Join me this evening and every Tuesday evening from 7 to 8 PM for a free guided "Do Nothing" meditation (also known as "Shikantaza" or "Just Sitting" in the Zen tradition) and dialogue.
Tonight's dialogue explores a question that is the source of much anxiety in contemporary western society: What is the meaning of life?
Drawing upon the work of Buddhist scholars David Chapman and Rob Burbea, I will suggest that the very concept of "meaningfulness" has no fixed, stable, or inherent identity. Meanings are, like all other things in life, fluid, dynamic, impermanent, and evanescent. In Buddhist parlance, meanings are "empty".
Having seen that "meaning" has no stable essence, one is liberated from having to find the one true answer to the question regarding the meaning of life. Instead, we can finally see that we are the ones who infuse meaning into the world. This makes us, in a sense, the gods or authors of our own experiences. How beautiful! How mysterious! How divine!
No prior meditation experience is necessary. We will meet by zoom until the pandemic abates.
I'm a college professor who teaches meditation both within and outside the university setting. I organize an online weekly advanced meditation discussion group and write a meditation-related blog, which you can browse here: https://www.meditator-x.com/ .
If you're interested in joining me this evening, you can either (1) send me a message via front porch and I'll share the link with you, or you can (2) find the link to join by clicking on the following address and scrolling down to the bottom of page:
https://mailchi.mp/d60372c30c92/guided-med-dialogue-on-meaning-of-life-tonight-7pm
Finally, if you're interested in receiving email updates of future meditations, talks and retreats, please sign up to the mailing list here:
https://mailchi.mp/4bc0b9038c6a/stowe-mountain-meditations
Mucho Metta!
Dec 18, 2024, 5 to 6 PM
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Winter Solstice MeditationDec 20, 2024, 4:30 to 5:30 PM