Summary Date: 09-12-2017 Time: 10:00-12:00
Place: Meditation Hall, London Fo Guang Shan Temple
Participants: 16 people
1. Meditation Session: - Venerable Dr. Miaolung introduced the concept of Zen at the start of the session. - A 25 minutes' meditation session was led by Venerable, which includes the standing, walking and sitting meditation. Venerable Dr. Miaolung emphasised the importance of breathing pace during meditation. - Members found that meditation has helped them to calm their minds, to relax their bodies and to soothe their spirit. Having a short meditation before meeting was very helpful.
2. Study Group's Discussion: -We have studied the book “Study Zen In Our Daily Life” written by Venerable Master Hsing Yun, which was closely related to our topic. It has demonstrated that Zen is not a theory, but a way of living. The essence of Zen is attempting to understand the meaning of life, without being misled by logical thought. -Venerable Dr. Miaolung mentioned that we could follow a pattern when meditating, given an example, to have alternate periods of walking meditation with sitting meditation, in order to keep mindfulness consistently established. -Members were encouraged to meditate, by which they can practice mindfulness in their day-to-day life.
Additional info: One of the filming team, which was formed by 5 young researchers, was participating in the meeting. They were filming the process of Buddhism meditation and study group discussion, which they would use for their Buddhism-related project in University.