Candle in the dark: A Morning of Mindfulness Saturday 8th December ’18

DSCF1561

We will be holding a Morning of Mindfulness on Saturday 8th December to round off the year and celebrated the stillness of mid winter.

There will be guided and unguided sitting mediation, some walking and maybe some gentle movement. There will be silence. There will be companionship. There will be inspirational readings. And there may be a little Christmas cheer.

Why not come along and charge your spiritual batteries for the festive season ahead?

When: Saturday 8th December – 9:30am for 10am to 1:00pm
Where: St. Marks Unitarian Church, Castle Terrace
Booking: Just turn up.
Bring: Small amount of vegetarian food to share if that is easy.
Cost: By donation – to cover the cost of hiring the venue etc. Suggested: £10 (£5).

 

Love Will Take Us: An Afternoon of Mindfulness and Stories

Event 20181006 - Love Will Take UsYou are invited to a nourishing and relaxing afternoon with writer, storyteller and mindfulness teacher Jane Ellen Combelic. Come hear stories from her recent book, No Coming No Going, about the year she – and her dog, Serafina – spent on a farm near Plum Village in southern France, studying with Zen monk Thich Nhat Hanh.

We will experience and discuss one of the most meaningful practices from Plum Village: deep listening and speaking from the heart, sharing that most precious of gifts, our presence. Everyone is welcome, from any faith tradition or none.

Jane Ellen Combelic is a long-time student of Vietnamese Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh, and former editor of his magazine The Mindfulness Bell. Originally from Colorado, she now lives near Findhorn in Scotland.

Do you know someone who would be interested in attending or where this event should be advertised? Click here to download the event poster.

When: Saturday 6 October 2018 – 14:30 – 17:30
Where: St. Marks Unitarian Church, Castle Terrace
Booking: Just turn up.
Cost: Pay what you can: £10 recommended, £5 for unwaged, £15 for greater support

Festival Fringe Meeting Times 2018

During the Edinburgh Festival Fringe St Marks church is used as a venue in the evenings and so we will take a break from our regular Thursday evening meetings in August. Our other meetings at Santosa and Mindfulness@Lunchtime at St Marks continue as usual.

Enjoy the summer and see you at one of our other meetings or in September.

pin_05

Morning of Mindfulness Saturday 21st July 2018

Welcome to a Morning of Mindfulness on the 21st of July, 10am-2pm at St Mark’s unitarian church.

Arrival from 9.30; we have to lock the door when starting, so do arrive before 10.

Come and join us for a relaxed morning of sitting and walking meditation, reflecting on Buddhist teachings of reconciliation (both within oneself and with others), enjoying delicious food, and each other’s company.

Facilitators will be Gustaf from the Wild Geese and Keith from Wild Geese and Wake Up Edinburgh.

Come as you are, and bring something vegetarian (vegan?) to share at lunch time.

Looking forward to seeing you there!

pin_01

 

When: Saturday 21st July – 9:30am for 10am to 2:00pm
Where: St. Marks Unitarian Church, Castle Terrace
Booking: Just turn up.
Cost: A donation would be appreciated to cover the cost of hiring the venue. Suggested: £10 (£5).

 

Phap Vu – Mindfulness In Everyday Life

If you couldn’t make the talk by Brother Phap Vu on 6th June or would like to hear it again here are the recordings of the evening. There are three lots of audio: the introduction by Bill and the meditation then the talk itself and then the Q&A session.

Introduction

DSCF7933

Main Talk

DSCF7946

Questions & Answers

DSCF7952

Notes from our latest “Breathing Our Way to Freedom” mindfulness morning

At the weekend we enjoyed a mindfulness morning on the Sutra on the Full Awareness of Breathing. Pete mentioned the Three Doors of Liberation in the context of breathing exercise twelve.

Here are two useful videos of Thay explaining these concepts. They come from video recordings of Dharma talks during the Breath of the Buddha retreat at Plum Village in 2006.
First one is on Emptiness
Second on is on Signlessness (which we didn’t cover) and Aimlessness (from 11 minutes in) which we did  – a bit!

 

Mindfulness in Everyday Life: Talk +Q&A with Brother Phap Vu

DSCF2429 (1).jpgBrother Phap Vu, a very experienced mindfulness practitioner, was ordained in 2003 at Plum Village, the monastery for the world renowned Zen Teacher Thich Nhat Hanh.  He has a strong and active involvement in building monastic and lay communities in the USA and has regularly visited Scotland. He is well versed in Buddhist history and psychology and is committed to sharing this knowledge with a wide audience. His talk will be focused on how we can all benefit from a mindfulness approach and how we can discover life in the present moment. You can read Phap Vu’s blog here. The talk will be followed by a question and answer session.

The last evening we ran with monastics was so popular we had to turn some people away at the door so please ensure your place by buying a ticket through Eventbrite.

Br-Vu-Bell.jpgWhen: Wednesday 6th June 7:30pm till 9pm
Where: St. Marks Unitarian Church, Castle Terrace
Booking: Ticketed through Eventbrite. Please book here. If you are unable to use Eventbrite please contact us.
Cost: £10(£6)

 

 

 

After the talk Phap Vu will be running a four day retreat at Wiston Lodge in the borders for which there are a few places remaining: A Residential Retreat with Br Phap Vu June 7th to 10th 2018 Wiston Lodge