Why Is It So Hard to Keep an Open Mind?
When we encounter something new and different there can be challenges in opening to new possibilities. Deeply conditioned patterns resistant to change have significant psychological underpinnings contributing to our difficulties.
In this talk we will look through the lens of Buddhist psychology to understand why it can be so hard to keep an open mind. This challenge is not restricted to us individually but is operating at the collective level as well, both combining to distort views and perpetuate the problems we seek to overcome. We will examine how Buddhist meditation can be transformative and explore the path of practice necessary to move us toward liberation.
Ron Vereen is a psychiatrist and psychotherapist, and has been practicing mindfulness meditation since 1992. As an instructor in the Duke Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Program, he has been teaching mindfulness to others since 1999. He is a graduate of the Community Dharma Leader Program at Spirit Rock, and has completed the Integrated Study and Practice Program of the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies. His principal teacher is Rodney Smith. He has also studied extensively with Shinzen Young, and more recently, Leigh Brasington, Taraniya Ambrosia, Andrew Olendzki, and Narayan Helen Liebenson. His interests include exploring the interface between Western and Buddhist psychology.