For the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic, all groups are meeting online using Zoom (details below).
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 we have groups in several cities including Mississauga, Oshawa, and Owen Sound.
Our roots are Buddhist, but 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.
A Special Program With ADAM LOBEL | September 17th
This afternoon of teaching is to connect with your body, heart and senses, and to connect to this actual world of beings and ecosystems. This world is a place of grief, pleasure, strangeness, terror, and laughter – all dancing as ongoing communication.
Zoom session begins at 7:00 PM EST. Meditation starts at 7:15, with informal talk and discussion from 7:35 to 8:30.
Please join Jim Fitch and Sharon Wesoky on Monday as they continue reading Pema Chödron's When Things Fall Apart. This week, we'll be learning about and engaging in tonglen practice, which allows us to connect with the suffering of others in order to increase our compassion not just for them, but for ourselves.
Tonglen reverses the usual logic of avoiding suffering and seeking pleasure. In the process, we become liberated from very ancient patterns of selfishness.
― Pema Chödrön
Zoom session begins at 7:00 PM EST. Meditation starts at 7:15, with informal talk and discussion from 7:35 to 8:30.
This week, join Bob Hollett to continue reading and discussing Bhante Henepola Gunaratana's book, Mindfulness in Plain English. No previous reading or copy of the book required.
Buddhism advises you not to implant feelings that you don’t really have or avoid feelings that you do have.
- Bhante Henepola Gunaratana
Zoom session begins at 7:00 PM EST. Meditation starts at 7:15 PM, with informal talk and discussion from 7:35 to 8:30.
Adam Wilkinson continues with Willa Blythe Baker’s book, The Wakeful Body this week. How do we deepen our capacity to be present to our body’s felt sense? How might we cultivate ever more awareness of it? No need to have the book or to be familiar with previous chapters.
Somatic mindfulness is informed by one very simple observation: the mind is distracted but the body is not.
– Willa Blythe Baker
Zoom session begins at 7:00 PM EST. Meditation starts at 7:15 PM, with informal talk and discussion from 7:35 to 8:30.
is week, after meditation, Debbie McCubbin leads a group reading and discussion of an article by Barry Boyce, titled "Savouring the Moment". Tune in explore and contemplate this together. Sound familiar? It was intended to be last week's topic but another topic came up 😀
Notice opportunities to slow down, be present, and appreciate the world around you.
- Barry Boyce
Zoom session begins at 10:15 AM EST. Meditation starts at 10:30, with informal talk and discussion from 10:50 to 11:45.
Tune in on Sunday as Debbie McCubbin continues with Sylvia Boorstein's book, Pay Attention for Goodness' Sake. Through reading and discussion, we'll continue to explore the meaning of generosity and how we can become more aware of our habits and patterns around it.
I would not ask you to do this practice, to undertake this path of liberation from the habits of suffering mind, unless it were a feasible path.
– The Buddha
I was at a wedding on the idyllic shores of Georgian Bay this past weekend. The interplay of sun, cloud, and a gentle breeze gifted us with pleasant temperatures and dappled sunlight. The ceremony was hosted by a minister who crafted a skillful weaving of secular and spiritual.
Later that day, just before dinner, the minister spoke again. Instead of saying grace, he called our attention to the magnificence and tranquility of the moment, and how fortunate we were to experience it. He suggested that, while we no doubt all carried measure of worry, concern or regret, we could also be grateful for this remarkable, fleeting moment. For several seconds, only the lapping of waves and the whispering of leaves was heard. When the minister spoke again, it surprised and delighted me: "If that was a prayer, then 'Amen'".
In that vein, here's an excerpt from Chelan Harkin's poem, Say Wow:
each morning before we wrestle the world
and our hearts into the shape of our brains,
look around and say, “Wow!”
Feed yourself fire.
Scoop up the day entire
like a planet-sized bouquet of marvel
sent by the Universe directly into your arms
and say, “Wow!”
You can read or listen to the whole poem here.
🙏
Ken & the Community Meditation Team
Our hearts go out to everyone — all of us are experiencing disruption of our normal lives and various levels of increased anxiety and sadness. It is an important time to pause, be present, and open our hearts.
We at Community Meditation will have completely transitioned to online sitting, discussion, and programs. These new online sessions are available to everyone, not just the local group, creating more opportunities for you to participate. Discussions are led by local teachers, including Debbie McCubbin, Ken Dow, Bob Hollett, Tammy Russell, Stephanie Stewart, Erin Vanderstelt and Adam Wilkinson.
For those of us working from home or self-isolating, these sessions provide a much-needed chance to connect with others in a heartfelt way. We have four sittings a week at this point and will keep you informed as new sessions and programs are launched. All are welcome!
Our future discussion topics will include ways to work with with anxiety and the current situation, along with our usual offerings about meditation, Buddhism, awareness and emotions.
We invite everyone to come together as a community to support each other in working towards a wise, caring, and healthy world.
Sincerely,
The leaders and teachers of Community Meditation
if you’re new to Zoom, check out The Art of Zoom page we put together.
Good to go with Zoom already? You can join a Community Meditation session using the button below.
We started this meditation network to help you bring more clarity, balance, caring and joy to your life and your community.
Don't expect anything. Just sit back and see what happens. Treat the whole thing as an experiment.
- Bhante Henepola Gunaratana
