Community Meditation is non-profit network of meditation groups. We bring mindfulness and wellness into people’s lives through courses, meditation sittings and group discussions, both in-person and online. By sharing the benefits of meditation and mindfulness, we support the evolution of a wise, caring, and healthy world.
Our network has existed for over a decade and although our roots are Buddhist, we draw on many wisdom traditions as well as contemporary wellness, psychology, and neuroscience. Community Meditation is completely volunteer-based and guided by a council of experienced teachers.
Community Meditation is a Canada Revenue Agency Registered Charity No. 73107 5719 RR0001.
Your donations, either one-time or with a monthly subscription, help us to pay rent, insurance and other basic expenses. We are a volunteer organization and all of our costs are covered by donations and course fees. Online Canadian donors will receive an annual tax receipt for the full amount of their donations in each calendar year.
One-Time Donation Monthly Donation
NOTE: For monthly donations, use the Qty button to adjust the amount in units of $5. For example, a Qty of "3" is 3 x 5 = $15.
All online sessions, except our short morning sessions, include a 20-minute silent meditation. New to meditation? Instruction is available.
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Click here to join on Zoom @ 8:45 AM ET
Looking for a mindful start to your day? We're launching silent group meditations from 8:45 to 9 AM ET, Monday to Friday. There is no meditation instruction available in these sessions–if you'd like instruction, email hello@communitymeditation.net.
Click here to join on Zoom @ 7 PM ET
Please join Brenda, Gordon, and Jim for 20 minutes of silent meditation followed by a reading of Wholehearted: Slow Down, Help Out, Wake Up by Koshin Paley Ellison. This week, we'll be exploring Chapter 16, "Living in Accord with Our Own Values." Join us to discuss how to nourish the three treasures of awakening, receptivity, and community. Everyone is welcome, and there's no need to have or be familiar with the book
The opportunity for wisdom is always right now.
– Koshin Paley Ellison
Click here to join on Zoom @ 7 PM ET
Join Kaye-Lee, Gloria, and Marian for 20 minutes of silent meditation followed by continuing reading "A Good Start", a chapter from Tracy Cochran's book Presence: The Art of Being at Home in Yourself. You don't need to have read the book to come. Everyone is welcome.
We are all doing the same thing. Lost in our bubbles. Lost in our own stories. The center of our own tiny universe.
– Tracy Cochran
IN-PERSON – MISSISSAUGA
Join us in person on Wednesday as we gather to explore topics such as meditation, mindfulness, compassion, Buddhism, and other related subjects. Our session will begin with 20 minutes of meditation, and there are no prerequisites to participate.
Remember that if you really want to motivate yourself, love is more powerful than fear.
― Kristin Neff
Click here to join on Zoom @ 7 PM ET
ONLINE
Please join Lauren, Adam, and Sandi to continue reading the final section of Mark Nepo's inspiring book, The Power Of Friendship. In the "Curing Fox" chapter, we consider our role as friends; what does it mean to heal? Our session will begin with 20 minutes of silent meditation. There's no need to be familiar with the book.
There is so much good in the worst of us,
and so much bad in the best of us, that it makes us ill...
to find fault with the rest of us.
– Anonymous
IN-PERSON – OWEN SOUND
Join Ken this week to read and discuss JoAnna Harper's article, "How to Practice Loving-Kindness." Like the author's quote below, Ken thought this practice was not for him (spoiler alert: it was). Our session will begin with tea and hanging out, followed by 35 minutes of sitting and walking meditation.
When I was introduced to the practice of metta—most often translated as lovingkindness practice—I definitely knew it wasn’t for me. It was too mushy and sentimental for my pragmatic mind.
– JoAnna Harper
Click here to join on Zoom @ 7 PM ET
ONLINE
Please join Debbie, Daniel, and Stephanie to watch Tara Brach's "Discover Your Fearless Heart" video, in which she explores what it means to live with a fearless and loving heart. Our session will begin with 20 minutes of silent meditation.
When we have learned to stay, to soften, and to trust the aliveness of our being, love flows freely.
– Tara Brach
Click here to join on Zoom @ 7 PM ET
ECODHARMA
Join Debbie to read an article by Nikayla from the One Earth Sangha's newsletter. The practice of "staying with" includes both the pleasant and the unpleasant. Our session will begin with 20 minutes of silent meditation.
Friday EcoDharma sessions are designed for those experiencing anxiety or grief relating to environmental issues. The aim is to bring mindfulness and Buddhist practices to our distress, and to build community.
The practice of "staying with" might be the invitation of our times.
– Nikayla
Click here to join on Zoom @ 10:15 AM ET
This Sunday, join Debbie and Hazel to read and discuss The Road Home by Ethan Nichtern. In the chapter titled "The Wisdom of No Escape from the World," we sense how the three levels of practice–personal, interpersonal, and societal–work together in balance. Our session will begin with 20 minutes of silent meditation. There's no need to be familiar with the book.
[What might] a journey of awakening look like when (1) personal accountability, (2) interpersonal awareness, and (3) political and cultural engagement are all held in a holistic balance?
– Ethan Nichtern
Note: This post was originally published on October 23, 2022.
I don’t often look to business publications for spiritual guidance, but after listening to a podcast with author Greg McKeown, I picked up a copy of his book, Essentialism. There was something about McKeown’s message that resonated beyond its obvious application to productivity.
The thesis of Essentialism is, roughly:
This line of reasoning has implications for meditation and mindfulness (I know, shocker! 😂 ). When Shunryu Suzuki was asked what the most important thing was, he replied:
The most important thing is to find out what the most important thing is.
So, what is the most important thing? The essential thing? In Buddhism, there are traditionally two perspectives from which to answer this. From the ultimate point of view, the view that transcends all concepts and separation, the answer is something along the lines of "nowness", or "just this".
The relative perspective, on the other hand–the "fine-but-what-about-cleaning-the-bathtub" perspective–calls from a more, shall we say, down-to-earth answer. We come to meditation for many reasons, from the wish to ease our personal suffering to the urge to develop a clearer and more stable mind. In Mahayana Buddhist traditions such as Zen, however, the intention to be of benefit to others is the central motivation for practicing patience, generosity, ethics, meditation, and wisdom.
By regularly pausing to consider what’s essential, we’re able to reconnect with what matters, whatever it might be. Maybe we drop into "nowness", choose to call a friend, or simply recall our intention to be of benefit to others.
Pause.
Take it all in.
What’s the most important thing?
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Ken, Sandi, and the Community Meditation Team
Photo by Jimmy Conover on Unsplash
We started this meditation network to help you bring more clarity, balance, caring and joy to your life and your community.
The truth that many people never understand, until it is too late, is that the more you try to avoid suffering, the more you suffer.
― Thomas Merton
