No current course
Finding Stillness & Stability
An introduction to Zen Meditation
Modern, post-pandemic life is hectic. We get pulled in a thousand different directions, and it seems like everything is always changing just as we think we’re getting used to things. When it feels that there’s little we can do to change the world or our circumstances, we yearn for stillness and stability, peace and resilience, or calmness and a sense of being centred in our own lives.
However, this sense of constant changes and of dissatisfaction with the world and our lives is nothing new – Buddhist though has shown this to be central to human experience, even 2,500 years ago. What Zen meditation reveals to us, is that stillness and stability are already present in our consciousness, and that we can learn to express them through facing up to the world and to ourselves, and seeing them for what they are, not what we want them to be.
Join us for a four-week exploration of these themes, and for instruction in traditional Zen meditation.
Where & when
Dates: Weds 11th January - Weds 1 February 2023.
Wednesday evenings from 7.30pm at the Friends Meeting House (Quaker House) on Wellington Street in the centre of Northampton (there's a public car park right next door). See bottom of this page for a map, or go to: https://goo.gl/maps/FrKxznEyyXz5Ggrr7. Please arrive by 7.15pm.
No tickets are needed - just turn up for the session. The Facebook listing for this mentions tickets, but that was just to get a button that linked to this page!
If you have questions, or would like to be informed when course dates are confirmed, please email the instructor, Alasdair Taisen Gordon-Finlayson at alasdair@gordon-finlayson.net.
Format
Each week's session will consist of a talk and instruction with Alasdair, and include a period of meditation. We will end with a Q&A session with tea & biscuits.
Shortly after the course is completed, we will look into organising a 'zazenkai', a day-long practice period with meditation, mindful work, a shared meal and one-on-one interviews with Alasdair to support your meditation practice.
Suggested donation
We suggest a donation of £40 for the course for taxpayers, £20 for non-taxpayers and other concessions. We can only take cash donations (no card facilities). You can choose to contribute as a one-off donation or weekly (e.g. £10/week), whichever is more convenient for you. If you will struggle to pay, please email alasdair@gordon-finlayson.net rather than not attending.
The zazenkai practice day would be a separate event that will have its own charge.
What to wear & bring
Please arrive in loose, comfortable clothes that are black or generally dark-coloured (not visually distracting to others) as each week will include a period of meditation.
If you already have a personal meditation cushion or bench, feel free to bring that along too. Otherwise, everything will be provided.
Instructor
The course will be delivered by Alasdair Taisen Gordon-Finlayson, who is the convenor for the local group and a 'Dharma Holder' in the StoneWater Zen Sangha. Alasdair has been a Zen practitioner for 30 years, and is also a Senior Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Northampton.
After the course
Once the course is over, please consider joining us for our regular Wednesday evening zazen meetings each week (see the "When & Where" page for details).
Help promote the course!
To help spread the word of the course, please feel free to share the Facebook event in your social media posts: link to https://www.facebook.com/events/901085781052199, or just to the SWZ Northampton page at https://www.facebook.com/SWZNorthants.
You can also download the flyer to send to anyone who might be interested: click the image below to get a PDF version of the flyer:
