Welcome

Welcome to The Meditation Challenge 2022 resources page!

What’s On This Week?

• Morning meditation on Zoom
  Monday to Thursday 7.30am – 8.30am
• Evening meditation at the Centre for beginners
  Tuesday 7pm – 9pm
• Evening meditation at the Centre for regulars
  Thursday 7pm – 9pm
• Weekly check-in on Zoom
  Friday 6pm – 7pm

WEEK 3 – GOING DEEPER

Hi Friend

We’ve now reached Week 3 of the Challenge and we’re still on the boat. Well done for sticking at it so far. The Challenge seems to be really working for people. So whether you are already feeling the benefit or needing to re-commit to the next two weeks, do stay with it.

(And we’re still using the metaphor of the sea and the boat in our logo for the Challenge). This week is about putting on our diving suits to go deeper and become more absorbed in meditation. Suryadarshini shares three gifts for us on how to go deeper this week.

If you’re still battling with the waves, relaxing with awareness around whatever it is you are struggling with is the practice par excellence. We may need to keep bringing awareness to our experience, but if we can keep doing that, our experience does change. Fair winds and islands of calm will come. Eventually, the winds will abate and we might find ourselves in peaceful seas.

In those moments, satisfying states of mind such as contentment, love, intimacy, purpose and focus can be accessed. We can’t expect these states all the time, but it’s good to know that they are possible and they stem from absorption, from attending to an object wholeheartedly. 

The Buddha had his own image for meditative absorption which is said to be like soap powder and water being mixed thoroughly together until the water completely saturates the dry powder and the water is completely pervaded by the soap powder. This image of mingling opposites perfectly together expresses a state of mental purification in which we begin to feel more truly and deeply ourselves.

With love
The Norwich Buddhist Centre Team (James, Anna, Sinhadakini)

The challenge this week: Going Deeper