Entering and Exiting the Meditation Hall
Please arrive a few minutes early to avoid disturbing a session in progress, and remove outdoor shoes in the lobby. Cell phones should be turned off or set to “vibrate only” mode. Beverages are permitted in closed containers; no food in the meditation hall during sessions of formal meditation practice.
Find an unoccupied chair or mat (aka zabuton), grab a meditation bench or whatever cushions you might need to make yourself comfortable, and settle in. Feel free to chat with other participants and to browse the library until the session leader indicates it is time to start.
If you are new to the MBMC, please ask for the session leader and introduce yourself. If you have no prior experience with meditation, you are welcome to attend one of our regularly scheduled Introduction to Mindfulness Meditation sessions or to contact us in advance to arrange for personal instruction.
Those arriving after a session begins are asked to enter quietly, ideally during one of the periods of walking meditation; the same holds for those leaving before the session ends.
When you leave, please take any meditation cushion or bench you have used back to the storage area. The large flat cushions remain.
Sunday: Morning Meditation (aka nyinthun)
At 9am please stand at your place while the timekeeper lights the candles on the shrine. When the timekeeper has arrived at their seat then all sit down together. The timekeeper might make and/or call for announcements of upcoming MBMC events before opening the session with three gongs.
Once the Sunday morning session is opened it begins with the following chants:
- The Four Dharmas of Gampopa
- Seven Line Supplication to Padmakara
- Supplication to the Takpo Kagyu
- The Heart Sutra
Chant books are provided. You are welcome to join in or just listen.
The chants are followed by alternating periods of sitting meditation (~20 minutes) and walking meditation (~10 minutes) ending at 11am. At that time, the timekeeper will lead the dedication of merit and then close the session with three gongs.
Walking Meditation
The timekeeper signals the beginning of walking meditation by ringing the gong once, saying “walking meditation” or simply “walking”.
All stand and immediately proceed to do walking meditation in a clockwise direction, not too fast and not too slow (the timekeeper sets the pace).
The timekeeper will signal the end of walking meditation by striking the gandi. As soon as the gandi is struck, everyone should pick up their pace and walk briskly, still clockwise, to their seat, where they remain standing until the timekeeper sits down; then all sit down together.
When everyone has settled, the timekeeper will strike the gong once to signal continuation of sitting meditation practice.
Tuesday: Simple Sit
A no-frills meditation practice. The session starts with a short statement of contemplative material. This is followed by group meditation instruction if there are new partipants. We then sit until 11:00am. 10 minutes of optional walking meditation follow, allowing those who are looking for an abbreviated session to leave or arrive. A final sitting practice of about 20 minutes rounds off the session at 11:30am.
Those arriving after 10:30am are asked to enter quietly or to wait until the walking meditation period.
Wednesday: Beginner's Mind
This weekly meditation circle welcomes those new to meditation and those newly returning to meditation, as well as seasoned practitioners who aspire to cultivating the openness of “beginner’s mind.” The first few minutes of seated and walking meditation are guided. There is an opportunity to ask questions and to reflect upon meditation practice. This circle is led by Jan Cressman and Kathie Brown.
First Saturday: Introduction to Mindfulness Meditation
In our day-to-day life, we often spend a lot of time in pressured situations moving from task to task. Mindfulness meditation is designed to help us bring our bodies and mind together instead of the normal way of doing one thing and thinking about something else. Mindfulness is simply about being present and experiencing our world more fully
Each session runs from 10 – 11am on the first Saturday of each month, and includes meditation instruction, meditation practice, walking meditation and an opportunity for questions and discussion.