Anything that is happening
We will NOT be meeting at St Marks on three Thursdays in August – the 13th, 20th and 27th. This is because St Marks is being used as a festival venue.
Good news is that we will be meeting on Tuesdays in these weeks at Marchmont St Giles so it may be an opportunity for you to try something different if you haven’t been before. See our regular meeting page for details.
On arrival it was a very wet and overcast morning. Keith and I (Bryan) began setting up the large hall at St Giles of Marchmont. We were soaked by the rain and began putting out mats and cushions. I remarked casually to Keith “we will be lucky to have 10 folk due to the weather conditions”. Folk started to straggle in through the door looking thoroughly wet, certainly glad to be out of the rain and very happy for a cup of tea. When we sat down to begin our practise 21 folk had made the conscious choice to come to our gathering of the Wild Geese mindfulness morning despite the weather.
The theme for the day was “Habit energy and its scorpion nature”. This was partly inspired from a dharma talk given by Sister Dang Nghiem found in an old edition of the Mindfulness bell magazine. After a brief telling of the ” Story of the frog and the scorpion”. Keith led us on a guided meditation and walking meditation, followed by sit. We then broke for a cup of tea in silence. I could not help but notice that many of the now vacated mats had large damp patches due to the encounter with the rain.
A short dharma talk was given, which offered various angles to look into the subject of habit energy. How this energy enters our daily lives, its possible origins and its addictive and scorpion like nature. Also how it plays a major role in our suffering and for others. After a brief description on the practice of deep listening and sharing within our tradition. We broke into two groups for dharma sharing.
Our final practice was lunch held partly in silence. Folk brought the usual array of good food to share. We sat in a circle on our mats connecting with our food and the circle as a whole. On the invitation of the bell we broke silence and chatted, getting to know our neighbours. Finally we said our goodbye’s inviting everyone to meet again on the 1st of August at the Salisbury Centre from 9.30am to 1.30am.
To summarise the morning. It was wonderful to see the young people from Wake up who attended. They brought a balance, plus wisdom and harmony to the day. The new faces and familiar ones blended with the young, sharing there experience and I feel it was a beneficial atmosphere all round. Mindfulness mornings if nothing else is an act of peace. Hopefully we will see you again at the Salisbury Centre.
Bryan and Keith
There will be a morning of mindfulness at the Salisbury Centre on 1 August from 9:30 to 13:00 facilitated by Pete.
Here are directions to where it is: http://www.salisburycentre.org/site/findus/index.php
Some cushions and mats will be provided but if you have your own you may like to bring them. Tea will be provided but please bring a little vegetarian food to share for lunch.
The theme will be “Mindfulness of Music”.
Music, as a sense impression, is the second of the four nutriments described by Thay. We will apply the five contemplations, normally used for food, to music in order to increase our appreciation of it and our awareness of it’s interbeing nature. There will be guided mediation, walking meditation, readings, listening to music (including Thay’s new translation of the Heart Sutra) and some sharing. All welcome.
This is a lovely read about how Thay is improving and teaching by example.
http://plumvillage.org/news/an-update-on-thays-health-28th-june-2015/
Our practice theme is how habit energy has a central role in our everyday lives. We will look into some of Thich Nhat Hanh’s commentaries regards the use of mindfulness to transform negative habit energy. Giving us the opportunity to come together to enjoy sitting meditation, walking and eating together in Mindfulness. There will be Dharma sharing and discussion on this subject where we can gain insight from each other, please bring some vegetarian food to share. Tea will be provided.
Where: Marchmont St Giles. Which is located on the corner Marchmont Road. Strathearn Road and Kilgraston Rd. This is a new venue for us and we have the use of the main hall which is big light and airy.
When: Saturday 4th of July 2015 – 9:30am to 1:30pm
Bring: Vegetarian food to share, there will be mats and chairs and blankets provided but please bring your own if possible.
Donation: A £5.00 donation is welcomed to pay for the premises, but please pay only what you can afford.
Getting there by Bus:
– The No 5 from North Bridge (at the east end of Princes Street) stops near the traffic lights on Strathearn Rd, Marchmont Rd.
– The Nos. 24 & 41 go to Marchmont Road. Strathearn Road also stops near the same traffic lights.
