Charleston Meditation Circle member Chris tried to comment on the recent ‘Noble Standards’ post last week and couldn’t. Which led me to check out what was up. Fixed! The flip that was preventing comments on Meditation Circle posts has now been flipped ‘on.’ (You’ll be asked to provide a screen user name and an e-mail, which will NOT show on your comment.) Please share your thoughts, reactions and insights (it’s an insight meditation group after all, no?) in the ‘Comments’ section. Help end the forlorn sight of the ‘No Comments’ phrase atop each post, by clicking there and sharing your views. ~ Douglas

TAI CHI WORKSHOP, 10 a.m., Saturday, Sept. 12, Unitarian Universalist building, 520 Kanawha Blvd., W., Charleston, W.Va.

Tai Chi is considered a soft style martial art, applied with internal power (to quote from its Wikipedia definition). It can be a very centering and healthful activity, meditative awareness in motion. One of the region’s finest Tai Chi master instructors Ron Wilkerson with Sifu WiIliam Fleetwood, founder of the Chi Lin Taiji Quan Academy, will lead a Tai Chi workshop at Charleston’s Unitarian Universalist building at 10 a.m., Saturday, Sept. 12 with a break for lunch. The cost is $40 and the workshop is suitable for both beginners and advanced students. Call 304-345-5042 or e-mail unitarians@verizon.net. Call Ron for more details at (304) 395-7671.

We received notice of the followed center opening in Fayetteville, W.Va. Anyone know more background on this?

OPENING CELEBRATION for Khyentse Ozer Meditation Center
Sunday, August 30th, 125 Keller Avenue, Fayetteville. 11 a.m.- noon: Meditation in the Tantric Buddhist Tradition. Noon: Catered Brunch.  Free and Open to the Public.  Tibet’s ancient Tantric Buddhist tradition offers serenity and joy through meditative practices of mind, body and feeling. Call 304-534-2323 or khyentseozer@gmail.com.

At least somebody is looking peaceful in these tumultuous times. A Buddha (with Smurf tendencies) from a recent visit to the Sakler and Freer Gallery in Washington, D.C., 

Click photos to enlarge. By Douglas Imbrogno

Douglas Imbrogno writes:

In a prior post, I described admiration for “Longing for Certainty: Reflections on the Buddhist Life” by Bhikkhu Nyanasobhano. This is one wise book. It weaves keenly observed walks in Nature with deep, unsentimental reflections on the challenges of daily life and how Buddhist teachings may be gleaned from what we see around us. In the following selection, the American monk offers up a good description of dukkha, an often misunderstood word. Frequently translated as ‘suffering,’ a superficial reading of this core teaching by the Buddha has led some to conclude the Buddhist worldview is a pessimistic one. Far from it, as the author teases out the real meaning of a word better translated as referring to the ultimately unsatisfactory nature of all conditioned things. I encourage people looking for an approachable Buddhist book to seek this one out for its many insights and riches, and to place into context this excerpt (from pages 62-63 of the Wisdom Publication paperback). I’l leave for another discussion, his and other teacher’s descriptions of that ineffable word Nibbana:

From “Longing for Certainty: Reflections on the Buddhist Life” by Bhikkhu Nyanasobhano:

On a fine summer day, after a satisfying lunch, in good health, and temporarily unpreoccupied with serious trouble, we stroll through woods or gardens and see the world as good – that is, as happy, obliging, untrustworthy – when all that experience really would allow us to say is that it is beautiful. The gratified mind infers too much when it assumes that whatever delights it does so out of a predisposition in its favor. Such unjustified inference leads on, moreover, to shock and grief when misfortune lights up the landscape with its glare. Then we are hit not just with specific pains but with a demoralizing disillusionment, when we find that what we thought good is not good, and perhaps never was. Death and sickness, failure and loss – how shall we smoothly account for them? Must we flee despairingly through the wreckage of our casual philosophy to the other extreme and bewail the universe as hideous and malevolent?

The Buddha describes all formations, all compounded things, as impermanent, and hence as dukkha, or unsatisfactory – a doctrine radically contrary to the common, conventional view of reality as fundamentally good or ultimately, if not presently, perfect. But to say that all formations are dukkha is not to say that they are necessarily hideous and malevolent; for dukkha, while it includes what is generally understood as suffering, also and more broadly refers to the liability to destruction inherent in all phenomena, their weakness, their variable, sure-to-dissolve nature. A particular phenomenon, or the world at large, might very well be beautiful, agreeable, and welcome to us on a given occasion without being eternally or categorically “good.” Because worldly joy  and pleasure do not last, cannot last, and must inevitably fade, they are, along with the gross miseries of existence, characterized as dukkha, but this does not give grounds for the pessimistic view that this universe is basically evil or hostile. Happiness and sorrow appear throughout sentient existence in varying concentration, always depending on appropriate causes; so the obvious task for a realistic, pragmatic person is to diminish the causes for sorrow and cultivate the causes for happiness.

