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Buddhist Meditation is about
paying attention to the contents of the
mind |
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By Dr.
Shiroma Bandara, Pictures by Nimal
Navarathne |
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Buddhas teaching is for us to
practise tranquillity meditation as
much as you can to develop a strong
foundation. The stable mind can stop
thinking, can stop going on and on.
Begin to abide in stillness and
clarity. You can stay with the
breath or stay with bare awareness,
silently and fully awake. The more
you can do that the more you can do
reflecting on the changing phenomena
we normally think of as "me". See
them all as objects, stay with them
and see their arising and passing
away. The more we see impermanence
the clearer unsatisfactoriness and
non-self become, and the clearer we
see that all conditioned phenomena
are impermanent. So really reflect
on that, because the more we see
that the more we begin to incline
towards a peaceful mind, the mind
that is empty, contented, and still,
no longer clinging onto any mortal
condition.
We are all very
fortunate to have this opportunity
to practise. For
a good introduction to meditation,
it is invaluable to attend a serene
place where there is teaching and
guidance or a group which includes
experienced meditators. Groups not
only provide a supportive
atmosphere, but enable those just
starting meditation to raise
questions. Fellowship - finding a
good group of friends who are all
treading the same or similar path is
a very important support for
practice.
At our Buddhist
Temple,Thames Buddhist Vihara
Dulverton Rd Crydon CR2 0PJ
, we
have found an ideal place where we
meet every Wednesday /Thursday
evening to spend a very worth while
few hours meditating with like
minded friends with guidance and
support from experienced teachers .
The meditation sessions are
fascilitated in english on a
Wednesday evening from 7pm to 9 pm
by Dr. Shiroma Bandara in english
and on a Thursday evening from
7pm to 9pm by Dr. Matheesha
Gunathilake in sinhala . Both
experiensed in the samatha/vipassana
path. As members of these two groups
we liase and have many dhamma
discussions and sutta discussions ,
via yahoo groups .com We also hold a
monthly Day Retreat with guidance
and a dhamma discussion once every
month and have also benefitted
immensley by 10 to 12 day long
retreats , during the past 4 years ,
at Vajrasana centre Suffolk and in
Bromley centre.
As Buddha advised
'Ehi Passiko - come experience and
see.
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SESATHA - The Sri Lankan Event Portal in
the UK |
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