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The
Anam Cara Foundation
Anam
Cara, Inc. is
a 501 (C) 3 non-profit organization dedicated
to teaching meditative practices from a variety
of traditions and disciplines. The name Anam
Cara means “friend of the
soul” in an ancient Celtic language. The
meaning reflects the intention of the organization
to provide a deep level of support to those who
are interested in learning and practicing meditation,
and for those engaged in the various levels of
change and transformation that occur through meditative
disciplines.
Our
Mission
Anam
Cara's
mission
is to teach meditation to anyone interested in
it for any reason that will help to bring about
the development of greater clarity of awareness
and attention and the relief of suffering.
People
seek meditation instruction for stress reduction,
pain management, peak performance training, improving
health, decreasing depression, losing weight,
learning to control the mind, reducing anxiety,
improving relationships, facing death, recovering
from addiction, developing one's spirituality,
the pursuit of higher states of consciousness,
samadhi and nirvana. And those are just some of
the reasons students have shared for beginning
to learn meditation! Regardless of why a person
chooses to meditate there are invaluable benefits
that they will gain over time. All these goals
and more can be realized through the committed
practice of meditation.
Anam
Cara is also dedicated to the view that
there are many effective ways of learning meditation.
There are many great spiritual traditions that
offer insight, wisdom, and practices for entering
meditative states and skills for living in ways
that are congruent with the pursuit of meditation.
These lead to the reduction of suffering for oneself
and for all beings.
Meditation,
which is unexplored for most people, is actually
a unique state of consciousness which is just
as natural to us as the waking, dream and deep
sleep states of consciousness with which we are
all familiar. There is no Buddhist dream state,
or Hindu deep sleep state, or Christian waking
state, and there is no religion or tradition that
can claim the state of meditation as their own.
Thus everyone, regardless of religious affiliations,
can practice and benefit from meditation and view
the spiritual dimensions of this state from their
own preferred tradition.
The
phrase "friend of the soul" speaks to
Anam Cara's non-authoritarian perspective
on teaching meditation. Though we recognize and
respect the mastery and skill that accomplished
meditation teachers from many traditions possess,
we seek to promote a learning environment based
on profound mutual respect for the indwelling
source of wisdom, compassion and love present
in every being – whether one refers to that
as one's Buddha nature, Christ nature, God, Goddess,
Source or Consciousness, the Divine Presence is
within every one. A teacher may be a master of
a discipline or a practice or a lineage, however
that doesn't give one a license to be tyrannical
or abusive. Integrated practices and models of
integrated spirituality are what Anam
Cara seeks to support and call attention
to.
Anam
Cara
began as a weekly meditation group run by Dr.
Lawrence Edwards in the fall of 2001, in nearby
Katonah, NY. This was just weeks after the tragedy
of the 9/11 terrorist attacks rocked these suburbs
of New York City as well as the entire world.
Everyone's peace was shattered that morning and
many still struggle to find respite from the profound
losses they sustained. Meditative practices offer
effective ways of healing our wounds. Meditation
in general offers the means for reducing the pains
and difficulties of life. If pursued with enthusiasm
and dedication to their ultimate goal, meditative
practices can heal all wounds and establish a
person in a state of being that is both deeply
connected to life and at the same time beyond
the reach of suffering.
In
the beginning our meditation group met at local
churches or yoga centers.
Anam Cara was
incorporated in 2002 and later gained tax exempt
status as a 501 (C) 3 educational organization,
allowing it to receive tax deductible donations.
Donations and registration fees for the programs
it offers are its main source of funding. Soon
a small on-line store
will be added to make available supports for people's
meditation practices. All proceeds will go to
supporting and expanding Anam
Cara's educational
programs for meditative practices.
Anam
Cara's board
of Directors is headed by Lawrence
Edwards, Ph.D., Founder and Executive Director.
Dr. Edwards is also the past President of the
Northeast
Regional Biofeedback Society, President of
the international Kundalini
Research Network and an adjunct faculty member
of New York Medical College. He maintains a private
practice in Cincinnati, OH and was the Integrative
Care Clinical Program Manager at Cincinnati Children's
Hospital.
Lawrence
Edwards, Ph.D.
Anam
Cara
has sponsored programs given by the Tibetan
Buddhist master of the ancient Nyingma tradition,
Tsewang
Seetar Rinpoche who heads the 600 year old
Sangye Teng monastery in Bhutan; bhakti yogini
Swami
Chetan Jyoti Ma from Rishikesh, India and
Lawrence
Edwards, Ph.D. It has offered free meditation
seminars at local hospitals, libraries, churches
and universities. Anam
Cara
also distributes a free e-newsletter in support
of people's ongoing meditation practices. Future
projects will include offering meditation programs
in prisons, to teens, and to underserved groups.
The
Anam Cara weekly
meditation group celebrated its ninth anniversary
in October 2010. People from all over the United
States, as well as Canada Europe have attended
Anam Cara
programs.
We look forward to continued expansion and many
more teachers coming to offer their wisdom and
experience to people attending our programs. For
2010 we are working to have Tsewang Seetar Rinpoche
and his brother, Lama
Pema Tenzin, return to offer Dharma teachings
and empowerments. Lee
Lyon formerly known as Swami Nikhilananda,
who is the founder and director of the Foundation
for Integrative Meditation, will be offering programs
sponsored by The
Anam Cara Foundation. We
hope you will take advantage of the opportunity
to learn from our honored guests.
Dr.
Edwards has been invited to teach meditation and
deep relaxtion at hosptals, universities, hospice
groups, businesses, professional groups, biofeedback
association meetings, yoga centers, ashrams, and
many more settings. If your group would like to
arrange for Anam
Cara to offer a program tailored to
your group's needs, please contact us at 513-439-4965.
If
you would like to support Anam
Cara
through
a tax deductible donation you can mail a check
made out to The Anam Cara Foundation, P.O. Box
541166, Cincinnati, OH 45254 or click on this
button:
If
you would like to offer volunteer services in
support of Anam
Cara, please
contact Lawrence Edwards, Ph.D. at le@anamcara-ny.org
.
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