The guided meditation was a freeflowing unplanned affair. After settling into the meditation we practiced Metta, offering love and accpetance to ourselves and others. The walking meditation and silent sitting was accompanied by a rock band playing nearby, great stuff.

The reading was invoking the Bodhisattvas names. The words reminded us of all we are and can be. Stirring stuff. We meet again next week, ready to be fresh, solid and free.

We enjoyed the evening air, sitting and walking in mindfulness. The shared reading was the 5 Mindfulness Trainings. Afterwards we discussed our personal experience of these, focussing on those personal to us.

The Trainings offer a reminder of who we already are. Not to judge ourselves by, but to support us, moment by moment as we navigate through an increasingly complex world. In truth we fail in all the trainings many times a day. If we can experience this with openness and compassion, moment by moment, we can glimpse these experiences as Dharma doors. Equanimity in action, each moment we remember to return to the present moment……..like we ever left it!

A lotus to you.

Due to current commitments there is no meeting for the next two weeks.

We sat out in the courtyard, enjoying the cool breeze and soft grass. The guided meditation was taken from the the Three Refuges. After walking we sat, enjoying the evening air. The shared reading was from Zen Mind, Beginners mind, how the practice of bowing can eliminate dualistic thinking, allowing the experience of Dharma to gently soak us, like walking through a mist. Being no-one, going nowhere.

A startled crow shatters my name, each step brings me home.

John

Next meeting Sunday 27th June.

The guided meditation was from Thays book ‘Blooming of a Lotus’, each verse a reminder to relax and enjoy our bodies in the present moment. After walking and a silent sitting we discussed the upcoming National retreat with Thay, Days of Mindfulness and other retreats on offer.

The Dharma discussion was on Concentration. The reading was from The Heart of the Buddhas Teaching, the Three Concentrations: Emptiness, Signlessness and Aimlessness. We discussed how this comes up in everyday life, impacting on our relationships with people and the world around us. These teachings encourage us to look deeply and see how we can be caught in our perceptions; to be open to each moment as it is.

Fridge! Monkey! Pencil!………well, you had to be there.

After a weeks break it was lovely to return to a shared practice with the Sangha. The guided meditation was the 5 contemplations, reminding us of our impermenance.

The reading was from the Three Earth Touchings, helping us to understand how interbeing spans space and time. A line I particularly like is ‘Seventy or eighty years is not my life span. My lifespan, like a leaf or a Buddha, is limitless’. I love the juxtaposition of a leaf and Buddha. How cool is that!

Due to bank holiday weekend there will not be a meeting on the 30th May. Next meeting on Sunday 6th June.

We met on a beautiful sunny Sunday for our Day of Mindfulness. In the morning we looked at what a meditation practice is and followed the usual format of guided, walking and silent meditations. After some time to enjoy the peaceful internal courtyard we sat in the shade of a maple tree and shared lunch. The afternoons shared reading and discussion was on the Five Mindfulness Trainings and Three Refuges. After a futher guided meditation lying on the grass we shared poetry before ending the day.

Thank you to everyone who came and contributed to our first Day of Mindfulness.

The guided meditation was based on the Three Refuges of the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha. Each Refuge following the breath, reminding us of these wonderful jewels.

The reading was from ‘Everyday Zen’. Charlotte Beck explored our searching and how we need to experience the unease that drives us to look. It is not the search that matters. This is the sign that can point the way to our direct experience of life, often fearful, which drives our attention away from where it needs to be, right here within us.

Bamboo pierces the air, yet the Buddha is still. Clay jar cracks open.