Meditative Listening Sessions are held on the 2nd Sunday of each month, following Adult Service.
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the word “meditation” means “the continuous application of the mind to the contemplation of some religious truth.”
The historical Buddha Sakyamuni realized enlightenment by awakening to the truth of interconnectedness, that everyone and everything has some kind of connection to everyone else and nothing can exist independently. However, there was another truth he realized. Sakyamuni also realized how people were unaware of the truth of interconnectedness so they tend to live against it. It became clear to him that we lack harmony in our lives because we are unaware of the interconnectedness of life. Teaching us this lesson is why we meditate. As it is defined in the Oxford English Dictionary, we meditate to contemplate on the truth of interconnectedness.
As Sakyamuni warns us of our unawareness, we meditate to gain awareness. Therefore, when we meditate, we listen to our surroundings by sitting quietly. Meditation allows us to pause and relax, to still our minds so that we can listen to the sound of wind, the rustle of the leaves, the birds crying, the passing cars, the breathing of others and people passing by. We try not to judge the sounds but simply listen to them. All of these sounds come into our ears as the reverberating of the bell starts to fade away. We can reconfirm our existence by listening to the sound of the many lives around us, and it is the silence that allows us to do this.
Please sit in a comfortable position and
- Place your hands on your lap
- Lower your head slightly
- Release tension
- We will start this session with the Four Square Deep Breathing exercise.
- Mediation will start with a ring of the bell and end with another ring of the bell.