This is so beautiful. Makes me very happy that my gift to one of my cousins on his wedding was two zazen cushions for him and his wife. (It was on their registry. She was his yoga teacher.) I may have to get one for myself finally. Peace!
You may enjoy going to Quaker meeting if you have never gone before. The one hour service, which they call "meeting," is in silence. People can get up and speak whatever thought comes into their head, or as the spirit moves them, or they can say nothing. Sometimes nobody speaks and the silence lasts for one hour. Quakers are Christians but they don't have a cross in the meeting house, as they view it as an instrument of torture. They don't call their leader priest, reverend, or minister, but clerk of the meeting. Politically I have little to nothing in common with Quakers, but they are peaceful, mean well, and until I read your essay I thought nobody does silence as well as the Quakers.
My Jewish friends who work at Quaker schools are having a terrible time of it so I’ll probably just stick with zen and synagogue 🕍 for now. But I agree that Quaker meeting can be nice
The Quakers are on the wrong side of the Israel/Palestine issue for sure. They have or had run a school in Ramallah, but know better than to try and convert Muslims. I haven't been to a Quaker meeting in years but when I did attend and saw anti Israel posters or flyers on the bulletin boards, I would take them down, rip them, and trash them. Not very Quakerly of me, but I'm not a Quaker. Otherwise, I feel comfortable sitting with my wife, who is Jewish, in silent prayer and meditation for one hour.
LOL on the cat on the cushion -- I knew that would happen...
You know me well. Meow.
This is so beautiful. Makes me very happy that my gift to one of my cousins on his wedding was two zazen cushions for him and his wife. (It was on their registry. She was his yoga teacher.) I may have to get one for myself finally. Peace!
What a lovely gift !
So beautiful and calming.
❤️ my friend!
“Don’t fix it if it ain’t broke.”
That says it all. Thank you for sharing this with us, April 🙏🏽
You may enjoy going to Quaker meeting if you have never gone before. The one hour service, which they call "meeting," is in silence. People can get up and speak whatever thought comes into their head, or as the spirit moves them, or they can say nothing. Sometimes nobody speaks and the silence lasts for one hour. Quakers are Christians but they don't have a cross in the meeting house, as they view it as an instrument of torture. They don't call their leader priest, reverend, or minister, but clerk of the meeting. Politically I have little to nothing in common with Quakers, but they are peaceful, mean well, and until I read your essay I thought nobody does silence as well as the Quakers.
My Jewish friends who work at Quaker schools are having a terrible time of it so I’ll probably just stick with zen and synagogue 🕍 for now. But I agree that Quaker meeting can be nice
The Quakers are on the wrong side of the Israel/Palestine issue for sure. They have or had run a school in Ramallah, but know better than to try and convert Muslims. I haven't been to a Quaker meeting in years but when I did attend and saw anti Israel posters or flyers on the bulletin boards, I would take them down, rip them, and trash them. Not very Quakerly of me, but I'm not a Quaker. Otherwise, I feel comfortable sitting with my wife, who is Jewish, in silent prayer and meditation for one hour.