“Just as all the oceans have but one taste,
the taste of salt, so the Dharma
has but one taste, the taste of Freedom.”
Buddha
What is the Living Freedom Dharma Center?
Living Freedom Dharma Center is a place devoted to the awakening and blossoming of the human potential. It is a simple center with an open meditation hall, a beautiful space for individual and couple’s sessions with Tobin, and sacred grounds surrounded by nature, perfect for more intensive periods of practice such as daylong workshops and longer retreats.
Under the umbrella of Living Freedom, Tobin offers meditations, workshops, retreats, evening events and Sangha gatherings all geared toward providing support and community to help people in the often tricky and challenging journey of personal awakening in the midst of everyday life.
Why is it called ‘Living Freedom’ Dharma Center?
Once someone has done enough work to free themselves from the limiting conditioning of their past ~ the confining structures of their personal history ~ they will begin to live in a very free and open way. In this way of living, there is a particular kind of Freedom and Liberation that is beyond any tradition, outside of any box, and is very personal to each individual.
The phrase ‘Living Freedom’ is an attempt to succinctly express this way of being and living ~ where a person’s Journey becomes completely unblocked, utterly outside of any pre-determined ideas or ideals, and yet remains deeply grounded in the Truth of reality.
Living Freedom Dharma Center is all about supporting this particular kind of expression ~ the unique gift, the creative flow, the miraculous dance that comes when we engage with our life in a conscious way, dedicated to the Truth of our Being.
“The slowest way to Truth is to always be doing what you think you should be doing to get there. To be totally honest with what’s arising in you ~ that’s the quickest.”
-Adyashanti
I noticed you’re referring to it as a “Dharma” Center. Is this a Buddhist Center?
No, this is not a Buddhist center. To me, the word Dharma refers to something MUCH bigger than Buddhism or the Buddha’s teachings.
“Dharma” means “the Living Truth…” and it refers to the deepest and most sublime Truth in ALL of existence, in all times and in all parts of the Universe… which is way beyond any one lineage or tradition! This center is committed to supporting people in their path of embodying the Living Truth in any way that is genuine, authentic, real… in any way that actually brings about true freedom, embodied love, and the unfolding of one’s biggest gifts in this life.
“The Desire for Freedom, liberation, enlightenment, self-realization, inner development, or whatever it is called is not a response to a call from outside you. It is not embarking on the journey because others, people you know, are on it. It is not a fad.
If you want to be enlightened or realized like somebody else, who you heard was able to attain, then the search is not yours yet. It is somebody else’s, Buddha’s or Mohammed’s.
The stirring must come from you, from your depths. The questioning must be of your situation, your mind, not of some system that somebody else has set up. You can use that system to help you, but ultimately it is your life, your mind, your quest…
The liberation must be of you, you personally. The path is you, your mind and your heart. The call is your call, relevant to your life, and it speaks intimately to you.”
A.H. Almaas
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