Hello from Michelle in Toronto, Canada 🙂 Feels a bit like walking into a room full of strangers and randomly shouting out my name, so hoping a librarian isn't about to tell me to pipe down. Although I would, of course, immediately. Arrived here via the gorgeous poem by Gillian Alnutt that Alastair posted - thank you 🙏. Me, wishing the photo could be downsized a bit.

So happy to have found this community. I moved back from Australia in 2020 after living there for 30+ years. I'm an aromatherapist and meditation teacher. I have, in the past suffered extreme anxiety and meditation is definitely one of the things that got me to a more peaceful place within. I also love yoga, animals and being out in nature. I very recently moved to Ludlow, Shropshire where I'm about to start a new business. New beginnings all round for me. Looking forward to meeting you all. Carol x

I have attended almost every meditation session for many years now but health issues prevented me from joining the last two Zoom sessions. Even though I've booked, I have not received a recording. This is unusual .Any ideas why?

Greetings of peace! I am a new member, and a progressive Muslim living in Canada, near Toronto. It is a pleasure to share space with all of you as we learn about mindfulness and meditation from our profoundly gifted teacher, Alistair!

Could I ask this lovely gang to keep our gang member, Olga's Dad, Pierluigi in your thoughts, prayers and meditation. After a successful operation and recovering well, he has now contracted covid in hospital. 🙏🙏🙏🙏

Hey guys. I'm taking part in the Refuge ceremony Lama Yeshe's conducting at Samye Ling this Thursday. I'm excited but nervous and don't really know what to expect (the emails in the runup have been delightfully spartan). Anyone have any knowledge or advice they'd like to share? My wonderful husband Gordon is coming to support me. I think he's a little overwhelmed at the prospect, and brought up how he's not sure even about what to wear. He has a point! Love and heart bows to you all. x

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With regard to this morning's meditation session, if you are fairly new to our gang, and are interested in chanting ,please join @Sylvia Alana's Dhamma interactive group. Sylvia's posts often include mantras and chanting . ♥️🙏

We had a lovely session of shamata practice this morning and I read this quote from Trungpa’s The Path of Individual Liberation p 232 If you don't have a good relationship with yourself, you cannot understand the dharma, and your body and mind will not be properly coordinated. The practice of meditation helps you to coordinate your body and your mind. You realize that your mind can be directed to a particular effort, that your mind works. Through shamatha you are able to raise your mind to an adult level. Your mind does not jump all over the place whenever you try to do something. In this samsaric world, most of you have grown up physically, but psychologically you are very young. You can't concentrate. You can't eat even one good meal properly because your mind is constantly jumping all over the place. The basic message of shamatha practice is that your mind could be as adult as your body.

Begin by cultivating a sense of delight in the qualities of the freedoms and riches: Seeing its many wonderful qualities, I rejoice and delight in this human life. Next contemplate the impermanence nature of phenomena: Like waves in the ocean, all things are impermanent. I will accept whatever happens and make it my friend. Contemplate the interdependence of causes and conditions: When causes and conditions come together, the result is sure to follow, so I will do my best to help others and engage in positive deeds. Contemplate the dreamlike quality of the suffering of Samsara: The suffering of beings is mainly produced by the mind. I must free myself from my self-created bonds.