Tuesday Meditation Group

A Weekly Meditation Group Focused on the Heart Meditations

This ongoing practice group will focus primarily on the heart meditations or Brahmavihārā. It is mainly oriented towards beginners but intermediate practitioners are welcome to join too.

“Equanimity generates a quality of trust in our hearts that we are exactly in the right place at the right time.”

― Stephen Snyder, Buddha’s Heart

Practices will include:

• Heart meditations (Brahmavihārā)
  • Innate Goodness Meditation (Metta)
  • Compassion (Karuna)
  • Sympathetic Joy (Mudita)
  • Equanimity (Upekkha)
• Gratitude practice
• Forgiveness practice

Innate Goodness produces a sense of serenity and well-being and combats negative self-talk. Karuna Meditation helps us deal with the suffering of life. Mudita let’s us feel joy at another’s success. Upekkha, or accepting the truth of this moment, leads to a feeling of perfect balance.

Practices can be found in Buddha’s Heart: Meditation Practice for Developing Well-Being, Love, and Empathy.  It is not necessary to purchase the book but you may find it a helpful companion.

“INNATE GOODNESS IS an important meditation. It counteracts any beliefs we hold that we are not good enough or not lovable. By steeping in your innate goodness, you will feel better about yourself, feel more at ease, and meet your resistances with more tenderness. It is a meditation I practice regularly and suggest my senior students do, too. It infuses your consciousness with your goodness. This meditation results in feeling more present and more grounded in your life. It develops greater resiliency to be with your tender places.”

― Stephen Snyder, Buddha’s Heart

Todd Mushin Lisonbee has been a student of Stephen Mugen Snyder’s since 2022 when he joined the first Demystifying Awakening Mentoring Program. Since then he’s participated in 10+ mentoring programs and 24+ weeks of retreat. He’s been doing formal Koan study since 2022. His career background is in software engineering. In 2023, he started volunteering for Awakening Dharma including creating self-paced courses and managing Stephen’s YouTube channel. In May 2025, he became part of the Awakening Dharma Staff, supporting the website and online programs.

He completed a two-year Buddha’s Heart Teacher Training program and you’ll find him at most Awakening Dharma events.  He co-leads the Tuesday Meditation Group.  He also serves as an assistant teacher for Awakening Dharma on residential retreats.  He lives in Portland, Oregon with his wife Kristen Dedeaux, another Awakening Dharma student.

Carol Rinsho Lopacinski started working with Stephen Mugen Snyder, Roshi in 2023 after a spiritual journey traveled primarily through books and reading.  She immediately started participating in the Demystifying Awakening mentorship program and has added several others since then.  In 2024 she started formal Koan study.  Annually she attends two to three meditation retreats and numerous day-long online retreats.  Currently she is completing the two-year Buddha’s Heart Teacher Training and is co-teaching the Tuesday Meditation Group.

Carol Rinsho is retired after a career in finance and accounting.  She lives in Roseburg, Oregon with her husband, Don, and a senior Chihuahua named Shrimp.

Experience Prerequisites

No meditation experience is needed. This group is oriented towards beginners but intermediate meditators are welcome to join too.

Investment

Dāna based event. All donations go towards the Awakening Dharma Retreat Center fundraiser.