Rigpa Athlone

Rigpa Athlone, 1 Bastion Street, Athlone, Co Westmeath
Telephone: +353 (0)86 061 7701
Email: athlone@rigpa.ie

Welcome to Rigpa Athlone – The centre was established in 2003. We are situated in the heart of the Left Bank area of Athlone close to the River Shannon and Castle. We run a program of classes on meditation throughout the year that are open to everyone. Classes are informal and relaxed and include a short tea break.

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Meditation & The Four Noble Truths

An introduction to meditation and Buddha’s first teaching

You can join this course at any time.

Regardless of who we are, the main purpose of life, the very heart of being human, is to be happy. All of us have the same wish to be happy and to avoid suffering. In the Buddha’s very first teaching called the Four Noble Truths he outlines a step by step guide to discovering happiness.

Even though we all want happiness, we constantly experience the ups and downs of everyday life. How do we relate to these experiences? This is the subject of Buddha’s very first teaching.

Buddha taught that our actions and the emotions that underlie them are powerful forces in shaping how we experience the world.

At the very heart of Buddha’s teaching is the understanding that we all have the potential for lasting happiness. Central to this is discovering our own enlightened nature. This is something we all have and can realise. The goal of the entire path of practice is creating the circumstances for this to come about.

Along the way we learn to work with all the things we meet by working with our mind and heart. Through the practice of love and compassion we make friends with ourselves and care for others.

Working with our mind

A unique feature of the Buddhist understanding is seeing how our mind is central to all our experience. If our mind and heart are well, then we are well. The opposite is also true. One of our main tools in working with our mind is the practice of meditation.

The first practice of meditation is learning to allow our distracted and busy minds to settle in a state of natural peace. We will explore methods of working with our mind and heart with the goal of establising a daily meditation practice that we can continue at home. Meditation is really the greatest gift we can give ourselves and a direct way to discover our basic goodness and well being.

Throughout the course we will also look at other important topics that directly impact our everyday lives. We will look our habits that shape the perception of ourselves and the world.

Each evening there will be guided instruction, discussion and an opportunity to practice together.

Open to everyone. For more details on how to join contact Anthony on 086 061 7701.