Experiment, Experience

Dear Friends,

Years ago, these weekly letters contained more in the way of "program," or what we were about to do on that particular Tuesday.  I found this constricting, as it somewhat limited what we might choose to do in the session itself.  But several people have asked me recently to describe our process.  So here is a partial sketch of some of what we typically do, though it is always a unique experiment, aimed at experience.

We gather at 11am Eastern time, on Zoom.  There is often a self-centering, presence-building moment such as the Sovereignty or Standing Exercise or a simple breath practice. Then we bring ourselves into energetic relationship with the immediate environment around each of us, with each other, and with whatever unseen presences wish us well.  We make ourselves available to the group process of the hour.

Soon, we dive into a discussion of the day's central practice.  This might be a meditation sentence, like "The Way is made by walking" (A. Machado), or it might be an energetic task, or an exercise of meditative perception with a stone or plant.  Having discussed the day's central practice, we then go ahead and actually engage in it.

At some point, after that central practice, I often call for reports.  What did you experience just now?  What is the news or fresh life of the practice we just did?  And it turns out that group members are endlessly creative in how they apply any given practice, and we all learn a lot from listening to each other.

Even if the theme of the day is not manifestly about the environment or climate change, it is always about the sacredness of life on earth.  And we dedicate the energy, the merit, of what we have done together toward the well-being of a particular area (Turkey, Syria) or toward the well-being of the earth as whole.  We close with an energetic leave-taking from the group, as we each move on into the fullness of our days.

And today's practice?  Today, very unusually, we'll spend most of our time in silent, breath-focused meditation.  It is a chance to focus our minds, open our hearts, soften our boundaries, and participate consciously in the wordless conversation of the world.  We will be offering the widest imaginable invitation.

By the way, "experience" and "experiment" are both based on a Proto-Indo-European root, "per-," that originally meant, "to lead across, press forward."  It is our own immediate experience that drives us further on the Way.

with love,

Michael