In the Cool of the Evening

Thursday July 20, 2006

Last night was the third meeting of the new sitting meditation group (sittinginthemiddle.org), and a very enjoyable evening it was too. There were five of us in all, so for the first time it actually felt like a group. We drank tea and chatted for a while and then, as the weather was still incredibly hot, even at eight o’ clock in the evening, we went outside to meditate and to catch the evening breeze. Bod (the thinkBuddha cat) joined us for the meditation, curling up happily in an empty space and falling asleep.

I have always loved meditating outside. It is such a qualitatively different experience from meditation inside four walls. The air moves differently, the sounds are less muffled, small insects scurry across your toes. Overhead the swifts were circling and screaming. The neighbours’ kids were yelling in the garden. There was the occasional sound of an aircraft or a police siren. Between now and the final bell: nowhere to go; nothing to do.

If at the end of our journey
There is no final
Resting place,
Then we need not fear
Losing our Way.

Ikkyu

Tags: ikkyu, meditation

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