Watching the moon at dawn, solitary, mid sky, I knew myself completely. No part left out. Izumi
Meditation
Since its inception, the Amma Center has placed the value of inner reflection, inquiry and stillness at the core of our work.
We support and encourage contemplative practices from all ways and traditions.
Mid-city Meditation Group
The Amma Center hosts the Mid-city Meditation Group. This group in its various incarnations has been present since the Amma opened in 2002. It is inter-religious and welcomes all spiritual philosophies and religions to come together in silent practice.
Tuesday Night Meditation 7:30 – 8:30 pm
We now are meeting in-person at the Amma Center. Please contact Marie – marietoneil@gmail – if you would like to be put on the email list to receive weekly notifications of the details of the week’s meditations.
Approximate Structure
- 20 minute silent meditation
- 20 minute optional check in
- 20 minute reading or discussion chosen by facilitator
In order to accommodate people’s different needs — especially parents, you many join or leave any of the meditation activities at any point; that is, you may arrive late or leave early. We just ask that you do so as quietly as possible.
We wish you peace and love in these challenging times.
Sincerely yours,
The Amma Center
PROMOTE PEACE
One minute practice for Peace
(say aloud)
We, the people of New Orleans,
pray for peace
Peace
in our hearts
in our homes
in our schools
and in every part of our city, country and world!
I personally commit to being a peaceful person.
(Follow with a few moments of silence)
Join us in a one minute practice for peace. We are asking people to commit to doing this practice every Tuesday of 2023.
Please do not let any of the word choices bother you ~ change them if you want. For example, “pray” can be “ask” or “seek”; “people of New Orleans can be “people of the world”; et cetera.
We, the meditation group of the Amma Center, did this practice in 2007 when crime in the city after Katrina was so high. We feel like it is time again to
PROMOTE PEACE! Please join us.
Themes for 2019
Introduction
We will use these topics for our Tuesday night meditation group as well as the mini retreats. The Tuesday night groups meets weekly form 7:30 to 9 p.m. The mini retreats are held Saturday mornings, the second weekend of each month.
Having themes, we have found, allows us to have more focus and depth throughout the year. Each theme contain several topics that fall within the theme to give us room to explore from many traditions and personal interests. Hosts are welcome to deviate from the theme.
We propose that the following four questions be used each month for each theme to provide continuity throughout the year as well as to be sure that we move from the purely theoretical into the practical .
- How do I live this?
- What is gets in the way of me living this?
- How do I work with what gets in the way of me living this?
- How do we live this through and in our relationships and interconnection with the world?
JANUARY and JULY: taking responsibility for
HOW WE VIEW THE WORLD
Radical Accountability ♦ Right Understanding /View /Resolve ♦ Dualistic vs Unitive Thinking ♦ I-Thou vs I-It perspective ♦ Evolutionary Consciousness (scientific – spirituality) ♦ “A Power Greater than Ourselves” ♦ Being More Open-Hearted
FEBRUARY and AUGUST: taking responsibility for
THE COMMITMENTS WE MAKE
Developing and Maintaining our Practice ♦ Working with Intention ♦ Right Action/Livelihood ♦ Staying Committed to Practice (procrastination, prioritization, etc.) ♦ The Five Hindrances ♦ Group Support of Commitments ♦ Discerning our Commitments
MARCH and SEPTEMBER: taking responsibility for
OUR INNER WORLD
Being Present in the World ♦ “Returning” to the World with Greater Presence ♦ Right Effort /Mindfulness /Concentration ♦ Working with Preferences ♦ Thoughts we choose to engage with ♦ Living out our Intuition ♦ Neurology of Meditation ♦ Default Modes of Thinking ♦ Noble Eight-Fold Path (view, resolve, speech, action, livelihood, effort, mindfulness, concentration) ♦ Dreams or Dreamwork
APRIL and OCTOBER: taking responsibility for
OUR EMOTIONS
Dealing with Triggers/ Emotions ♦ The Buddhist Framework of Praise/Blame, Pain/Gain, Pleasure/Sorrow ♦ Dealing with Grief and Loss ♦ Being with Joy ♦ Discussing Shame ♦ Vulnerability
MAY and NOVEMBER: taking responsibility for
FORGIVENESS
JUNE and DECEMBER: taking responsibility for
OUR COMMUNICATION
Communicating in our World/Political Climate ♦ Right Speech ♦ Communicating with People that Challenge ♦ Non-Violent Communication ♦ Negotiating and Maintaining Boundaries
We offer individual or group instruction in:
Buddhist mindfulness practices
Centering prayer
Movement Meditation
