Twice Weekly Meetings for Sitting
Where and When
Every Sunday 7:30PM (except the 2nd Sunday of the month) via Zoom. The zoom link will be provided in the email announcement. If you are not signed up to receive our weekly emails, please sign up here: http://eepurl.com/h1xjvz
Every Wednesday 7:30PM (except the 4th Wednesday of the month) via Zoom.
For both sessions, please try to arrive by 7:25; meditation begins at 7:30.
What to Expect at Our Sitting Meditation Meetings
Click here for PBA’s page on basic instruction for sitting meditation. For live individual instruction, please send an email request to info@philabuddhist.org, and someone will contact you about setting up a meeting.
All are welcomed to attend any session. You are invited to contact PBA to ask any questions you might have. Arriving early will afford you the opportunity to feel more at home. Chairs and cushions are available for sitting. Perfumes and brightly patterned clothing are discouraged.
Our regular meditations are conducted as silent group practice, regulated by a monitor. PBA members take turns serving as time monitors. Ceremony and iconography are minimal.
While the exact format is left to the discretion of the monitor, we typically sit for three periods of 20 to 25 minutes, with 5 to 10 minutes of silent walking meditation between periods.
Each period is begun and concluded with a bow to one’s sitting location and a bow to the other meditators. Before the first period, we recite the refuge verse (see below) three times.
Verses Recited at Start:
In keeping with our non-denominational character and our focus as a silent meditation group, the recitation of Buddhist scriptural versus is kept to a minimum. The following verses, which address basic Buddhist goals and span the various traditions are usually recited at the beginning of each session.
Refuge or Three Treasures:
I go for refuge to the Buddha.
I go for refuge to the Dharma.
I go for refuge to the Sangha.
Verses Recited at End
In this context, Buddha can be understood as the source of the teaching, Dharma as the teaching, and Sangha as the universal community of Buddhists. One way to understand “refuge” is “cure” or “therapy” for the dualistic grasping which, the Buddha taught, is at the root of all human suffering, or duhkha. “Suffering” here has the sense of life being basically unstable or unsubstantial due to the fact that everything is changing and impermanent.
The Four Immeasurables
May all living beings have happiness, and the causes of happiness;
May all living beings be free from suffering, and the causes of suffering;
May all living beings never be separated from the happiness that knows no suffering;
May all beings reside in equanimity, free from attachment and aversion.
The Sitting Meditations are free and all are welcome to attend.
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Morgan King