Wednesday afternoon meditation session evolves.....

[Jim Ellsworth]

I've really enjoyed witnessing the increased enthusiasm and attendance at our group meetings over the past few months. This Ning group is now up to 48 members and we've had group meetings so large that we've broken discussions up in two groups so that people can have adequate time to share how the teachings apply to their own individual lives.

We've also maintained a focus on meditation practice, both together and hopefully for people at home. That's personally important to me since I hope people can find in this group an opportunity for awakening, to begin to open to the world in a new way. Words can guide one toward that experience but they can no more substitute for direct experience than the idea of water can quench one's thirst. (Ken's analogy but it's too late now to go look it up!). It's important to have a place to talk and learn. But it's also important to experience the power of silence, to move into the space beyond words that so many of us try so hard to ignore. In my opinion, good group meetings will balance both. And ours have been doing that well.

So, I'm wondering if it might be time to add another session to our weekly calendar. My idea is to offer something during the weekdays, most likely in the early afternoon. I know of no other group that offers regular programs other than weekends and evenings. It might fill a gap for people who don't fit the normal M-F 9-5 schedule.

At least two of our members work swing shifts so they can't come to evening programs. Are there any others who may be interested in attending a program during the week? If so, do you have any ideas for what you'd like to do during your time together?

[Dan]

Fantastic to see all the responses to this.

I have a small list of places I am going to check out and suggest. Although today is a "sick" day so staying home...

Dan

[Jim Ellsworth]

Dan...as far as I can tell the center will be available beginning Wednesday, June 10th. Since that's only three weeks away, would you like to set it as the provisional date and just meet at the center in the beginning? Then we could begin to look for a new location if it's needed.

[Jim Ellsworth]

Hi Dan...

What a great meeting we had today with George and others. It was really encouraging for me.

I propose that we start the Wednesday afternoon group to start sitting in the format that we already discussed (check-in, intro to practice, meditation session, Unfettered Question or dharma discussion as group desires).

But I think it'd be good to have an organizational meeting before to hammer out some of the ideas that we discussed today. What if we met Wednesday, June 17th at 11:00 a.m. to discuss the group intention??????? I'll come with a revised, and simplified, version of what we've already discussed for further additions, deletions, etc. Then we can send it around to group members for further exploration and a final vote.

Another two weeks or so after that we could meet to explore the non-profit status, especially formation of a "board." As we get organized, the options for practice will really open up.

[Jim Ellsworth]

HERE IS INFORMATION FROM A FORUM THAT DAN POSTED....I'M CONSOLIDATING THE FORUMS HERE SO THAT THEY'RE EASIER TO FOLLOW:

All,
This is my first draft of the announcement I am going to post to related to the new noon sitting group. Any thoughts? Feedback? And ... any thoughts on a name for the session?
Buddha for Lunch? Noon Dharma? Wednesday Lunch Sitting?


Wednesday Lunch Sitting

Starting this Wednesday, there will be a noon gather for the purpose of meditation and dharma discussion. We are a non-sectarian peer lead group associated with the Wake Up to Your Life group of Columbus, OH. Join us each Wednesday at noon at the Buddhist Center of Ohio to enjoy a moment of calm in the middle of your busy week.

Discovering the here and now in Columbus, Ohio


What: Meditation and dharma discussion
When: 12P to 1P each Wednesday
Where: Buddhist Center of Ohio, 1005 King avenue, Columbus, Ohio, 43212

New to meditation or Buddhism? Great! Newcomers are welcome! Each session begins with a brief introduction to meditation.

Contact Dan at [e-mail] for more information

Replies to This Discussion
Permalink Reply by Dan on June 5, 2009 at 5:25pm
Send Message

Delete
Hi Dan,

I'm always a stickler for typos. Change gather to gathering. Lead should be led. avenue should be Avenue or just Ave. Sorry, I'm strange that way!

I'm not sure about the "enjoy a moment of calm" part. It seems very un-WUTYL like.

Now, grant you, everything I know about meditation has been turned upside down today after a brief conversation with George. The calm needs to be much deeper than I'd ever imagined, and it's in one's entire life, not just during the quiet time on the cushion. But the calm is like the sky that allows the hurricane to rush through but is undisturbed and will turn back to blue from one's limited perspective on the ground. :)

You know, isn't there usually a tornado warning city-wide at noon on Wednesdays? Maybe we could link the name to that somehow! The "duck and cover" meditation group? Just a thought!