It is useless to extrapolate from specific pleasure to general rightness, or from specific pain to general malignity. It is far better to learn how benefit and harm both come to be and to set about improving our lives through intelligent action. This is exactly what the Buddha teaches. He advises us to observe how things arise and pass away, so that, understanding causality as the fundamental principle, we will be moved to pursue the good in the moral sense – not merely the aesthetic – and thereby benefit both ourselves and others. Although the flood of samsara rages through time,  although what is pleasant perishes, although pain and death assails all creatures, the religious-minded person may so comport himself as to strengthen his present equanimity, purify his mind, and eventually cross over the flood to the highest freedom of Nibbana.

The WVU compassion meditation study described in the post below led us to an inspiring link on the Buddhist view of compassion’s role in easing our own disquiet and suffering and that of  other beings with whom we share the world. The link will take you to a rich discussion of the function of compassion  in the Buddhist worldview, written by Ven. Nyanaponika Thera, one of the great interpreters of Buddhist teachings in our day. Here is one choice bit worth recalling daily, as we look around our heads each morning, afternoon and evening and examine where our attention routinely resides. Ven. Nyanaponika writes:

“Meditative development of the sublime states will be aided by repeated reflection upon their qualities, the benefits they bestow and the dangers from their opposites. As the Buddha says, “What a person considers and reflects upon for a long time, to that his mind will bend and incline.”

A researcher at West Virginia University is studying compassion meditation and is seeking participants willing to travel to Morgantown, with travel costs covered up to $65. After we heard of the study through a friend, we asked the folks behind the study to describe it a bit more to the Meditation Circle:

Dear Meditation Circle of Charleston: There is a neuro-imaging research opportunity at West Virginia University for a study of compassion meditation for persons with some experience with some type of compassion meditation (visualization, metta/loving-kindness, the four Brahmaviharas, tonglen, etc.). We are testing to see whether compassion meditation has an influence on how we perceive faces with positive vs. negative associations and facial expressions. The study takes about 2 hours to complete and there is financial compensation for your time and also for travel if you live 30 miles or more from West Virginia University (with a cap of 200 miles round trip). If you are interested in learning more about the study, please contact Mary Pettit at WVU at 304-293-6898 or e-mail: mpettit@hsc.wvu.edu. Click poster below to enlarge for more information on the study.

A friend passed along this poem, whose message is worth noting this day. For more on the author, see this link:

Mornings at Blackwater

by Mary Oliver

For years, every morning, I drank
from Blackwater Pond.
It was flavored with oak leaves and also, no doubt,
the feet of ducks.

And always it assuaged me
from the dry bowl of the very far past.

What I want to say is
that the past is the past,
and the present is what your life is,
and you are capable
of choosing what that will be,
darling citizen.

So come to the pond,
or the river of your imagination,
or the harbor of your longing,

and put your lips to the world.
And live
your life.

As the moon slips from
Behind a cloud and shines,
So the master comes out
From behind ignorance and shines.
Swans rise and fly toward the sun.
What magic!
So do the pure conquer
The armies of illusion
And rise to fly.

~ The Buddha in the Dhammapada | quote courtesy of Daily Zen | www.dailyzen.com

The sound of peaceful music, the sound of terrible noise, are both clearly revealed as they are and nothing else. Nonetheless, we prefer the peacefulness and dislike the irritation of the noise. We try to control, to change things to how we want them. This can be done with a certain degree but cannot be done completely and eternally. If, on the other hand, we accept things as they are and see things as clearly revealed as they are, that acceptance itself is the first step toward unbreakable peacefulness.

~ Eido Tai Shimano

The Meditation Circle of Charleston gathers next 6 to 7:30 p.m., Tuesday, July 28 (and every Tuesday) at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation, 520 Kanawha Blvd., in Charleston, W.Va., across from the Kanawha River. Bring a meditation cushion or chairs are available. Newcomers to meditation are welcome and basic instruction is available. We begin 30 minutes of silent sitting meditation promptly at 6 p.m., followed by discussion and questions. We conclude the night with a 15-minute sitting. Come join the circle.

“Mandala: The Perfect Circle,” opening August 14 at Boston’s Rubin Museum of Art is the first of three  shows to explore how different cultures have pictured the universe. The exhibit features “The Mandala of Enlightened Speech,” an animation created by Cornell University’s Department of Computer Science that will help viewers better understand the three-dimensional structure of the mandala. (Doug notes: This took awhile to download completely onto my home computer, but is well worth the wait). The Rubin Museum site goes on to say:

“The mandala is a mysterious and sacred realm. Its most recurrent graphic form is circular in shape. While the word itself means both center and circumference, it is created by Buddhists as a model for contemplative visualization practice, thus becoming an aid to meditation which in turn enables the practitioner to attain a state of Enlightenment. This exhibition will explore the various manifestations of the mandala. While simultaneously explaining its symbolism it will describe the means by which it fulfills its function and demonstrate its correlation with our physical reality.

