“The truth is, we don’t really want to be free from desire or to admit that clinging to the pleasures of the senses—the taste of delicious food; the sound of music, gossip, or a joke; the touch of a sexual embrace—ends unavoidably in disappointment and suffering. We don’t have to deny that pleasant feelings are pleasurable. But we must remember that like every other feeling, pleasure is impermanent.”
~ Bhante Gunaratana,
“Desire and Craving” from Tricycle.com
The Meditation Circle of Charleston recently changed its monthly format. Here is our new ‘About’ Page with details on the changes.
DIRECTIONS TO MEDITATION GROUP: Click here.
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WHO WE ARE:
Welcome. The Meditation Circle is a meditation group in the Buddhist tradition, practicing vipassana or insight meditation. We’re based in Charleston, West Virginia and meet every Tuesday from 6 to 7:15 p.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation, 520 Kanawha Blvd. The group has been ongoing in Charleston for more than a decade and is facilitated by founding members Douglas Imbrogno and Thad Settle. Although our meditation style is derived from the Theravada Buddhist tradition of Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia, you do not have to be a Buddhist to join us or benefit from mindfulness meditation. Beginners are welcome and will be offered basic sitting guidance. We’re a lay support group for people interested in meditation or who wish to deepen their practice through the support of a meditation sangha. Our members come from a wide variety of spiritual traditions and backgrounds. We encourage people to seek out seasoned teachers to further their practice. Bring a cushion if you have sat in meditation before or chairs are available.
WHAT WE DO:
We practice Insight Meditation, or Samatha-Vipassana , a style of meditation that helps the mind attain deeper levels of calm concentration (samatha) through sustained attention on the breath, then combines this with the crucial aspect of insight (or vipassana ) through contemplation of the mind and body and all of its changing and impermanent senses, emotions, and thoughts. Literally meaning “to see clearly,” Insight Meditation trains us to live more mindfully in the present moment, enables us to experience life from a greater stillness, and aids us in relating to both ourselves and others with increased clarity and compassion, and less fear, anxiety, and stress. Along with these and a long list of other psychological benefits, meditation has also been shown to reduce stress in the body, lower blood pressure, reduce anxiety, alleviate depression, prevent and reverse memory loss, and boost the immune system. It also increases the size of areas in the brain associated with attention, compassion, calmness, and creativity.
OUR SCHEDULE:
Guided Meditation Night: Every 1st and 3rd Tuesday from 6 to 7:15 p.m:
The evening begins with a 20-minute guided meditation, followed by 10-15 minutes of silent meditation. There is then a short period of meditation in movement based on simple Qigong or yoga exercises. Following the meditation period, a 10-15 minute teaching may be offered from a meditation text/book. The remainder of the session is discussion, where participants are encouraged to talk about their meditation experience, the reading, and how they’re using mindfulness practice in their daily lives. We close the sit with a 10-minute Metta meditation. (Metta is the Pali term for loving-kindness or friendliness.)
NOTE: These are good nights for newcomers to attend although you are welcome at any time.
Noble Silence Night: Every 2nd & 4th Tuesday from 6 to 7:15 p.m:
We sit in silence for two periods of approximately 20-25 minutes each this night. There is an opportunity to stretch and move quietly between rounds of meditation. (Folks who may not be ready to sit two periods may do one and then depart at the end of the first round). Questions about practice that may arise during the Noble Silence can be addressed at the end of the meditation. This period is followed by a Metta meditation.
NOTE: Newcomers who attend on these nights are invited to follow the signs for beginner meditation instruction in one of the building’s back rooms, including a short orientation and a chance to ask questions.
If there is a 5th Tuesday in the month, we follow the Noble Silence Night format.
Come join the Circle! (Although sometimes it resembles an oblong or parallelogram, but the Meditation Parallelogram of Charleston didn’t have quite the right sound.)
“The Buddha saw that we are always engaged in relationships, starting with that most significant relationship: the one with ourselves. On the cushion we notice how we speak to ourselves—sometimes with compassion, sometimes with judgment or impatience. Our words are a powerful medium with which we can bring happiness or cause suffering.”
~ Allan Lokos
Excerpt from Skillful Speech” article at Tricycle.com
“When we can be secure in our inner source for true happiness, we don’t expose ourselves to the devastation that comes when outside hopes for happiness and security are dashed. We have our shelter, our place of security, inside. And we needn’t be afraid that this is an escapist shelter. When the basis of our well-being is firm within, we can act with true courage and compassion for others, for we’re coming from a solid position of calmness and strength.”
~ Thanissaro Bhikkhu, “What We’ve Been Practicing For”
From Tricycle.com. Read related article through Feb. 29, 2013
“When we learn to stop and be truly alive in the present moment, we are in touch with what’s going on within and around us. We aren’t carried away by the past, the future, our thinking, ideas, emotions, and projects. Often we think that our ideas about things are the reality of that thing. Our notion of the Buddha may just be an idea and may be far from reality. Buddha is not a reality that exists outside of us, but is our own true nature. The Buddha outside ourselves was a human being who was born, lived, and died. For us to seek such a Buddha would be to seek a shadow, a ghost Buddha, and at some point our idea of Buddha would become an obstacle for us.
