The MEDITATION CIRCLE of CHARLESTON (W.Va.)
> HELP IS ON THE WAY: We could use help in pulling off the Thursday, June 25 musical benefit at UUC in Charleston, W.Va., from 7 to 10 p.m. E-mail offers of aid to douglas [at] hundredmountain.com. This will be one of the coolest concerts in town next week and you’ll leave jazzed, uplifted and in tune with the cosmos. Kathleen is an amazing performer, quiet but intensely, beautifully and powerfully moving. Some spacey mood music will be provided beforehand by Casi Null, Albert Perrone and Douglas Imbrogno on guitar, hand-drum, digital effects and convivial feeling. Spread the word about the night to the four corners and the Six Directions…
> UPCOMING EVENT: Singer-songwriter KATHLEEN COFFEE of Princeton, W.Va., performs in a Meditation Circle of Charleston musical benefit, 7 to 10 p.m., Thursday, June 25 at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation, 520 Kanawha Blvd., in Charleston, W.Va. Admission is $5 though no one will be turned away for inability to pay. Sample Kathleen’s passionate, inspiring music at myspace.com/katcoffee. This will be a fine concert – children are welcome. (And guitar players, take note of her offbeat alternate guitar tunings). Come out and help support the Meditation Circle. Click for more on this event.
> NEXT MEETING: The Meditation Circle gathers next 6 to 7:15 p.m., Tuesday, June 16 (and every Tuesday) at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation, 520 Kanawha Blvd., in Charleston, W.Va. Bring cushions or chairs are available. Beginners are welcome with basic instruction in meditation available 5:45 to 6 p.m. or by arrangement. Come join the circle.
Robin Wilson will facilitate the group the next couple weeks as we continue to try out some change ups in the group’s routines. We now sit in silent meditation for two rounds of sitting. The first and longer round of 30 minutes is followed by questions and discussion, then we conclude the session with a shorter round of 15 to 20 minutes of sitting. Let us know your thoughts on these and other changes, plus any questions about meditation practice in general.
Extended discussions are certainly still welcome and last week we never got around to the second sitting after a lively back-and-forth that followed a question from Jan on ‘How do you go about finding a teacher?’ Retreats are a good place to check teachers out. Here are the remaining 2009 retreats at the Bhavana Forest Monastery in Hampshire County, W.Va., including two ‘Introduction to Meditation Retreats,’ from Aug. 13 to 16 and Nov. 5 to 8.
How DO you go about finding spiritual teachers? Share your thoughts and tales at our next meeting or in the comments section of this blog below.
> MONEY MATTERS: The Meditation Circle is seeking a person who got a grade of B or higher in math in school and might be able to oversee donations to the group and help manage our account at a Charleston bank. I myself got a ‘D’ in Modern Algebra from Mrs. Bollenbacher at Forest Park High School.
> QUOTE/UNQUOTE: “You make yourself and others suffer just as much when you take offense as when you give offense.” ~ Ken Keyes, Jr.
> ABOUT: The Meditation Circle of Charleston (W.Va.) is a support group for people interested in learning breath and body-centered meditation in the Buddhist tradition. You need not be a self-identified Buddhist to benefit from meditation. We welcome beginners who wish to learn Buddhist meditation or want to revive a sitting practice that has lagged. If you’re a lone sitter who may benefit from a sangha, come by. We encourage everyone to seek out established teachers to deepen their practice. See the ‘About‘ page of our website – themeditationcircle.com – for more, including a map to our Charleston, W.Va., location in the Unitarian Universalist Congregation building. Please forward this e-mail to interested friends
> NOTE TO CIRCLE MEMBERS: I encourage everyone to subscribe to the Meditation Circle blog to receive e-mails of our posts. Send prospective blogposts, tips, quotes, events and other meditation and yoga-related news to douglas [at] hundredmountain.com. Let me know if you have problems signing up for the Meditation Circle e-mail newsletter a our website. Some have reported it took many tries.
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With metta,
Douglas (on behalf of the Meditation Circle)
