Common Ground – Meditation In Australia

An important online forum exploring the unique nature of meditation in Australia.

This event will gather First Nations Australian practitioners, thinkers and academics to explain and teach ancient Indigenous practices and stories representing the interconnected traditions of meditation, systems thinking and caring for Country deeply embedded in the original spirituality of Australia.

The program will also explore some of the more prominent cross-cultural meditation practices prevalent in this country since the 1960s, emerging from teachers in Indian and South East Asian traditions through to more recent psychologically-attuned approaches.

Saturday 29th May: All day forum, 10am – 6pm

Sunday 30th May: The Hangout, 11am – 12.30pm

Saturday forum featuring:

• Our honoured first speaker and Senior Australian of the Year, Miriam Rose Ungunmerr Baumann, will talk to us about, and offer us an experience of, dadirri – inner, deep listening and quiet, still awareness – which she says is “perhaps the greatest gift we can give to our fellow Australians”.

• An interview with, and guided meditation by, Tyson Yunkaporta, Senior Research Fellow at Deakin University, and author of the much-acclaimed book Sand Talk, an exploration of global systems from an Indigenous perspective.

• In her talk, Teaching meditation from Bodhgaya to Daylesford, Professor Zane Diamond from the Faculty of Education at Monash University will explore how Buddha Dhamma teachings have spread from India over the last 2500 years via the major traditions of Theravada, Mahayana and Vajrayana, first to near neighbours of the region, and more recently to the world.

• An explanation and guided practice of Wayapa Wuurk by co-founder Jamie Marloo Thomas. This Earth Mind Body Spirit modality is a combination of Earth mindfulness, narrative meditation, physical movements and actions to look after the planet.

• An interview with Zen roshi and Insight Meditation teacher Subhana Barzaghi, as she reflects on her 45 years of engagement with these two important meditation traditions in Australia.

• A talk from leading MBSR teacher, Director of Openground and Director of Training with the Mindfulness Training Institute-ANZ, Timothea Goddard, about the possibilities and pitfalls for the mindfulness movement.

• Eminent author and journalist Martin Flanagan in interview with leading Australian sportspeople and sports psychologists to explore Meditation, Mindset and Mental Health in Sport

Sunday – The Hangout

An online moderated salon for you to discuss and explore your responses and experiences of Saturday’s program, and engage with some of the presenters.
(And maybe network a little!)

Can’t watch all day? Don’t worry – after the event you will receive a viewing link to catch up on what you missed or rewatch your favourites.

This is an online event – you will receive an email from Eventbrite after purchasing your ticket containing your event links:

Saturday Forum

Sunday Hangout