The supremely important role of compassion in healing the deep problems of human life is now increasingly widely recognised not only within the Buddhist community but in the wider world, including in the fields of mental health, social policy, and even in business leadership and politics.

Using this combined traditional + contemporary approach, this retreat will introduce a range of guided practices designed to enable us to bring greater compassion to all aspects of our personal and work life. There will also be interactive sessions where, through sharing our experiences and insights, we can support each other to grow into Compassion Warriors!

While as Buddhists we may sincerely wish to extend compassion to all beings, it can be difficult to really put this into practice amid the challenges of work and family life, relationships and all the stresses of modern life. The emergence of secular programmes such as Thupten Jinpa’s Compassion Cultivation Training, combining the core practices of traditional Buddhism with contemporary scientific psychology, has brought new insights and useful techniques that can greatly help with integrating compassion into our life away from the meditation cushion.

Sunday 22nd October

Meditation on Unconditional Compassion

How Compassion Might Change the World

David Midgley studied Western philosophy for 10 years before meeting Tibetan Buddhism in 1980.He received his initiation from Lama Zopa Rinpoche in 1981, began teaching in 1995, and established Jamyang Buddhist Centre Leeds in 1996, successively serving as its Director, Deputy Director, Trustee, Spiritual Programme Coordinator and Eco-Dharma Officer.

Since 2018, compassion has been at the heart of David’s work both in formal Buddhist teaching and in a secular context. He is accredited as a teacher of CCT (Compassion Cultivation Training), directs the annual Kinder Leeds Festival of Kindness, Compassion and Wellbeing, and works with the mental health services and City Council in Leeds to bring mindful compassion practices to those in need.

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