November's Subject

      I was looking back at the Book Club blog entries and realized that our first meeting was October 18, 2009. While we missed the opportunity to have an anniversary party, I thought it might be appropriate to dedicate the next meeting to the past year. I ran the idea past my “better judgment” and she agreed that it would likely “lead to all sorts of interesting segues and tangents” which has thus far been the hallmark of our time together. So having received the green light, I offer this as the subject for our next meeting on November 21, 2010.

How Has The Group Impacted Your Life/Practice?

Or

What Has Been The Best Thing About The Group For You?

      I have found the group to be a richly rewarding experience, particularly because my past is littered with discarded, unfulfilled, attempts at interpersonal connections. I have always been a bit of a loner whose attitudes were fueled primarily by an assortment of fear, anger, and judgment. But my practice today is about jettisoning long held illusions of self and finding what it means to love. Our discussions have offered a fertile ground for this journey and to learn about gratitude.
      Everyone’s willingness to share their perspectives has given me the opportunity to risk “being” the person I want to be. For this I am very grateful and is in part, dependent upon all of you as my teachers. The journey is mine to travel alone on one hand, but I am also assisted, in no small measure, by the kindness and honesty with which you support me through your presence and sharing. I have been able to clarify my own perspectives because you have listened to me spout off about them, and this has enabled me to grow and think beyond the narrow constraints of my mind.

October Meeting Synopsis

      Many thanks to all who made this discussion a wonderful success. An adequate synopsis would take many pages to do justice to the depth and breadth of the disussion. We found the process morphing through Gratitude, Belief, Faith, to the Teacher/Student process being present in all our communications. The final consensus was support for the Buddha's admonition to find our own truths through observation and analysis.
       One such observation was how much the teachings always seem to come full circle as we personally become more experientially intimate with them. A second was the value of the sangha to each of our spiritual journeys through being an environment supportive of openness and sharing in which the exploration of thoughts and feelings is nurtured, though they may not always be in agreement with others. Many laughs and personal annecdotes made this another in what I hope will be a long line of insightful moments with this group of spiritual warriors.
        The next meeting will be November 21st and Ken will let me know what the subject will be and I will notify you all in short order.