“Master Linji said that when we meet the ghost Buddha, we should cut off his head. Whether we’re looking inside our outside ourselves, we need to cut off the head of whatever we meet, and abandon the views and ideas we have about things, including our ideas about Buddhism and Buddhist teachings. Buddhist teachings are not exalted words and scriptures existing outside us on a high shelf in the temple, but are medicine for our ills. Buddhist teachings are skillful means to cure our ignorance, craving, and anger, as well as our habit of seeking things outside and not having confidence in ourselves.
“Insight can’t be found in sutras, commentaries, verbal expression, or —isms. Liberation and awakened understanding can’t be found by devoting ourselves to the study of the Buddhist scriptures. This is like trying to find fresh water in dry bones. Returning to the present moment, using our clear mind which exists right here and now, we can be in touch with liberation and enlightenment, as well as with the Buddha and the patriarchs as living realities right in this moment….
~ Thich Nhat Hanh
From “Simply Stop” at Tricycle.com
“Sitting quietly, doing nothing, not knowing what is next and not concerned with what was or what may be next, a new mind is operating that is not connected with the conditioned past and yet perceives and understands the whole mechanism of conditioning. It is the unmasking of the self that is nothing but masks — images, memories of past experiences, fears, hopes, and the ceaseless demand to be something or become somebody.”
~ Toni Packer, “Unmasking the Self”
Read entire article at Tricycle.com through Feb. 27, 2013
If you’d like to study the original teachings of the Buddha, check out the Pali Canon Online website
“As the present moment can be found any moment, every waking moment can be made a concentrated moment.”
~ Bhante Henepola Gunaratana, “Sitting Still”
http://www.tricycle.com/-archives/on-practice
Q: Different things work for different people. What would indicate we’re practicing in the right way?
Sayadaw U Tejaniya: “When there is awareness, mindfulness, concentration, and wisdom; when we feel light, alert, and awake. Over time, you find you’re discovering that awareness becomes more firmly established and that the mind becomes steadier. You understand things you didn’t before. If, however, you’re getting tired, agitated, or depressed, you are practicing the wrong way. You always need to check the quality of mind; only if the quality is good are you practicing in the right way. This is how the quality of practice should be measured; not by posture or by the number of hours of sitting, walking, or standing meditation you do.”
~ Sayadaw U Tejaniya, from “The Wise Investigator” at Tricycle.com
Read the whole article today (Jan. 14, 2013) for free at this link.
“Saying things you shouldn’t say or speaking much more than is necessary brings a lot of agitation to the mind. The other extreme, complete silence, or not speaking up when it is useful or necessary, is also problematic. Applying right speech is difficult in the beginning; it takes practice. But if you practice every time you talk to someone, the mind will learn how to be aware, to understand what it should or should not say, and to know when it is necessary to talk.”
~ Sayadaw U Tejaniya, from “The Wise Investigator” at Tricycle.com
Read the whole article today (Jan. 14, 2013) for free at this link.
Obviously
When you find peace and quiet in the midst of busyness and clamor,then towns and cities become mountain forests; afflictions are enlightenment, sentient beings realize true awakening. These sayings can be uttered and understood by all beginners, who construe it as uniform equanimity; but then when they let their minds go, the ordinary and the spiritual are divided as before, quietude and activity operate separately. So obviously this was only an intellectual understanding.
– Foyan (1067-1120)
Quote courtesy of DailyZen.com
Our friend, Ken Lewis, who takes part in a sitting group in the Spencer, W.Va., area sent out this instructive photo.
CATEGORY: Buddhist Humor.
CUTLINE: “The Buddhist Protester.”
The Buddhist Meditation Circle of Charleston, W.Va., meets weekly with a 30-minute meditation starting promptly 6 p.m. each Tuesday, at the Unitarian Universalist fellowship building, 520 Kanawha Blvd., in Charleston, W.Va. We do both silent and guided meditations. Beginners and those wishing to sit longer are encouraged to come by 5:45 p.m. for basic meditation suggestions, tips and quiet time. Subscribe to the group’s website and find more information here: themeditationcircle.com/about. You don’t need to be a card-carrying Buddhist to experience the benefits of meditation. Through discussion and listening to taped talks by Buddhist teachers we explore how meditation fits into the larger scope of the Buddha’s teachings.
The Meditation Circle of Charleston will not meet for its regular Tuesday session this New Year’s Day. We look forward to seeing you again Tuesday, Jan. 8 and throughout 2013, as we deepen our practice, experience and understanding of insight meditation in the Buddhist tradition.
“It is undeniable that others and the larger world, so beleaguered at this moment in history, need everything that we have to give. But what to give is the problem. It seems finally clear that we cannot find out what to do simply by thinking about it. We need to gain our inspiration and our direction from much deeper sources.”
~ -Reginald Ray, “Looking Inward, Seeing Outward”
“Many people forget their own body. They live in an imaginary world. They have so many plans and fears, so many agitations and dreams, and they don’t live in their body. While we’re caught in fear and trying to plan our way out of fear, we aren’t able to see all the beauty that Mother Earth offers us.
Mindfulness reminds you to go to your in-breath and to be totally with your in-breath, be totally with your out-breath. Bring your mind back to your body and be in the present moment. Look deeply straight in front of you at what is wonderful in the present moment. Mother Earth is so powerful, so generous, and so supportive. Your body is so wonderful. When you’ve practiced and you are solid like the earth, you face your difficulty directly, and it begins to dissipate …”
~ Thich Nhat Hanh
