TEACHER: Erin Oke
THEME: Spontaneity and Improvisation
MEDITATION: Getting Bouncy
INTERACTIVE: Making it up as we go along
Erin: A key element to live performance (and life!) is the ability to respond in the moment, work with what we’re given and go with the flow. Tonight we’ll explore practices that nurture spontaneity and cultivate our “Zen Bounce”, then let loose our inner performers to play some theatre games.
DATE: May 8, 2017
TEACHER: Caitlin Colson and Huy Lam
THEME: Focus and release
MEDITATION: Let’s get visual
INTERACTIVE: Draw the lines
Caitlin: Concentration and letting go practices are like bacon and eggs – they work well side by side. Concentration builds up our ability to develop and maintain a strong, meditative focus on a chosen point. Letting go enables us to loosen our grip on the reins of our minds, allowing them to roam free. In part 1, we’ll practice these opposing but complementary skills on the cushion. In part 2, guest artist Huy Lam will lead us through visual art practices that illustrate how to put these skills to paper.
TEACHER: Erin Oke
THEME: the comfort of a poem
MEDITATION: Contemplative Poetry
INTERACTIVE: words, words, words
Erin: the words of poets
guide this night’s sit, igniting
our practicing souls
TEACHER: Avi Craimer
THEME: What is this all about anyway?
MEDITATION: Why am I alive?
INTERACTIVE: Good life mandala
Avi: One of the fundamental questions of philosophy is “What is the good life?”. There’s not just one answer. For the Buddha it was the end of suffering, for Sade it was having sex all the time. If we don’t grapple with this question seriously, our meditation and even our lives risk being dominated by somebody else’s idea of what is truly important. In the second half, we’ll creatively map out our personal good life mandalas, seeking greater clarity and perspective to balance all our competing values.
TEACHER: Avi Craimer
THEME: Inquiry as a Process
MEDITATION: What is a question?
INTERACTIVE: Group inquiry and reactivity
Avi: To kick off our month of inquiry, I’m going to lead us in a meditation to explore the nature of question asking. How does the act of asking a question impact your inner life? In the second half, we’ll examine our reactive patterns around intellectual discussion. What does it bring up for us: Do we worry about not being smart enough or are we afraid of sounding too smart? Do we get competitive, shut-down, bored, fascinated? What kind of inquirers are we?
