With cooler weather and only intermittent sunshine, we met for the first time in several years in the exquisite living room of the main house. This was a delight for everyone and a first for most of us. We began the meeting with a few minutes of silence. Afterward, several participants mentioned that the beauty […]
The meeting began with a few minutes of silence and a suggestion to give attention to one’s breath during the silence. Afterwards, several participants said they appreciated the “quality” of the silence, noting that there was a sense of relaxation in the stillness, especially since some had driven to the meeting in heavy and noisy […]
It was a sunny, but windy afternoon. After some discussion about whether or not to gather indoors or outside on the lawn, we agreed to try outside. The meeting began with a few minutes of silence and a suggestion that as part of our inner silence, we give attention to the diversity of sounds that […]
We began the meeting with a few minutes of silence. After the silence ended, several participants commented on the sense of being deeply nourished by the stillness that was present in the group. One participant noted how the silence seemed to bring everyone closer together, even though some of us had met for the first […]
On what at times was a cool, windy day we decided to go ahead and hold the dialogue outside at the Swanwick property with the beautiful ocean view and the wind talking as it flowed through the large trees surrounding us. As before, being outside to dialogue in a beautiful spot added a sense of […]
The ten participants shared a period of silence to begin the dialogue. A question was asked regarding the silence: Was it peaceful or was it somewhat oppressive? Oppressive in the sense of self-conscious chatter dominating the quiet period. The group felt that just going into the silence instead of moving on to the reading portion […]
The group sat outside overlooking the ocean on a breezy but sunny day. There were nine of us and we began with a period of silence after which we read a passage from The Book of Life that was titled ‘Time is a Poison’. The title suggests that if we were to see that time […]
We did not have the pavilion room available to us due to a scheduling mishap, and the group decided to sit outside on a nearby picnic table. This afforded the group a greater intimacy due to the close quarters of the picnic table, as well as the opportunity to relate to the beautiful trees surrounding […]
Again working from our on-going Sunday quote for the month of August: “To go very far, you must begin very near. But that is very difficult for most of us because we want to escape from “what is” ; from the fact of what we are.“ The group focused on what is meant by “To […]
The group considered the quote: To Be Alone. “Meditation is the act of being alone. The act is entirely different from the activities of isolation. The very nature of the “me” is to isolate itself, through concentration, through various methods of meditation, and through the daily activities of separation. But to be alone is […]