Zen and the Higgs Boson...

We strayed onto the topic of quantum physics this evening, attempting as ever to 'eff the ineffable'... I mentioned a video I'd found useful, so here's the link:

http://www.phdcomics.com/higgs/

I've you've other explanations you've found useful, leave a comment!

August...

Well, a fantastic turnout this week - I think we equalled our attendance record! Not that I'm keeping tabs on these things, of course...

Just wanted to clarify that for the August 27th date, as it's a Bank Holiday, we will not be meeting. This leaves a long gap between August 13th and September 10th; let's call this our summer holiday! We will be going back to weekly meetings from 24th September.

Buddhist robot...

... no, seriously! Read about this on the Shambala Sun blog today. Mind is boggling.

Chong-Ko, who’s being called the first Buddhist robot, was created by students at King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology Ladkrabang in Bangkok to serve in an alms-giving ceremony. The 10-foot tall robot, dressed in a white shirt, helps out by picking up food and giving it to lay people, who then pass the food on to monks. Chong-Ko is controlled by a phone, and there’s a webcam inside his head that can broadcast the ceremony to those who can’t attend.

And there's video...

Still here...

Just posting to show that the group is alive & kicking... Monday evening zazen still happening! (Only 2nd & 4th weeks of the month over summer).

Summer dates

I'll send this out to the mailing list, too, but will keep this post updated if there are any changes in the future (the post will be linked to from the When & Where page).

So in short, I can only commit to coming down to Northampton every fortnight, so after chatting with the group on Monday night, it's decided that there will def be zazen on every 2nd and 4th Monday of the summer - June, July, August & September. Exact dates are listed below - and note that there will be zazen on both of the remaining Mondays in May.

In addition, we will try to make arrangements for other people to organise sittings on at least some of the alternate weeks, and if for any reason I'm in N'hants on one of these weeks, I'll open up as usual. Those dates, though, aren't currently confirmed, and I'll post to this site as & when they are.

So, the specific dates are:

• May 21, 28
• June 11, 25
• July 9, 23
• August 13, 27
• September 10, 24  Edit: 17/9 now also!

I know this is not ideal - I've always said that I want to have a sitting every week so as to avoid confusion and to gain momentum; running this fortnightly will demand a bit more from all of us in terms of intention to keep things going. So apologies for that, but I hope we can make plans to 'fill in the gaps'.

In the meantime, though - hope everyone has a fantastic summer!

No zazen on 30 April or 7 May

As I mentioned at last night's meeting, there will be no zazen this coming week as I will be away finishing my thesis...

Of course, it also occurred to me that there will be no sitting the following Monday either, as this is a Bank Holiday Monday. We'll be back in business on Monday 14 May - same time, same place.

Back to the Meeting House

So the work has been completed on the Friends Meeting House. The heating is now all up-to-date central heating with fancy digital controls in each room (that none of us have figured out yet!), the upstairs walls have been painted, the floors re-carpeted, and even the curtains have been taken down & washed.

The most visible change is the garden. Check this link to be reminded of what it looked like before... things have changed somewhat.

Thanks to all those who spent so much time and effort on these works, much appreciated by us all. Pics below!