On Wednesday evening during our meditation time, we’ll have Zen Circle time – which will be a simple online way to express some of what we might be stirring in you as you make your way through this pandemic.
We’ll gather online at 5:30 for a few minutes of silence together, and then open it up for sharing. We’ll stick to a loose version of council process, which means that we ask each person to:
- Listen from the heart. Bearing witness to each other’s experience in this moment
- For those who want to speak, to speak from the heart – be authentic and true to yourself. If you want, you can share a short poem or saying, or some personal words of your own.
- Be succinct, go to essence. We want you to say enough, but just enough so others can be attentive, the energy of the group stays strong, and others have time to share. Please avoid lengthy sharing, and if you lose track and go on for more than three minutes, I’ll sound a mindfulness bell, indicating that you should finish up. We’ll do this with a lot of kindness.
- Be spontaneous. Don’t spend too much time rehearsing what you want to say. Just see what arises for you.
We have two agreements: That we keep whatever is said confidential to our group, and that we don’t engage each other in cross-talk or discussion across the circle. The one exception (and this is where it is a modified council) will be if someone asks me a direct question about practice. I may take some time at the end to address some of the things that are coming up.
Council is a wonderful way to connect with one another. I hope you’ll join us. We will try to offer this every other Wednesday, on the weeks when we are not offering a dharma talk. We will alternate dharma talks with Zen Circles.
