Natural Awareness - meditation as a way of being

​This course will explore the practice of natural awareness, which approaches meditation as a way of being in the world. Natural awareness is meditation integrated into daily life. The course comprises three consecutive Wednesday evenings at Kuan Yin Meditation Centre, Lismore, where the technique of natural awareness will be presented, followed by a full day of practice of Flourish Sanctuary, Nimbin, where participants can explore natural awareness in the beautiful rainforest surrounds of the Compassion Temple. The course is suitable for beginners and while it is preferable for people to sign up to the full course, it is also possible to join only the three evenings or only the day of practice. 

Emma Pittaway has been practicing Buddhist meditation since 1999. Inspired by the Buddha and his followers, who lived and meditated in the forest, she draws on the natural world to support her practice, and teaches an open 'natural awareness' approach based on the teachings of Sayadaw U Tejaniya. She is a regular teacher at the Kuan Yin Meditation Centre in Lismore and leads retreats with Patrick Kearney, her primary teacher and mentor. 
Flourish Sanctuary exists primarily to serve the people of our community. To date, we have proudly not taken any government grants or corporate money and are totally independently funded. Everybody who works on the property is an unpaid volunteer apart from our cleaner, but they do get to live on this sacred land. Black Sheep Farm and Compassion Temple are operated by volunteers of Flourish Sanctuary. Our purpose is people, not profits. If you can make a donation to support our purpose then please click here.
We believe this world is for everyone regardless of spiritual beliefs, gender identity, sexual orientation, ethnicity or species. ​We acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land on which we gather, the Bundjalung people, and pay our respects to their Elders past, present, and emerging. We recognise their continuing connection to land, water, and community, and we support their ongoing efforts towards self-determination and sovereignty.