The Day of Practice is now structured around a specific theme as an opportunity to explore a particular aspect of meditation. Please note that there will be teachings, guided meditation, and group discussion rather than a day of silent sitting.
October 18 – The Heart of Emptiness
A day of practice on how experience is built, and what frees the mind and heart
Put a chair on a fire. It blackens, the legs give way, the frame falls in, and after a while there is a heap of ash. At what point did it stop being a chair? Now something with more at stake: a situation that took you over once, a conflict with someone, something at work. Look back at it now and most likely it has shrunk — you can barely reconstruct the weight it had. Which was real, the one you lived then or the one you see now?
The mind is in everything we experience, fabricating it and making it appear to stand solidly on its own. Emptiness is the seeing that nothing holds any essence of its own, that things hang together only in dependence on what they are not. The mind builds all of it, and the mind is no more findable than what it builds. This can be felt as well as understood, and that is what we will practise: ways of looking that let us watch experience being built, and the move of unhooking from what seems most solid. This is what the Buddha woke up to — first emptiness, then nibbāna — and it is the heart of the teaching rather than an ornament on the edge of it.
Emptiness practice also takes time and a willingness to keep questioning beliefs we hold but never examine. We will open the territory, put some ways of looking in your hands, and get the wheels turning. What the wisdom teachings offer, for those willing to explore, is profound relief, beauty, love, and wonder.
The teaching draws on Rob Burbea’s work on emptiness. We begin with steadying and then work with practices of not-self and dependent arising. This is more theoretical than the other days of practice, and looking closely at the ground can be destabilising as well as freeing. Please come with some experience of meditation behind you, and consider your own situation in terms of feeling grounded and stable.
The Day of Practice is a joint event between Kynan Tan and the Buddhist Library. It is an opportunity to take a pause from the busyness and complexities of daily life to focus on meditation, awareness, and contemplation. We will put our phones on aeroplane mode and step back from our usual concerns, creating a container that allows us to deepen our meditation and awareness in ways that may not always be possible during daily life. By consciously and intentionally dedicating a period of time to the practice of meditation, keeping precepts, and studying the dharma with others, the practice is developed and strengthened.
Arrive from 8:45am. Please come on time as we will close the doors before beginning the first session. All attendees are expected to stay for the whole day.
There are plenty of chairs, zafus, cushions, and benches. There is a dedicated lunch break with time to get food from a local establishment. There are many cafes and restaurants in the area, including Newtown which is a 10-minute walk.
If you have any questions, please contact Kynan on hello@kynanmeditation.net
Details
Dates: Sunday, once every two months – see dates below
Time: 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM Sydney Time
Where: In person at The Buddhist Library
Cost: Attendance is by dana (generosity). After the event you will be invited to make a donation to support the teacher, the Buddhist Library, and the Association of Engaged Buddhists.
Register on the Buddhist Library Website.
Upcoming Dates for 2026
- Sunday 18 October 2026 at 147 St Johns Road, Glebe (the new Buddhist Library space).
Registration is required. Please sign up on the Buddhist Library Website.
Testimonials
Some notes from previous participants:
“I attended the one day with Kynan. It was great for inspiring me to meditate more consistently and refreshed my thinking around the Buddhist texts. Kynan is a thoughtful and very grounded teacher. I trust him and would recommend him to anyone thinking of attending one of his meditation days, whatever level you’re at.”
“I was getting too reliant on guided meditations and this really helped me to realise how wonderful meditation can be without a voice to guide. Kynan provides a perfect container that felt warm, friendly and safe.”
“Good mix of practice methods and dharma teaching. Very enthusiastic and friendly teacher.”
If you have any questions, please email hello@kynanmeditation.net