Discover the Wisdom Within the Space of Your Mind
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Who is this for?
Meditation can be helpful in different ways according to each practitioner’s needs and background. This is especially true when a meditation path is taught in a non-dogmatic way, as is done here. For example, meditation can be helpful for:
cultivating wisdom, compassion, and profound peace
spiritual and/or existential insight
experiencing connection and community
Contraindications for Meditation
Meditation is not for everyone and carries potential risks. Please click here to review the list of contraindications for meditation before attending your first meditation class.
Meet the meditation instructor, Sean McNamara
Sean is a seasoned meditation instructor having led retreats as well as one-day and shorter classes, and giving one-on-one instruction over the years.
His background is in Tibetan Buddhism, however today he does not identify as belonging to any religion. Because he has had to leave high-demand groups and abusive spiritual teachers, he understands the limitations and risks of joining certain types of groups, and following certain types of teachers.
People of all religions are welcome here, as are people without a religion. May the insight and realization gained from your meditation practice support your unique path and point of view. Although Sean is non-religious, he still values and respects fundamental Buddhist principals. But you do not need to be Buddhist or have any interest in Buddhism to participate and learn these techniques.
Sean’s priority is to teach meditation in a way that promotes self-empowerment and avoids creating dependency in the students. He is not dogmatic. He encourages participants to use their meditation experiences to answer their own questions, and to question everything. He has no interest in “collecting students,” proselytizing, converting, or organizational expansion for extreme profit or fame.
He works as a clinical mental health counselor and as a hypnotherapist for clients in Colorado, so he brings a wealth of knowledge regarding various mental, behavioral, and spiritual challenges. However, when teaching meditation at Wisdom Within events, he does not assume the role of therapist. Meditation instruction should not be confused with personalized therapy.
Many people know Sean from his work in psychic development via Mind Possible. That work is separate from his role as meditation teacher. His personal view is that psychic development can be a useful part of a person’s spiritual growth and a way to explore aspects of consciousness and reality, but it does have a significant limitation in that it does not ultimately lead to profound peace and release from suffering.
Using Buddhist terminology, psychic development is still within the realm of samsara and does not offer reprieve. Therefore people should not attend Sean’s meditation classes with the specific aim of developing psychic abilities, although spontaneous psychic phenomena have occurred for some participants.
What to Expect and Safe Conduct
For now, Sean avoids traditional forms that have a tendency to disempower people when not properly understood. For example, there is no bowing, no shrine, no chanting, no special clothing or labels.
Sean is a regular person with no claims of spiritual superiority or authority. His skill is in guiding people in meditation, and at sharing whatever experience he’s gained on his own path with others.
When the (in-person) group is small enough, we all sit in a circle to emphasize equality. Only when there are space limitations do we sit in rows with the instructor at the front. And only for visibility restrictions does he ever sit on a raised platform or stage.
Our events are places to practice meditation as well as to connect with fellow meditators in a way that is wholesome and supportive. It is expected that everyone behave in a respectful way toward each other. Aggressive behavior, arguing, injecting off-topic comments (politics, conspiracy theories, fear-based “warnings”, etc.) is not welcome. Neither is flirting or making unwanted advances.
Please do not wear perfume/cologne or have the smell of tobacco or cannabis smoke on your clothing, as strong odors can distract the group during meditation. Please dress with modesty in mind.
Do not attend events either in person over Zoom while you are under the influence of substances such as alcohol or drugs.
For some, there is a place and time for the inclusion of substances such as psychedelics on one’s path as discussed in Sean’s book Path of the Golden Teacher, but not at public Wisdom Within Space events and classes.
If you would like to get a sense of Sean’s style of leading meditation, see his FREE online meditation courses.
Beyond that, the best way to see if this group is for you is to attend a class either in person or over Zoom. See the Upcoming Events page for more.