Tuesday Meditation Session – West Madison

Due to the COVID19 pandemic, none of our weekly groups will meet in-person beginning March 14, 2020 until further notice.  However, the Tuesday group will meet online, at the usual time of 6:30-8:15 pm and all are welcome to join as described below.

How to Connect to the Tuesday Online Meditation

Until public health institutions inform us that social distancing is no longer necessary, on Tuesdays you can join a virtual meditation community via Zoom, a program that allows everyone to be seen and heard.   If you have not used Zoom before, you will need to take about 5  minutes to set up the program on your computer, phone or tablet. If it is your first time using Zoom, clicking the meeting link will direct you to a link to download the program.  When you click the link, you’ll be prompted to download and run Zoom. A  Zoom launcher zip file will unload. Click on the file to install the launcher.

Once you’ve added the program to your device, then all you’ll need to do each time is click on the link and the Zoom window will appear with a button to join by video. Select the video icon at the bottom of the screen to join the meeting. You’ll notice a microphone icon with which you can mute yourself- so we don’t get distracted by everyone’s background noise.

Here is the link and meeting ID to join the online meditation group:

Join Zoom Meeting
https://zoom.us/j/572307161
Meeting ID: 572 307 161

Please join us at 6:30 pm each week.  As is usual for the Tuesday group, we will chant and then meditate until 7:15 pm.  The chant book we use is online here: https://www.abhayagiri.org/books/632-chanting-book-volume-1-morning-and-evening-chanting-and-reflections

Following the meditation, there is always an opportunity for anyone to share how they are using the practice or what’s been happening and how it ties to practice (I call this the open radio call-in time).  Then we will be using the book Abundant, Exalted, Immeasurable (freely available here: https://www.abhayagiri.org/books/584-abundant-exalted-immeasurable) to frame what I share and our conversation.  You do not need to have the book to join or benefit from the discussion.  The book just serves as the generator for our investigation and reflection.

Meditating together online will be an adventure! We are glad to embark on it with good friends in the Dhamma.  Though living in a

Details regarding the in-person Tuesday meditation, once the need for social isolation ends:

45 minutes of meditation followed by a Dhamma discussion. This gathering is led by Janice Sheppard, who was trained at Abhayagiri Buddhist Monastery as a Buddhist Lay Minister and at Spirit Rock Meditation Center as a Community Dharma Leader. The discussion may be based on a dhamma talk, a brief reading, or a sutta that Jan will share. This group sometimes investigates topics over a period of weeks, for example, we recently spent two months going through the seven factors of enlightenment. The evening begins and ends with a brief chant and bowing. Participation in the chanting & bowing is solely a personal choice and is not required. There is also a shrine with a Buddha image, candles and incense. If you have a cushion, please bring it, however, there are some cushions here and chairs are available.

Directions from central Madison:
Take University Avenue heading west, continue past Hilldale Shopping Center to the gradual right for the Old Middleton Rd. cutoff. Continue on Old Middleton (you will cross Whitney Way) for about 1 mile to Old Sauk Rd. Turn left onto Old Sauk Rd. Stay on Old Sauk Rd. for 4 miles. (you will pass under highway 12/18, and continue another mile and a half ) until you see Cricket Lane, on the right. Turn right on Cricket Lane. Then take the first left on Shadow Ridge Trail. 9638 is at the top of the hill and has two foo lion statues and a standing Buddha in front.

Directions from Madison and the surrounding area:
Take the Beltline (Highway 12/18 West) to Old Sauk Rd., exit #253. Go west on Old Sauk Rd another 1.5 miles to Cricket Lane. Turn right on Cricket Lane, then left onto Shadow Ridge Trail. 9638 is at the end of the block with Foo lion statues and a standing Buddha in front.