Group Discussion

     

      On a few occasions there were group discussions at the end of class. We talked about the 5 precepts and the difficulty I had with the one about intoxicants. "I get why this interferes with meditation, and I never have a beer on the nights I come to meditate, but this is a hard one to follow", I said. The leader went on to talk about how drinking was all peer pressure. "No one drinks if they are by themselves", she said. "I beg to differ", I responded, and the group laughed.
      Next the discussion drifted into the power of meditation, or lack thereof in a large group. One of the abbots in a video had implied that natural disasters occurred when a deficit of merit existed in a certain region, or a group of people had very negative thoughts. "Really?!", I responded. "I'm not buying that." The conversation then erupted into a cacophony of varying opinions. Somehow the conversation turned to Stephen Hawking, I'm not sure how, and then came to a close. I may not have agreed with everything being said, but at least the debate was fun.

Flash

   It's another new venerable tonight. They all have their own way of conducting the class, but there is usually an introduction, then guided meditation, and silent meditation, followed by either questions or a lecture. We seem to have a small group of regulars now. Perhaps 10 people come weekly, with an additional 5 to 10 floaters and new attendees.
     This time, as I finally got into a deeper meditation, I saw a flash of light. Uhgg, there goes the leader taking pictures again. But it wasn't. Finally, I had experienced a brief flash of light, like the first time, but not nearly as joyous or as long. Still, I was grateful for the moment, since this implied I had achieved a deeper than usual meditative state and it had been a long time since my first experience.