A visit to the UoN's Meditation Society

A big thank you to the organisers of the University of Northampton's Meditation Society who invited me to visit yesterday. There was a great turnout - 20 if you include the photographer (and as he also sat with us, you can definitely include him!), and the session seemed appreciated.

The members of Meditation Society are probably not Buddhist (though some are), and definitely not Zennistas, so I used the forms of Zen as an example of how meditation can be practised in a ritualised context. We bowed, we sat in straight lines with straight postures (and a good strong sitting it was too), and then afterwards we chanted the Identity of Relative and Absolute, then ended with a few more bows!

Chatting afterwards it seems the chanting was considered the 'oddest' element, but that the ritual context helped people get into a good frame of mind for meditation. I asked people to consider what rituals they already use or might develop in their own practice and left them to chew on that for a while.

Thanks especially to Chetack Nangare and Charmaine Sonnex, Pres & Sec of Meditation Society, for the invitation and help setting up & breaking down... as well as permission to share these photos...