Peacemaker Circle Meeting, 3rd Feb 20008
In today's Circle Meeting, 6 people were present- Howard, Joy, Stacie, Kaite, Faisal and Zang.
We began with some beautiful Bach cello music chosen by Howard to bring us into the present moment, recorded by a young local musician. Following a checking-in circle, Zang read a piece aloud from Bernie Glassman's book "Bearing Witness", talking about the vision of bringing all the fragments of life into one Whole.
Then we read another chapter of the same book together, on the theme of "Becoming Oneness" and split into two groups of 3 to discuss it. We tried an idea from the Swiss Zen Peacemaker Circle- we chose a figure each who inspires us, and when we discussed the chapter we talked about it not only from our own point of view, but tried to explore what our chosen person would think too. Examples of the figures people chose included Maimonides, the ancient Jewish philosopher; Federico Garcia Lorca, the Spanish poet and playwright; and Sangharakshita, founder of the Western Buddhist Order!
We then sat together for a period of Zazen, which led into a full Council Circle exploring the theme of friendship, suggested by Stacie, talking deeply from our hearts and experience.
After a coffee and biscuit break, Faisal gave a rich presentation on Islam and Sufism from the perspective of his life experience and focusing on the teachings of the Ovasi Sufi Order to which he and his mother belong. He spoke of his deep wish to see recreated the golden age of Andalusia, where under Muslim rule the cultures of many religions flourished together and led to a blossoming of humanity and friendship between mystics of all schools. Borrowing a musical term, he calls this "freestyle Sufi jamming"!
Faisal then led a chant together from his tradition, repeating a blessing on the Prophet Muhammed. He explained that the point of this is to connect to the unitive Light of Muhammed which is at the heart of all creation, and leads us back to the Source from which it comes.
We finished by listening to a closing piece of music chosen once again by Howard, and had a short checking-out circle and a dedication.
We began with some beautiful Bach cello music chosen by Howard to bring us into the present moment, recorded by a young local musician. Following a checking-in circle, Zang read a piece aloud from Bernie Glassman's book "Bearing Witness", talking about the vision of bringing all the fragments of life into one Whole.
Then we read another chapter of the same book together, on the theme of "Becoming Oneness" and split into two groups of 3 to discuss it. We tried an idea from the Swiss Zen Peacemaker Circle- we chose a figure each who inspires us, and when we discussed the chapter we talked about it not only from our own point of view, but tried to explore what our chosen person would think too. Examples of the figures people chose included Maimonides, the ancient Jewish philosopher; Federico Garcia Lorca, the Spanish poet and playwright; and Sangharakshita, founder of the Western Buddhist Order!
We then sat together for a period of Zazen, which led into a full Council Circle exploring the theme of friendship, suggested by Stacie, talking deeply from our hearts and experience.
After a coffee and biscuit break, Faisal gave a rich presentation on Islam and Sufism from the perspective of his life experience and focusing on the teachings of the Ovasi Sufi Order to which he and his mother belong. He spoke of his deep wish to see recreated the golden age of Andalusia, where under Muslim rule the cultures of many religions flourished together and led to a blossoming of humanity and friendship between mystics of all schools. Borrowing a musical term, he calls this "freestyle Sufi jamming"!
Faisal then led a chant together from his tradition, repeating a blessing on the Prophet Muhammed. He explained that the point of this is to connect to the unitive Light of Muhammed which is at the heart of all creation, and leads us back to the Source from which it comes.
We finished by listening to a closing piece of music chosen once again by Howard, and had a short checking-out circle and a dedication.
Comments