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. Oline donors will receive an annual tax receipt for the full amount of their donations in each calendar year.
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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, Jim, and Sharon for 20 minutes of silent meditation followed by our ongoing discussion of Pema Chödrön's Welcoming the Unwelcome: Wholehearted Living in a Brokenhearted World. Tonight, we'll continue to read Chapter 19, "Learning From Our Teachers." There's no need to have or be familiar with the book, and everyone is welcome.
The teacher helps you wake up by mirroring both your shortcomings and your basic goodness. He or she shows you both the neuroses you didn't want to look at and the potential that you didn't know was there.
– Pema Chödrön
Click here to join on Zoom @ 7 PM ET
Join Kaye Lee, Gloria, Marian, and Caitlin as we continue reading Chapter 8, "Equanimity and Letting Go", from Kaira Jewel Lingo's book We Were Made for These Times. There's no need to have read the book, and everyone is welcome. Our session will begin with 20 minutes of silent meditation.
Whenever we dehumanize another, we are cut off from our own humanity as well
– Kaira Jewel Lingo
Click here for directions
IN-PERSON – MISSISSAUGA
Join us as we gather in person on Wednesday to continue studying Pema Chodron's Living Beautifully. We are in the "Second Commitment–Take Care of One Another." We'll begin with 20 minutes of meditation, and there's no need to be familiar with the book.
....to help others implies that instead of holding our own individual territory and defending it tooth and nail, we become open to the world that we are living in. It means we are willing to take on greater responsibility, immense responsibility. In fact, it means taking a big chance.
– Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche
Click here to join on Zoom @ 7 PM ET
ONLINE
Please join Sandi, Lauren, Adam, and Stephanie to read and discuss Mark Nepo's book You Don't Have To Do It Alone. We begin a new chapter, "The Art of Netting", this week. In it, Nepo describes how supporting another keeps us above water. As a net distributes weight, so the heart distributes suffering. We'll begin with 20 minutes of silent meditation and there's no need to be familiar with the book.
To live this life and not be known by another, is a painful form of poverty.
– Mark Nepo
Click here to visit our Meetup
IN-PERSON – OWEN SOUND
Who or what are we when we're not thinking? Join Ken to read and discuss a Tricycle article by Andrew Olendzki on the subject of awareness. Our session will include 35 minutes of sitting and walking meditation, as well as a guided body scan.
Because so much of our mental activity consists of thoughts, images, concepts, and words, it seems inconceivable that the mind might manifest in powerful ways devoid of thought.
— Andrew Olendzki
Click here to join on Zoom @ 7 PM ET
ONLINE
Is there a meaning to life? How might we consider that question? Please join Debbie as we read and discuss the chapter "What Matters" in Oliver Burkeman's book, Meditations for Mortals. There's no need to be familiar with the book, and the session is open to all. We'll begin with 20 minutes of silent meditation.
The river of time flows inexorably on; amazingly, confoundingly, marvellously, we get the brief chance to go kayaking in it.
– Oliver Burkeman
Click here to join on Zoom @ 7 PM ET
ECODHARMA
Join Debbie for 20 minutes of silent meditation, and then we will read Juliana Sloane's A Practice for Connecting With The Four Elements That Can Be Done Anywhere. We'll begin with 20 minutes of silent meditation, and then dive into a practice that connects us with the four elements of the earth.
Friday EcoDharma sessions are for those experiencing anxiety or grief about environmental issues. The aim is to bring mindfulness and Buddhist practices to our distress, and to build community.
As the format and locations of our practice evolves, how can we retain the connection to nature that is an essential part of Buddhist practice?
– Juliana Sloane
Click here to join on Zoom @ 10:15 AM ET
Please join Debbie this Sunday as we read a section from The Road Home by Ethan Nichtern. We'll be exploring the "Four Aspects of Mindful Expression" chapter and looking at our ways of speaking through four aspects: honesty, kindness, harmony, and necessity. Our session will begin with 20 minutes of silent meditation. There's no need to be familiar with the book.
Mindful expression is not about perfection but about being fully present with what is. It’s about accepting the moment as it is, without judgment or distraction.
– Ethan Nichtern
Frustration didn’t make the cut when the seven deadly sins were immortalized. The Buddha said “Life is suffering” and not “Life is frustrating.” Nonetheless, frustration is as common as dandelions (which, given how lawn owners often feel about dandelions, has a peculiar symmetry to it.) It’s not even noon on Sunday here, and I’ve already felt the tug of frustration courtesy of misplaced car keys, errant tennis serves, and a disagreement about the right way to park two cars in one driveway!
Merriam-Webster notes that frustration is a feeling that arises from “unfulfilled goals, desires, or needs.” As much as I’d like to blame the tennis racquet (or myself), the culprit is my desire for things to be other than they are. As Byron Katie likes to say, “When you argue with reality, you lose, but only 100% of the time.”
I wrote about holding things lightly last week, and we’re in that zone again when it comes to frustration. Goals, desires, or needs can help to motivate and orient our actions, but when we’re overly attached to them, frustration is inevitable.
One way to work with attachment is, in the parlance of business, managing expectations. We do this by being honest and explicit with ourselves about what’s reasonable to expect. Going back to my morning tennis, was it reasonable to expect to hit 100% of my serves? Let’s see. Am I Roger Federer? No. Did I grow up playing tennis or have I ever played at a high level? No. Have I ever hit every one of my serves? No. 80%? Rarely, maybe. How many times have I played tennis in the past 5 years? About 10.
Had I taken a minute or two for the quick reflection above, what percentage of serves would I have reasonably expected? Surprise! Not far off what actually happened. Because I just started banging away without consciously managing expectations, however, I was primed for frustration.
You can try this out by identifying a quantifiable part of your daily routine that you find frustrating. Take that extra long morning lineup at your fave coffee shop on the way to work. Next, reflect on roughly how often you encounter that lineup. Let’s say once a week. Finally, before setting out each morning, recall that you’ll very likely face that lineup some day this week. Now, when it happens, no big deal–just what you expected. Doesn’t happen all week? Lucky you. Twice in the same week? HOW DARE THEY?! 🤣
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I expect to spend the next three minutes looking for my car keys (again).
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Ken, Sandi, and the Community Meditation Team
Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya 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
