Back in December of 2013 when I first started Monday Evening Meditation, I knew then that I would re-evaluate whether or not to continue hosting meditations after the 2016 election. It has been a challenge to assess whether or not to continue when the need for this kind of work in the world seems apparent more than ever. In the end, I decided that the reason to discontinue is this is the right time for me. So my plans are for my last night to host these meditations will be Monday December 26. I’ll elaborate further after the housekeeping text.
Good evening and welcome to Monday Group Meditation. We will be sitting from 8:00 to 10:30 PM Eastern Time. It is not necessary to sit for the entire extended time, which is set up to make it convenient for people in four North American Time Zones; sit for as long as you like and when it is most convenient for you. Monday Group Meditation is open to everyone, believers and non-believers, who are interested in gathering in silence. If you are new to meditation and would like to try it for yourself, Mindful Nature gave a good description of one way to meditate in an earlier diary, copied and pasted below:
"It is a matter of focusing attention mostly. In many traditions, the idea is to sit and focus on the rising and falling of the breath. Not controlling it, but sitting in a relaxed fashion and merely observing experiences of breathing, sounds, etc. Be aware of your thoughts, but don't engage in them. When your mind wanders (it will, often), then return to focus on breath and repeat."
Note: You are also welcome to join us on Sunday mornings at 10:00AM for the Dkos Sangha Open Threads which are hosted by davehouck.
In August of this year I learned that the body aches and pains I’ve dealt with off and on over several years are Fibromyalgia. Fortunately at the same time I also learned it is possible to heal it so I am actually feeling better than I’ve felt for a very long time. Dealing with stress is a major part of the healing process, and I am coming to suspect that my body may always be a barometer for the quality of my thinking and my own immersion in binary thoughts. As a result of this I’ve had to severely curtail the amount of time I spend here at DKos.
Also, since the election I’ve felt an urge to work more locally to help people call forth the light within themselves. Bringing forth the light within is what it takes for each of us to respond with courage and love to all the darkness arising, not just here in this country, but all over the world. (Just last week I read a report of Buddhists killing Muslim women and children in Myanmar.) The insanity really is pervasive.
Just this week one ongoing opportunity for this kind of work arose locally, perhaps there will be others. So it seems it really is time for me to move on to something different. It has been my joy to host these meditations, and I am grateful for every single person who assisted, participated, or stopped by to say hello.
Now to start us off this evening we have a short video with Pema Chodron and Oprah Winfrey. It’s less than two minutes in length, and turns our idea of fear right on its head.