Open Meditation Sessions – Every Saturday morning 10:30am -12:30pm in the Education Department of the Queen Margaret Hospital, Dunfermline.
Our open sessions are for anyone over 18 who wants to come along to learn the core Triratna meditations. The two meditations are Mindfulness or Breathing and Metta Bhavana (which is sometimes called the Cultivation of Loving Kindness).
Both are life changing meditations. Even a short period of regular practice can fundamentally change our experience of the world and our relationships with ourselves and others. Along the way we also introduce other mindfulness practices such as the Body Scan (which is useful to help settle body and mind).
You don’t need any previous experience to come along. You don’t need to be a Buddhist or expect to become a Buddhist, you just need to be interested – Come as you are!
You don’t need to bring anything. But some people like to bring a blanket or shawl to keep warm when they sit. If you have an existing meditation practice and are used to sitting on a stool or cushions on the floor, you are welcome to use them.
The teaching is free, but we ask that if you are able, you make a small donation to help us cover our costs of between £5 and £10 per session. If your circumstances don’t allow, please do not let that stop you attending, we would rather see you, than money be an issue.
Weekly Sangha Night. Thursday Evening 7-9 pm
We are now ready to launch our regular sangha night sessions. The first one will be at Queen Anne High School on Thursday 26th February at 7pm–9pm. Everyone welcome. Our second meeting is likely to be at Dunfermline High School on the 5th March at the same time. We are trialling the two venues and hope to be in a position to make a regular booking once we discover which setting is best for travel, access and ambience. As soon as we have a regular venue, we will post here and on our Facebook page.
Sangha night is an opportunity for regular members of our community of Buddhist practitioners to get together. The Buddha said that spiritual friendship is the whole of the spiritual life, and in Triratna we hold this dear. We meet together regularly, and we support each other in our spiritual lives, with care and with friendship.
Sangha night is also an opportunity to learn more about the Three Jewels and take part in the devotional side of Buddhism. Typically, a sangha night involves meditation, listening to a Dharma talk, discussion, and taking part in Buddhist ritual. We don’t expect anyone to come along and be familiar with all that we do, we will provide teaching and support to become familiar and comfortable with our core practices. We also understand for some people engaging in ritual can be difficult, and you should be reassured that it’s OK with us, should you not wish to take part in any aspect of our evening – you can just watch and listen.
As we are a new group, our initial plan is that sangha nights will take themes from the Noble Eight-Fold path, one of the core Buddhist teachings and a very detailed map of the spiritual life. Effectively, our first group of meetings therefore will also become an Introduction to Buddhism.
Introductory Courses in Dunfermline. Venue and times to be announced.
We also plan to have stand alone in-person introductory courses introducing several foundational teachings of Buddhism, including the three-fold path and the three jewels. Courses will be organised on an as needed basis. If you are interested, please contact us to find out when and where the next course is likely to be and book your place.