The Meditation Circle of Charleston practices breath and body-centered meditation in the Buddhist tradition. You need not be a self-identified Buddhist to benefit from meditation practice. We encourage everyone to seek out established teachers to deepen their practice. See the ‘About‘ page of  themeditationcircle.com for more, including a guide to other area sitting and yoga sessions. Feel free to forward this e-mail to interested friends.

When they discover the center of the universe
a lot of people will be disappointed to discover
they are not it.

~ B. Bailey

NOTE TO MEMBERS of the CIRCLE: Send prospective blogposts, tips, quotes, events and other news to douglas @hundredmountain.com.

SUBSCRIBE TO MEDITATION CIRCLE E-MAIL NOTICES: Click here
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DIRECTIONS TO MEDITATION GROUP: Click here.

The MEDITATION CIRCLE of CHARLESTON (W.Va.)

> QUOTE/UNQUOTE: “Whenever we get angry we should realize that the strength we feel is not the strength of the charioteer. It is the strength of the runaway horse. We should immediately try to put the charioteer back in control. If we can do this, we are masters. If we cannot, we are slaves.

~ Ananda Pereira from “Escape to Reality: Buddhist Essays,” Wheel Publication No. 45/36

> NEXT MEETING: The Meditation Circle of Charleston gathers next from 6 to 7:15 p.m., Tuesday, July 7 (and each Tuesday) at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation, 520 Kanawha Blvd., in Charleston, W.Va. Bring a meditation cushion or chairs are available. Beginners welcome. Basic instruction in meditation is available 5:45 to 6 p.m., plus there is time for questions on sitting practice after the first meditation. We start sitting promptly at 6 p.m. The first round of 30 minutes is followed by questions or discussion, then we conclude with a shorter sitting of 15 minutes. Come join the circle!

> QUOTE/UNQUOTE: “The wisdom that shatters craving and release the mind from suffering is not some esoteric, fortuitous inspiration but the gradual, built-up, practical understanding of the experience that flies through the senses. Liberation is obtainable – so taught the Buddha. There is a means, a path available to all who will exert themselves properly. We have head of such a thing, have heard that it lasted down through the riotous, forgetful centuries and survives even now, powerful and free.

~ from “Longing for Certainty: Reflections on the Buddhist Life” by Bhikkhu Nyanasobhano. See longer excerpt here

> ABOUT: The Meditation Circle of Charleston (W.Va.) is a 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 practice. We welcome beginners who wish to learn Buddhist meditation or want to revive a sitting practice that has lagged.  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. Please feel free to forward this e-mail to interested friends.

> NOTE TO MEMBERS: Send prospective blogposts, tips, quotes, events and other news for the Web site to douglas @hundredmountain.com.

SUBSCRIBE TO MEDITATION CIRCLE E-MAIL NOTICES: Click here
SUBSCRIBE TO RSS NEWS FEED: Click here
DIRECTIONS TO MEDITATION GROUP: Click here.

My best,
Douglas (on behalf of the Meditation Circle)

The MEDITATION CIRCLE of CHARLESTON (W.Va.)

> NEXT MEETING: The Meditation Circle gathers next 6 to 7:15 p.m., Tuesday, June 30 (and every Tuesday) at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation, 520 Kanawha Blvd., in Charleston, W.Va. Bring cushions or we have chairs available. Beginners are welcome. Basic instruction in meditation is available 5:45 to 6 p.m. or by arrangement. Come join the circle.

We sit in silent meditation for two rounds of sitting. The first round of 30 minutes is followed by questions or discussion, then we conclude that week’s circle with a shorter round of 15 or 20 minutes of sitting.

> QUOTE/UNQUOTE: In light of some recent notable deaths, a thought to ponder:

Even if, bright as a flash of lightning,
Death were to strike you today,
Be prepared to die without sorrow
Or regret, giving up attachment to
What you are leaving behind.
Without ever ceasing to recognize
The authentic view of the real,
Leave this life like the eagle
That soars into the blue sky.

~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche (1910-1991). See related post: ‘Is My Meditation Correct?”

> ABOUT: We are a support group for people interested in learning breath and body-centered meditation in the Buddhist tradition, but you need not be a self-identified Buddhist to benefit from meditation practice. We welcome beginners who wish to learn Buddhist meditation or want to revive a sitting practice that may have 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 on the Meditation Circle of Charleston, including a map to our Charleston, W.Va., location in the Unitarian Universalist Congregation buidling. Please feel free to forward this e-mail to interested friends

> NOTE TO CIRCLE MEMBERS: Send us prospective blogposts, tips, quotes, events and other news for the Web site at douglas @hundredmountain.com. And 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.

