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.
NOTE
For all the sessions listed below:
Click here to join on Zoom @ 5 PM ET
ONLINE
Please join Kaye-Lee to explore what happens when we slow down and move toward the creative with mindful awareness and intention.
Everyone is born creative; everyone is given a box of crayons in kindergarten. Then when you hit puberty they take the crayons away and replace them with dry, uninspiring books on algebra, history, etc. Being suddenly hit years later with the 'creative bug' is just a wee voice telling you, 'I'd like my crayons back, please'.
― Hugh MacLeod
Click here to join on Zoom @ 7 PM ET
ONLINE
Please join Brenda, Jim, and Gordon for 20 minutes of silent meditation followed by a reading and discussion of Radical Acceptance: Embracing Your Life With the Heart of a Buddha by Tara Brach. This week, we begin discussing Chapter 9, "The RAIN of Compassion: an Applied Meditation for Healing and Freedom".
RAIN is an acronym for Recognize, Allow, Investigate, Nurture, and it brings mindfulness and compassion to whatever difficulties we are encountering.
– Tara Brach
Click here to join on Zoom @ 7 PM ET
ONLINE
You are welcome to join Marian, Gloria, and Kaye-Lee as we delve further into Norman Fischer's book, The World Could Be Otherwise. This week, we'll continue exploring Chapter 2, "The Perfection of Generosity".
Generosity is empty of generosity...
– Norman Fischer
Click here to join on Zoom @ 10:45 AM ET
NEW DAYTIME SESSION! ONLINE
Please join Sandi and Darina for our daytime session, in which we're currently exploring Pema Chodron's book, Another Kind of Freedom. In it, Chodron explores the six "styles of imprisonment", the first of which she calls "The Cosmic Joke". This week, we continue to look at the ego as a five-step process: how quickly we jump from openness to our interpretations of 'for/against', 'like/dislike', and then our storylines about that.
Because we have such a deep-seated habit of grabbing on and holding tight, we miss the natural openness that’s always present.
– Pema Chodron
Click here to join on Zoom @ 7 PM ET
ONLINE
Join Sandi, Lauren, and Adam as we explore one of Byron Katie's writing practice about our judgement. Using Byron Katie's "The Work" method, we'll use four simple questions to explore the power of our thoughts. C'mon, sounds like fun, right? Let's dive into these ideas together.
NOTE: Have pen and paper ready.
It's not your job to like me...
It's mine
– Byron Katie
OWEN SOUND, IN PERSON
Join Wayne Murray this week to explore the Four Noble Truths, one of the foundational Buddhist teachings. What role does desire play in our lives? How can we work with desire to live in a deeper and more fulfilling way?
...though desire can’t be got rid of, it can be clarified and transmuted. Healing is possible.
― Norman Fischer
Click here to join on Zoom @ 7 PM ET
ONLINE
Please join Debbie as we explore the work of teacher Adam Lobel. In a podcast interview by Stephanie Romero, Adam talks about the "The Ripple Effect". This is an introduction to Lobel's work, who has been Debbie McCubbin's main mentor over her practice life.
In this thought-provoking episode, Stephanie Romero sits down with longtime meditation teacher, scholar, environmental activist, and community leader Adam Lobel to explore what it means to live, lead, and practice amidst profound personal and societal change.
– Stephanie Romero podcast
Click here to join on Zoom @ 7 PM ET
ECODHARMA
Join Debbie in reading an article by Adam Lobel called "Teachings of the Tree", which explores the connection between ecology and Buddhist philosophy.
👉 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.
These deep roots are really how the tree is able to stay alive, how the tree is able to maintain its being. So I encourage you to practice. I encourage you to make more time for sitting and for working with your minds.
– Adam Lobel
Click here to join on Zoom @ 10:15 AM ET
ONLINE
Please join Debbie and Darina to continue with Pema Chodron's book Living Beautifully, specifically the section titled "Breathing in Pain, Breathing out Relief". In it, Pema introduces a compassion practice called "tonglen".
Tonglen goes against the grain of how we usually deal with the world: wanting life on our own terms, wanting things to work out for our own benefit, no matter what happens to others.
– Pema Chodron
When Irish musician Glen Hansard passed away on July 29th, the world lost a remarkable artist. Best known for the movie Once, which earned him and collaborator Marketa Irglova a Best Original Song Oscar for Falling Slowly, Hansard chose, at age 13, to busk the Dublin streets instead of attend school. Hansard would later observe:
The busking education sits at the core of everything I’ve done since.
Busking education? Like improvisation, busking relies on spontaneity and adaptability. The busker has to contend with the randomness of weather, their instruments, ambient noise, and the passers-by they're trying to entertain. Rigidity is the road to failure. Here's a description of Hansard in a live performance with his guitar "the Horse":
Just as the performance begins to take off—mid–raspy belt, mid–resolute strum—the Horse’s G string snaps, and knocks some of its neighbors out of tune. Hansard coolly flings the limp string to the side, adjusts the tuning pegs with a grin, and sings on.
– Sophia Stewart, from "The People's Troubador", The Atlantic
No drama, no fear, just assess the situation and take the next step. We could learn a thing or two from Hansard. First up: adaptability. While it's helpful to have a plan, reality has a way of pulling the rug out. Let's say our habitual response to a rug pull is to be irritated or angry. That won't cut it in busking, so we size up what's happened instead, and respond as best we can. As Pema Chodron puts it, "No big deal".
Next comes spontaneity. This might fall under "respond as best we can", or it could be self-generated. Maybe everything is going smoothly, but it feels off somehow. Can we choose to drop the plan and chart a fresh direction? It might just be random, but better still if we're inspired to take an unexpected leap.
In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert’s there are few.
– Shunryu Suzuki
There's a time and place for structure and planning. I don't want an improv nuclear plant nearby. But for most of us, and for more time than we'd like to admit, we're arguing with reality instead of busking it. This week, see if you can bring a little extra spontaneity and adaptability into your day. I promise to toss a few coins into your guitar case should I happen by 🙂
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Ken, Sandi, and the Community Meditation Team
Photo by Alaric Duan 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