– The Nos. 11,15,16,27,27,45 from Princes Street and Lothian Road go to Bruntsfield Links, walk down Whitehouse Loan to the Strathearn Road. Continue on past the Gillis Centre to the top of Marchmont Rd at the traffic lights. A 10 minute walk approx.
If you would like more information please phone Bryan 07736889165 or you can just turn up on the day.
The Annual Summer Inter-Faith Peace Occasion “Inspired to be Peace People” will take place on 25th June at 7:30pm at Edinburgh Theosophical Society.
I (Roger) will give a 15-20 minute talk on “The Buddha – A Life of – and for – Peace“. The Rev. Brian Cooper will give a talk “Jesus of Nazareth – A Life of – and for – Peace“. Bashir Malik will read from The Qur’an. Nila Joshi will read from Hindu Scripture. Maureen Hunter from the Edinburgh Baha’i Community will play the harp. Sister Louisa Gupta from Brahma Kumaris Spiritual University will lead a mediation.
People of all faiths and none are welcome to attend and are asked to assemble by 7:20pm. Edinburgh Theosophical Society is at 28 Great Kings Street in the New Town.
This unfortunately clashes with our regular Thursday Sangha night so there is a choice of what to attend. I’ll try and record my talk and post it here for those who can’t make it.
We have the opportunity to come together enjoy sitting meditation, walking and eating together in Mindfulness. There will be some readings, Dharma sharing and discussion. Please bring some vegetarian food to share. Tea will be provided.
Where: St Giles of Marchmont. Which is located on the corner Marchmont Road, Strathearn Road and Kilgraston Rd. This is a new venue for us and we have the use of the main hall which is big light and airy.
When: Saturday 4th of July of 9:30am to 1:30pm
Bring: Vegetarian food to share, there will be mats and chairs and blankets provided but please bring your own if possible.
By Donation: Suggested £5.00 donation is welcomed but please pay only what you can afford.
By Bus:
If you would like more information please phone Bryan 07736889165 or you can just turn up on the day.
We discussed the fourth mindfulness training: Loving Speech and Deep Listening.
Aware of the suffering caused by unmindful speech and the inability to listen to others, I am committed to cultivating loving speech and compassionate listening in order to relieve suffering and to promote reconciliation and peace in myself and among other people, ethnic and religious groups, and nations.
Knowing that words can create happiness or suffering, I am committed to speaking truthfully using words that inspire confidence, joy, and hope. When anger is manifesting in me, I am determined not to speak. I will practice mindful breathing and walking in order to recognize and to look deeply into my anger. I know that the roots of anger can be found in my wrong perceptions and lack of understanding of the suffering in myself and in the other person. I will speak and listen in a way that can help myself and the other person to transform suffering and see the way out of difficult situations.
I am determined not to spread news that I do not know to be certain and not to utter words that can cause division or discord. I will practice Right Diligence to nourish my capacity for understanding, love, joy, and inclusiveness, and gradually transform anger, violence, and fear that lie deep in my consciousness.
See you next Tuesday!
It seems our first Sangha+ gathering at Marchmont St Giles was a success as there were many smiles and a lovely atmosphere.
The plan is to have something of a theme for each week, for that theme to emerge from the participants and for everyone to feel at easy with contributing. To help this along we will try and have a blog post here beforehand with some background just in case anyone wants to follow up on what was said or have time to reflect beforehand. It is just an extra. Not required reading!!
The next meeting is on Tuesday 9th June (Marchmont St Giles 7-9pm) the theme will be the first of the Five Mindfulness Trainings.
Aware of the suffering caused by the destruction of life, I am committed to cultivating the insight of interbeing and compassion and learning ways to protect the lives of people, animals, plants, and minerals. I am determined not to kill, not to let others kill, and not to support any act of killing in the world, in my thinking, or in my way of life. Seeing that harmful actions arise from anger, fear, greed, and intolerance, which in turn come from dualistic and discriminative thinking, I will cultivate openness, non-discrimination, and non-attachment to views in order to transform violence, fanaticism, and dogmatism in myself and in the world.
And finally a lovely poem Joelle wrote about the night
We’re friends who come together
to notice, and count our breath
without numbers. Tonight
we gather, the first time
in this new upper room,
so that fresh ways to share
can form among us.
Around the building the wind
rattles the panes and wanders
like a mind finding its way.
The world is breathing –
and we are sitting, listening.
Any suggestions as of more I could add here please let me know.
Edinburgh Wild Geese Sangha 