About the Workshop
Join Acharya Premadas (Michael Humphrey) as we practice the principles of breaking through all barriers to our direct experience of deep, sustained joy. End the cycle of suffering. Come home to that which you’ve always dreamed of and somehow knew was possible. For four evenings, we’ll dive into the Buddha’s teachings and access joy.

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Each Workshop Includes:

  • opening silent meditation

  • exploration of the Buddha’s teachings

  • spiritual discussion

  • guided meditation

  • daily practices

Introduction to THE FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS
These ancient teachings and meditation practices offer us ways to address and heal the root causes of our personal and collective challenges in the 21st century. Each week we will begin with a silent meditation, followed by a brief talk on the night’s topic, an opportunity to share or ask questions, and we will conclude with a meditation designed to support us in our journey until our next gathering. We encourage participants to attend all four workshops to receive the maximum benefit. Each workshop builds upon the next but even showing up once (or two or three times!) can have a profound effect.

Location, Dates, and Topics for Each Week
Ruscombe Mansion, Community Hall, 4803 Yellowwood Ave., Baltimore, MD 21209. Our gathering space is on the lower level facing the parking lot.

Each class is on a Friday evening from 7:30 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. 

11/1/19 Week 1: SUFFERING Fear, anxiety, loneliness, stress, worry, doubt, alienation, and judgmentalism are just a few of the contemporary ways in which we suffer. We will touch on ways in which we suffer personally and explore how the Buddha’s insights into the nature of suffering help us to step onto a path of healing, peace, and joy.  

11/8/19 Week 2: THE CAUSE OF SUFFERING We will explore what the Buddha points to as the root causes of our suffering, the ways in which they have impacted us personally, and how an understanding of the causes of suffering help us to untie the knots of stuckness and empower us to step off the cycle of endlessly repeating thoughts and behaviors that bring us so much pain.

11/15/19 Week 3: THE CESSATION OF SUFFERING We will explore what the end of suffering means and how that relates to our own experience of suffering. We will open a doorway and step through to an understanding that will transform our relationship to and experience of suffering forever.

11/22/19 Week 4: THE EIGHTFOLD PATH LEADING TO THE CESSATION OF SUFFERING We will briefly survey the eight elements of the Buddha’s path to an ever expanded sense of liberation and fulfillment of our heart’s desire. We will spend some time reviewing our relationship with and experience of the personal aspects of suffering considered in Week 1. We will conclude with a meditation designed to send us forth with a sense of joy and peace and infinite possibility.

About the Workshop Leader
Acharya Premadas (Michael Humphrey) has a degree in Asian religion and has been a student of Buddhism, Yoga, Tantra, and Meditation since 1973. He studied in Sri Lanka, India, and Nepal and has been a member of the Awake Yoga Meditation community since 2006.

The spiritual name Premadas, which means servant of supreme love, was given by Swami Shankarananda, the founder of our meditation community. The title, Acharya, was conferred on Michael Humphrey by Swami Shankarananda in 2014. The title is found across traditions (Vedanta, Buddhism, Hinduism) and means teacher.

Suggested Donation for Each Class Is $15
If you plan to attend, please fill out the below contact form and let us know the dates you'll be able to join us. You are welcome to share your donation at the door. If you'd like to donate via credit card, debit card, or PayPal, please click on the donate button below. You'll be instructed to select the date you'll be attending from the drop down menu. A separate PayPal transaction is required to donate for each additional week.

Please contact us below with any questions.