessarily restrict our relationship with ourselves and our surroundings. Instead, we expand our perception, learn to understand ourselves and others better and deal with situations more openly.
More about Maitri
In Maitri space awareness you can do this 5 Experience energies by working with certain postures and colors. The interaction of everyone 5 We become aware of energies in their full range, and we no longer just identify with our usual behavioral patterns, that unnecessarily restrict our relationship with ourselves and our surroundings. Instead, we expand our perception, learn to understand ourselves and others better and deal with situations more openly.
Pay attention to that, what is happening to us in the present moment and meditation play a key role. We learn, to open ourselves with gentleness to our experience and that, what we are right now, to accept without reservation: Maitri, unconditional friendliness, arises within us, when we learn, to relax into the play of our energies and experience every situation as a challenge.
Maitri space awareness was co-developed by Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche and Shunryu Suzuki Roshi. It is offered as advanced training in contemplative psychotherapy and art as well as an in-depth meditation practice and is suitable for beginners and advanced learners.
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