16 November 2010

Togetherness Meditation - Day 118

Hello Online Meditation Crew!

Stop. Drop. MEDITATE! and scheduled midday & 'after dark' shout-outs will continue to ring throughout the halls of Twitter today...but the twists and turns this blog post takes might be a bit unexpected! Fasten your seatbelts!

Yesterday, a query was posed regarding the essence of the OMC. At the heart of the Online Meditation Crew is the fostering of each individual's meditative practice through the presence and support of others (community, sangha, oikos, etc.). But what is meant by 'individual practice'? The OMCru is open to and welcoming of all folks and meditative practices (Buddhist, Hindu, Christian, Sufi, etc.). In essence, the Crew might be viewed as 'dharma-less' to some - without roots in or alignment to one particular tradition or view. The Crew is not necessarily 'dharma-free', however, as practice is often viewed as dharma - 'dharma' being defined as an essential quality or character of the cosmos or one's own nature. How can the Crew be without dharma while being dharmic in nature? Sounds like a koan! The Crew does not subscribe to one meditative path but to all paths, any path, self as path, practice as path. Dharma is personal, experiential, sociocultural; it is here and now, within and beyond, formless and concrete. The Crew welcomes everyone and every meditative practice - so perhaps a more apt phrase to describe the OMC would be 'dharma-open' or 'freestyle' in nature - freestyle meditative practice, freestyle community-building, freestyle dharma!

Which leads us to our community-fostering question of the day:

How do you feel about the OMCru's open, freestyle dharmic energy?

Namaste Crew! Breathe the day in...deeply! _/\_<3 \m/

10 comments:

  1. It is dharmic in its dharma-free-ness, if that makes any sense at all. The acceptance of all is what makes it feel inclusive, rather than exclusive to me. It is a welcoming feeling. I don't feel separate or apart, I feel part of the group, yet able to maintain my authentic relationship to "spirit."

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  2. "dharmic in its dharma-free-ness, if that makes any sense at all..." Yeah, that does make sense. My dhamma/practice is metta -- accepting everything -- so this is perfect for me. :)

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  3. I believe the keyword is "experiential". By having a freestyle dharma feel, I think we are better able to support each other in our individual practice. We can feel free to practice in our individual way, and know that the crew is right there with us, riding the samsaric waves, freestylin'. Same ocean...different paths.

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  4. I just jumped on the OMCru recently, so I can't say I know how it is working in the group. However, I will give my opinion anyway!

    What you say in the blog post makes sense to me. Keep this online community very open so that as many people as possible can find support in it.

    Individually, however, I think folks might find it helpful to come to know one tradition intimately, as opposed to practicing lots of different traditions and never becoming truly intimate with any of them.

    Practice hard and take it easy!
    Trevor.

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  5. I watched a documentary recently shot in China. Chinese born-American educated executives were being asked why China economy so far ahead of US. Time and time again each executive said Americans waste too much time in the discussion of things-not enough doing. Everyone wants their own particular viewpoint excluding any others. Period. No compromise means nothing gets done.

    What attracted me to the OMCru IS its very openness, freeness, accepting nature. We all come from our various viewpoints and practices and STILL can join in community and togetherness, joy and peace.

    What an accomplishment is THAT?

    It is after all a virtual community and therefore each of us will continue to grow and go our separate ways on our path but for a brief time during the day, we can come together and experience a time of meditation-what beautiful and rare metta we share-

    May OMCru live long and prosper. I am grateful to our Capt. who envisioned and set us up.

    DAR

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  6. While I second Trevor's comment that it's not a great plan for an individual to skip around through all sorts of practices, I love that the OMCru welcomes any form of practice. The reminders, the community, etc. encourage us all to keep going and to know a little more about each of the bits of our human family. Such a simple concept (all are welcome) - such a great result :)

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  7. Oh and I also second @silvercrone's comment re: the value of doing vs. talking about doing. :)

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  8. I really like it this way. I think if people have already explored a particular tradition, this gives them the freedom to practice when it is convenient for them (as opposed to traveling to a center all of time), and still have some of that group feeling, which helps support the practice.

    I know when I lived at a center briefly, if I didn't want to sit in on a class (and they had them all of the time), I felt guilty about it. This way I think the practitioner is better able to gauge what frequency of practice works best for them.

    If folks haven't chosen a particular tradition, they can join in, get some basic pointers on meditation, and discuss different lineages/traditions/practices with group members, which may help guide them towards one tradition in particular. I also think comparative studies between various belief systems can be helpful, although I agree that deepening your studies in one tradition is better than having a "buffet style" of practice.

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  9. I wouldn't have it any other way. No rules, no politics, no bullshit.

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  10. Amen metalbuddha! you said it ALL in a twinkling! _/|\_

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