Forum 5 Members
Forum 5 is an advisory board of guiding senior teachers who facilitate/monitor the five discussion forums of our school, curate the meditation libraries, and develop the meditation practice curriculum for the classrooms.
These are the folks who collaborate to set the stage for Mindful Boston’s community studio, professional education and the network for mindfulness professionals.
You can apply for coaching sessions with these teachers.
Gena Bean [Bio]
Director of Mindful Boston
35+ years of meditation and yoga study (Primary lineage: Kripalu, Hinduism).
Teaches online and at Boston and Cambridge locations. Partnership with the Mel King Institute.
Marco DiScipio [Bio]
Grandmaster of the American Tang Soo Do Association
40+ years of meditation and martial arts training (Korean Tang Soo Do).
Teaches online and at his Medford studio.
Sunada Takagi [Bio]
Director of Mindful Purpose
26+ years of meditation and Buddhist study (Ordained in the Triratna Buddhist Order).
Teaches MBSR in Arlington and Cambridge.
To see action shots of our larger community, go to our Photo Album
List of Forums
As mentioned above, Forum 5 is a committee of senior guiding teachers. The board of directors is Forum 6.
Forum 4 is a training program for aspiring meditation teachers. Apprenticing with the senior teachers is one of the benefits of joining Level 4.
Forum 3 is a membership that supports daily meditation. 365(ish) days per year.
Forum 2 is a Fan Club subscription for folks who are meditating about once or twice per week. Or… even if Fan Club subscribers don’t meditate, they are fans of the work we do at the Mindful Boston studio.
Forum 1 is a free offering for folks who would like to meditate once a month or so. You get access to short recorded meditations. Stay in touch via the comments section.
Inquiry Points About Our School’s Forum Model
Inquiry points are never finished, they are ever-evolving.
Below are three points that are pretty stable, yet they do continue to be re-edited as Forum 5 learns more about facilitating the other forums.
These topics evolved from within the context of a conversation on counteracting McMindfulness.
Many lineages meet
Our senior guiding teachers come from different spiritual backgrounds, training, and lineages of practice. Our meditation formats are intended to meet you where you are, and to respect where you come from.
Each human is born with the capacities for mindfulness and compassion. They are inside of you, they cannot be imposed from the outside, but they can be cultivated. Meditation practices can nurture your inborn capacities and help them to grow.
Since growing one’s mindfulness and compassion is traditionally considered to be a spiritual pursuit, facilities for meditation have historically been (and most times continue to be) religious places. But, secular forms of meditation are now being promoted, and religious facilities are no longer the only settings for learning meditation.
Mindful Boston is a practice studio that teaches a skill set, similar to a dance studio or a martial arts studio… only we are a meditation studio!
Respectful practice
If meditation is part of your religious life, that is great!
If you consider yourself an atheist, humanist, or agnostic, that is great!
Other relationships to spirituality are great!
Our teachers provide a welcoming platform for students to build their own meditation skill sets. The intention behind our curriculum is to cultivate mindfulness and compassion towards growing wisdom. This intention can be aligned with most belief systems.
Forum etiquette
When you join Mindful Boston forums, you are welcome to talk about your own life, and your own beliefs, and how that fits into your own meditations. Be mindful not to step on other people, be aware that others usually don't see through the same lens as you, and their needs are different from your needs.
Please be aware that pop-culture, and cultural conditioning, has a habit of muddying and appropriating traditional forms of meditation. We are all learning and making mistakes. Just do your best to be clear and respectful in the forums.
