Igor Berkhin – Workshop – Presence and awareness – 30 November 2024

We are pleased to announce that the Centre Culturel Tibétain will be hosting Igor Berkhin, a long-term meditation practitioner, Buddhist translator and teacher authorized by the prominent Dzogchen master Chögyal Namkhai Norbu, for a workshop on Saturday 30 November (not online).

Workshop

Presence and awareness
What are presence and awareness we are going to explore? As a first approximation, presence is a capacity of not being distracted by various factors such as thoughts, emotions, and sensory perceptions, while awareness can be explained as a capacity to know the state of one’s own mind, particularly, being able to notice when it falls into the two extremes of dullness and agitation. Presence and awareness are extremely important not only for any contemplative practice, but also are very useful for everyday life allowing us to more fully use our potential in work, study, or enjoyment as well as to avoid various troubles related to mental unclarity and distraction. In this workshop, we are going to learn some very natural yet highly effective methods for recognizing and balancing the state of one’s mind as well as touch a deeper meaning of presence and awareness such as knowing the nature of mind.
 
Biography:
Igor Berkhin was born in the former Soviet Union and he began his spiritual path in the 1980s, behind the Iron Curtain. He has studied with many masters of various contemplative traditions and has also served as a translator. The most important of them is Chögyal Namkhai Norbu, a well-known master of Dzogchen. He has also translated for teachers such as the brothers Khenchen Palden Sherab and Khenpo Tsewang Dongyal, and the Bonpo master Nyima Dagpa Rinpoche.

Following his meeting with his root master Chögyal Namkhai Norbu in 1996, he was appointed by Him in 2002 as an instructor for the training system He developed, the Santi Maha Sangha (SMS). The Santi Maha Sangha, which means “Dzogchen Community”, offers systematic learning and development opportunities in the fields of Sutra, Tantra and Dzogchen, both theoretically and practically. Since 2008, he is one of the three instructors with the highest level of authorisation in the field of SMS. The two other instructors are Jim Valby and the late Elio Guarisco.

Besides teaching in a spiritual context, Igor is one of the pioneers of secular mindfulness meditation in Russia. He is also a co-founder of the first Russian interdisciplinary conference on mindfulness as well as of the association of Russian-speaking mindfulness teachers.
 
Workshop
Date: Saturday 30 November,  3 pm to 7 pm
Where: Centre Culturel Tibétain, 1 Rue Charlotte Engels, L-1482 Luxembourg  (entrance at the back of the building, through the shared garden)
Price: €40

Registration form: https://tibetculture.lu/v3/igor-berkhin-registration-form/