Public talk & Weekend Teachings with Venerable Thupten Lekshe – 3rd to 5th July

CAIRNS 2026 Public talk
Establishing Mindfulness–an Introduction to Satipatthnana practice
Friday July 3rd 6pm-8:30pm

Bikkhu Analayo has developed a mode of Satipatthnana that is easily applicable to contemporary life. Classic Buddhist practices are presented sequentially to build on and complement each other. The sequence becomes a simple mode of contemplation for daily life. Thupten Lekshe will give an introduction to Bhikkhu Analayo’s unique approach to a core Buddhist teaching and practice.

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Saturday 9am-5pm
Satipatthnana practice day

“Monks, this is the direct path for the purification of being, for the surmounting of sorrow and lamentation, for the disappearance of dukkha and discontent, for the acquiring the true method, for the realization of Nibbhana, namely the four Satipatthnanas.“ Shakyamuni Buddha, 546 BCE

Satipatthnana practice is said to have been the form of meditation used to bring the Buddha to full awakening. Over this day we will explore insight practice from the classic teaching, “The Four Close Applications of Mindfulness”. Firstly, we will establish attentional stability using shamatha on the breath to settle and guide our attention. From there we follow the four-fold Satipatthnana structure to deepen our personal practice of mindfulness as a basis for gaining insight.

Sunday 9am-5pm Anapanasati practice—mindfulness of breath in 16 phases

In this practice sequence taught extensively by the Buddha, firstly we train in settled attention. With our attention steadied we open, day by day, moment by moment, to an inexhaustible and refined quality of being. We discover and cultivate a style of attending that is not blocking, not bearing down, but gently immersive, like that of a skilled potter. Slowly we come to know the breath more and more intimately. We know what is long, what is short; we know shallow, we know deep. Whether restrained or extended, we know it. We follow the breath with unwavering attention, flexible, balanced, engaged. Through a gradual process of familiarity, insight arises more and more that we are not a “self”, but an ever-changing process of breathing. This becomes a foundation for insight—the “seeing that frees”.

Venerable Thupten Lekshe is a fully ordained monk who was ordained by the late His Eminence Chogye Trichen Rinpoche in 2000 in Nepal.  He has a background as a clinical psychologist and extensive experience with mindfulness practices, he facilitates a small dedicated group of practitioners in Melbourne and brings a modern touch to these ancient teachings.

Cost for the weekend including lunch and the public talk is:

$100 for members/concession and $120 non members.

For those who would like to attend the public talk only, it will be by donation on the night. 

Bookings by 1 July on Trybooking link: https://www.trybooking.com/DJMIL