Pamela Barron believes peace and happiness are available to everyone all the time.
“It’s simple,” says the Bear River woman. “We just forget it.”
To help them remember, the Bear River Meditation Group has invited a monk to spend the weekend with them at the end of September.
“He’s experienced enough, and thoughtful enough, that if you’re trying to meditate, he can talk about how that might be for you, and he’s articulate enough he can help you understand what you’re experiencing.”
The Bear River meditation group normally meets once a week at the Oakdene Centre in Bear River to meditate, discuss a reading and to chant.
The weekly meetings and the meditation weekend are open to “anyone interested in finding peace, joy and happiness that isn’t contingent on circumstances or events,” says Barron.
Barron says meditation makes her more aware, more conscious.
“It helps you see clearer without all those filters we have. It’s those filters that get us in trouble. It is such a relief to drop all that and just be.”
The group doesn’t have a teacher and although the readings help, they have invited the senior monk Ajahn Kusalo to help them with their meditation practice.
“He’s very friendly and outgoing and helpful,” says Barron. “He embraces the simplicity. He always brings it back to the present moment.”
Kusalo was born in New Zealand and ordained as a monk in 1992. He has lived at monasteries in New Zealand, England and Canada. He is now co-abbot of Tisarana Buddhist monastery in Perth, Ontario.
Kusalo practices in the Theravada tradition, which means “ancient teachings.”
There are 100 million Theravada Buddhists worldwide and it is the predominant religion in Sri Lanka and most of southeast Asia.
Barron however says the group isn’t a Buddhist group.
“We’re meditators. But we’ve been doing something right. We’ve been practicing regularly now for three years.”
Because the Oakdene Centre wasn’t available, the Bear River group has teamed up with the Annapolis Shambhala meditation group and will use their centre in Annapolis Royal above the Port Royal Animal Hospital.
The weekend will include instruction in meditation, sitting, some chanting and devotional practice and a pot-luck meal. In keeping with Buddhist tradition, the teaching and meditation instructions are free but the monk and monastery are supported by students’ donations.
Barron hopes others might benefit from the monk’s teachings.
“We’re not saying to anyone: ‘believe this.’ We say: ‘experience this. And then share, tell others about your experience.’”
For more information check out: Bear River Arts or call Pamela at 467-0619