SUBSCRIBE TO MEDITATION CIRCLE E-MAIL NOTICES: Click here
SUBSCRIBE TO RSS NEWS FEED: Click here
DIRECTIONS TO MEDITATION GROUP: Click here.

My best,
Douglas (on behalf of the Meditation Circle)

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.

SUBSCRIBE TO MEDITATION CIRCLE E-MAIL NOTICES: Click here
SUBSCRIBE TO RSS NEWS FEED: Click here
DIRECTIONS TO MEDITATION GROUP: Click here.

With metta,
Douglas (on behalf of the Meditation Circle)

The MEDITATION CIRCLE of CHARLESTON (W.Va.)

> NEXT MEETING: The Meditation Circle gathers next 6 to 7:15 p.m., Tuesday, June 30 (and every Tuesday) at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation, 520 Kanawha Blvd., in Charleston, W.Va. Bring cushions or we have chairs available. Beginners are welcome. Basic instruction in meditation is available 5:45 to 6 p.m. or by arrangement. Come join the circle.

We sit in silent meditation for two rounds of sitting. The first round of 30 minutes is followed by  questions or discussion, then we conclude that week’s circle with a shorter round of 15 or 20 minutes of sitting.

> QUOTE/UNQUOTE: In light of some recent notable deaths, a thought to ponder:

Even if, bright as a flash of lightning,
Death were to strike you today,
Be prepared to die without sorrow
Or regret, giving up attachment to
What you are leaving behind.
Without ever ceasing to recognize
The authentic view of the real,
Leave this life like the eagle
That soars into the blue sky.

~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche (1910-1991)
> ABOUT: We are a support group for people interested in learning breath and body-centered meditation in the Buddhist tradition, but you need not be a self-identified Buddhist to benefit from meditation practice. We welcome beginners who wish to learn Buddhist meditation or want to revive a sitting practice that may have 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 on the Meditation Circle of Charleston, including a map to our Charleston, W.Va., location in the Unitarian Universalist Congregation buidling. Please feel free to forward this e-mail to interested friends

> NOTE TO CIRCLE MEMBERS: Send us prospective blogposts, tips, quotes, events and other news for the Web site at douglas @hundredmountain.com. And 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.

SUBSCRIBE TO MEDITATION CIRCLE E-MAIL NOTICES: Click here
SUBSCRIBE TO RSS NEWS FEED: Click here
DIRECTIONS TO MEDITATION GROUP: Click here.

My best,
Douglas (on behalf of the Meditation Circle)

Click flyer to enlarge and printout.

Singer-songwriter KATHLEEN COFFEE of Princeton, W.Va., is featured in an evening of inspiring music, performance and discussion from 7 to 10 p.m., Thursday, June 25 at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation building, 520 Kanawha Blvd., Charleston, W.Va. The evening is a fundraiser for the MEDITATION CIRCLE of CHARLESTON, to thank UUC for its generosity in hosting the group’s weekly meditation circle 6 p.m. each Tuesday. The group also hosts visiting meditation teachers and area meditation retreats. Admission is $5, but no one will be turned away because of cost.

Donations in support of the circle’s activities are welcome by those who cannot attend through checks made out to: ‘The Meditation Circle of Charleston.’ All proceeds benefit the offering of meditation events and support in the region. For more on the group, see themeditationcircle.com.

The evening marks the debut of an occasional performance and coffeehouse series at UUC, showcasing some of Appalachia’s finest rising performers along with original music theater and performance art.

The next evening on Friday, June 26, catch Coffee and other performers at Taylor Books, 226 Capitol St., in Charleston in ‘THE CLEMENTINES SONG CIRCLE.’ The music runs 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. and admission is free. Styles will range from contemporary songwriter and traditional folk, to world music and ambient soundscapes. Other performers include Lori McKinney, Robert Blankenship and Albert Perrone (of Option 22), Casi Null, Douglas Imbrogno and maybe some people who wander in off the street. Like you.

KATHLEEN COFFEE is an indigo child and Cherokee Indian from the Blue Ridge Mountains of Athens, W.Va.  She sings for the good, the peace and the truth. She sings to heal. Offstage, Kathleen teaches songwriting, inspiration, voice and performance workshops for all ages and genres.

She’s a founding member of a collective of artists in Princeton, W.Va., known as The Riff Raff Players based out of The Room Upstairs, and has performed in such shows as Annie, Wizard of Oz, Godspell, Camelot, Smoke on the Mountain, and, most recently, Songs for a New World.

Kathleen performs for non-profits and other organizations involved with revolutionary change in the world to procure creativity and peace. She likes to sing on front porches with the crickets and birds. She likes a good cup of coffee. Hear her music at: myspace.com/katcoffee.