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Thursday, June 27, 2013

End of spring 2013 group

We had our last meeting of the meditation group for this spring.  We ended with walking, sitting and loving-kindness meditation.  During our sitting meditation, Jerome, a visitor from Montreal, recited a poem, "A single excellent night."  We ended with a discussion of the fourth foundation of mindfulness (meditation on the sense bases).  A resumption of the group is planned for the fall.

As a celebration, we are all meeting at the Sword Motor Hotel in downtown Bancroft for an Indian banquet.  Anyone reading this is welcome to attend.

The poem:

“Let not a person revive the past 
Or on the future build his hopes; 
For the past has been left behind 
And the future has not been reached. 
Instead with insight let him see 
Each presently arisen state; 
Let him know that and be sure of it, 
Invincibly, unshakably. 
Today the effort must be made; 
Tomorrow Death may come. who knows? 
No bargain with Mortality 
Can keep him and his hordes away, 
But one who dwells thus ardently, 
Relentlessly, by day, by night -- 
It is he, the Peaceful Sage has said, 
Who has had a single excellent night.”