Looking Deeply

Looking Deeply is a 6-week follow on course from The Art of Zen (formerly called Be Calm Be Happy) in which we build on the learning from this foundation, refreshing and extending our own practice in the Plum Village tradition.

There will be a two-hour session at the same time each week. Please choose your start date below.

Course overview

The benefits of Looking Deeply are to ground ourselves more fully in Thay’s teachings, giving deep, strong roots to our peace and contentment. We can do this most beneficially as a Sangha, a group of people coming together to practise and support one another on the journey.

Looking Deeply develops the themes and learnings from The Art of Zen and takes us deeper into Thay’s teachings, exploring topics of helping us to become more aware of our ’territory’, which is – body, feelings, mind, and consciousness. Together we will discover how to develop our mindfulness further into our experiences and life.

In each session we will:

  • Meditate together
  • Consider a topic relating to the weekly theme
  • Undertake a short reflection exercise to help us look at how this is relevant to our lives
  • Have time for feedback and discussion. 

We will recommend meditations from the Plum Village App for you to use during the week.

Course Themes

  • Arriving Home
  • Mindfulness of the Body
  • Mindfulness of Feelings
  • Mindfulness of the Mind
  • Impermanence
  • Connectedness

Who can attend?

Our expectation for this course is either that you have already attended an Art of Zen course or that you have considerable experience of practising in the Plum Village tradition with a Sangha, and have participated in other Plum Village UK retreats, courses, or events. It is suitable for those of all faiths and none. Our course participants come from a wide range of backgrounds.

Please note, this course is not suitable for beginners, and we recommend The Art of Zen if you are looking for an introduction to the Plum Village practises, or a means of re-establishing a regular practice.

Course Leaders

Our course leaders are first and foremost practitioners committed to the Plum Village tradition. Having a deep understanding through their own personal practice of the benefits of these teachings, the course leaders have trained to deliver the course through in-house training and practice.

Please see our course leaders webpage for an overview of the current course leaders.

Upcoming courses

Wed 8 Jan 2025
7:00 – 9:00 PM, led by Lauri Bower and Clare Carlile

Mon 3 Mar 2025
7:00 – 9:00 PM, led by Vari McLuskie and Ian Sneath

Cost

Prices range from £30 – £200. Please pay what you can afford, to help support these courses into the future. We aim to make this available all.