Meditation for Beginners Course

Meditation for Beginners Course
Instructors: Sister Sophia, Jimmy Yi Hsien Liao, Tina Ng and other guest teachers
Monday 8 April | 6.30-8.00pm
Location: Hybrid - WSU Bankstown City Campus, Room 1.4.34, level 4 or Online via Zoom (link below)
Cost: Free

Learn to meditate with this beginners course, covering the basics of meditation. Attendees will learn different types of meditation through guided meditations, talks, and personal guidance. Find out how meditation helps reduce stress, develop focus and tranquillity in the mind, deal with difficult emotions and negative thinking, and bring greater clarity and joy to your life.

Learn: Every week we’re joined by leading Buddhist practitioners from various Buddhist traditions, ready to share insights and answer questions about meditation. From mindfulness and compassion to delving into cultural insights, each week you’ll cultivate deeper understanding to strengthen your practice..

Guided Meditation Sessions: Experience rejuvenating guided meditation sessions, offering stillness and relief from the hustle and bustle of modern life. Discover for yourself, the power of mindfulness and inner peace.

Community bonding: Forge connections with fellow yogis and peers from diverse backgrounds and life paths. Together, we explore how ancient wisdom and modern perspectives can harmonise, cultivating personal growth and shared understanding.

No prior experience needed! Our Meditation for Beginners Course is open to everyone, regardless of your prior experience or spiritual background. You are warmly invited to join our inclusive and welcoming community.

About the Presenters:
Ven. Miao Hui (Sister Sophia) is a Buddhist nun, having ordained in 2003. She resides at the Chan Miao Zen Centre in Penrose. She is widely travelled, and has practiced in all the three major Buddhist traditions: Theravada, Mahayana and Vajrayana. She has practiced in Taiwan, China, India, Myanmar, India, and Sri Lanka. She met her teacher Ven. Jian Meng, from the Mahayana Zen tradition when she was recovering from poor health. He showed her a way to recover from her poor health in both the mind and body. She has spent years deepening her mediation practice and despite all the different lineages of Buddhist traditions, she has found they are all common in their ability to deeply transform our lives and liberate us from the illusions of the mind that binds us to suffering.
Jimmy Yi Hsien Liao's journey is one of an exciting transformation. With an academic background in engineering, his life's direction shifted during an enlightening trip to Tibet. There, he encountered the profound depths of Tibetan Buddhism, prompting him to pursue monastic studies and deepen his understanding in India and Myanmar, learning from venerable teachers such as Sayalaw U Kundala and Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche. With over twenty years immersed in various Buddhist traditions, Jimmy now shares his meditative knowledge as a lay teacher. His approach is grounded in the wisdom garnered from a life of spiritual pursuit, aiming to impart the art of navigating one’s mind with simplicity and wonder akin to a child's first bicycle ride. Each meditation session is a stride closer to enlightenment.
Tina Ng is the Founder and President of the Metta Centre, and also the Principal Solicitor of Metta Legal, a law firm that deals with cases relating to family law, child protection, property, civil litigation and guardianship matters. She is an accredited mediator at Metta Resolution, which provides mediation, training and coaching to resolve conflict in the community and within families. Tina is a Buddhist Chaplain at the Western Sydney University. Tina has a keen interest in supporting the youth, and has run various mentoring programs through her business and social projects. She has organised various events, has played the role of coordinator, emcee, and auctioneer at charity functions. She has shared the Buddha’s teachings in conferences, talks, workshops, and in her writings.

About us: Metta Centre is an inclusive, socially-engaged, and non-sectarian Buddhist non-profit organisation. We host events, retreats, and programs that advance social welfare and peace within individuals, the community, families, and in the world. We strive to bring Buddhism to the community in ways that are interesting, relevant and accessible. We are guided by the principles of Buddhism to do what is good, to avoid what is evil and to purify the mind. We are interested in holistic change for a better inner and outer world. We welcome you to be a part of this change.

Hybrid event: Attendees will have the opportunity to participate in an interactive session in person or online by clicking on this link to access the session: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83506489824?pwd=cmpNQ1ljSmFVYURLWVN1dWllYUN1dz09 Alternatively, you can dial in from your telephone (call charges apply): +61 2 8015 6011 | Meeting ID: 835 0648 9824| Passcode: 718905