Our meetings focus on the practice of mindful meditation and zazen – paying attention without judgment, commentary or clinging – as a way of exploring who we are and how we relate to the world. By developing mindful awareness in all aspects of our everyday life we cultivate understanding, enjoyment, peace of mind and compassion for ourselves and others.
Our meetings are simple and non-ritualistic, non-dogmatic and free of attachment to any particular teacher or tradition. We particularly draw on contemporary research into the ideas and methods of the historical Buddha and into the questions he poses for us.
Our aim is to understand how things are (Dharma) by paying attention to our own experience – learning to live in harmony with a world of constant interaction, change and uncertainty.
The process of awakening is sometimes a process of learning and sometimes a process of unlearning, in this sense we are all students and teachers, helping each other to grow in understanding.
As we sit in a circle in silent mindful meditation we experience the interconnectedness and equal importance of everyone. Together we develop a secular Buddhist way of life that is of our time and place.
PLEASE NOTE that whenever the word ‘Buddha’ is used in this website, I am referring to the historical Buddha, known as Gotama, or Gautama, a man who current evidence suggests lived between 480-400 BCE (there is uncertainty among scholars as to precise dates) in what is now Nepal and nearby regions of northern India. The only exception to this is when reference is made to, ‘Buddha-nature’ or ‘Buddha-mind.’