Does "lunch" give the impression that food will be involved?

Finally, where do you plan to post this? I was going to let Buddhism Central Ohio know about it to include it as part of WUTYL. Do you have other ideas about how to get out the word?
Send Message
Delete
Great feedback on typos, Dawn does a great job of proofreading for me and I did not give her that chance this time :)

"enjoy a moment of calm" part - will drop it, maybe find another way to convey a ... take a break in the middle of your work week to find balance or some such.

"lunch" - Yep, you are correct, better remove that or bring pizza!

I have a few LiveJournal community groups to post to, a few yahoo groups, meetup.com,


Delete
Hey Dan....Thanks again for working on this. I hope it turns out to work for a lot of people. You've got a number of ideas for getting the word out. Don't forget to put it on the calendar right here! Just go to the events section and click on "Add Event" and it's pretty self-explanatory from there.

It might work well to just invite people to meditate or to take a break for some shared silence in the middle of the week. Keeping things simple works well. If you place a purpose on it (find balance, peace, etc), some people might get discouraged if their experience doesn't match their expectations. (Some people might find sitting to peaceful, others might find an internal storm that they'd never felt before. Others might come for balance but find sitting disrupts their life.)

I've sometimes used language that emphasizes the need to experiment with what works. George mentioned the words "explore" and "investigate" the other day. I really liked that a lot.

[Jim Ellsworth]

THIS IS ANOTHER POST FROM DAN ABOUT THE WEDNESDAY MEETING......

My thinking is (and this is a guideline, I know we will not stick to it to the minute)

Start promptly at 12 noon

1200-1205 brief "welcome" and basic meditation instruction
1205-1225 meditation for 20 minutes
1225-1230 walking meditation for 5 minutes
1230-1240 Going to try a quick "check in" (without allowing feedback) here but worried about time.
1240-1250 10 minutes of audio
1250- 100 Discussion (round robin, one comment per person, egg timer, we will see)
100 PM the meeting is over, but then likely interested people can hang out, have lunch together, chat over coffee, etc.

Thoughts?
Other than "pretty rushed" :)

[Jim Ellsworth]

Hey Dan...

Sorry for putting this all into the same forum. I know having everything under the same forum can kind of drag things out but it seems, to me at least, a little easier to follow when the same topic is dicussed in the same place rather than many different places. The forums that have new posts will come up first and people can always see them under the what's new section.

As for the meeting format, you pointed out the problem in the end. It's really trying to do too much. Wouldn't it be easier to say that the first thrity minutes is for meditation practice and the second thirty minutes is for dharma discussion? You can define each broadly, especially the "dharma discussion," since it could really involve anything from a check-in to a more formal discussion of the dharma. I suggest the Unfettered Questions since they're "short and sweet" but also very challenging.

As for practice instructions, you can give a basic introducion in the beginning if it's needed. George has a really good point about the need to work with newcomers separately from the group.

As you'll probably fnd out, it can be difficult to find the right balance between structure so that people know what to expect and flexibility to allow a meeting that can serve group needs. You may find that the group needs to meet a few times to what people want.

It looks like I'll be there after all. I'm in Evansville one more day but I'll be heading home tomorrow.

By the way, it's great idea to suggest a meeting for lunch or coffee afterwards. It might give people a chance to spend time with each other who otherwise don't get the chance. This may really take off for you!!!!!

[Dan]

Well, we gave this a good try, but looks like Wednesday afternoon in the summer isn't a great time. We have shut this one down for now.

Warmly,
Dan

[Jim Ellsworth]

Hi Dan,

I appreciate all the effort you put into this. Looks like your efforst are still bearing fruit...

As it turns out, I never informed the BCO website and we've had some inquiries about starting this back up again. I know you're moving to 1st shift soon. But we'll be meeting this Wednesday at noon to see what people want from the group. Aaron and I can open up for now but we'll need active participation from the new people for this to happen. I'll explain to people from the beginning that they'll get out of it what they put into it.

Dan said:

Well, we gave this a good try, but looks like Wednesday afternoon in the summer isn't a great time. We have shut this one down for now.

Warmly,
Dan