Peacemaker Circles UK

For the first time in over 3 years, the Manchester Zen Peacemaker Circle went roving, being held in the welcoming house of Steve Suleyman Hart in Leeds. This marks a new stage in the Circle, hopefully able to invite a wider range of people to events in both Leeds and Manchester. Perhaps it is now the "North of England Zen Peacemaker Circle"! We met from 10am till 5pm, beginning as usual with a checking-in circle to see how we all were. Then Steve led a guided mindfulness meditation practice, leading us to recognise and accept all the physical and emotional sensations in our bodies, then generating love towards ourselves and others. Next, Kim gave a talk on "not-knowing". He began by talking about some images which came to him the night before after a talk he gave on Pureland Buddhist practice, based on his experience of the Amida Trust community from Leicestershire. He spoke of our individual lives and efforts as being like rock pools, and the grace of the univ...

This evening we held the monthly Great Heart meditation circle, in the Unitarian Chapel's lovely garden room. The evening began with a cup of tea, followed by guided mindfulness and metta meditation practice. We then walked a little in silence in the chapel's tranquil garden - a haven amidst the busy city centre. We held a short checking-in council circle, and then studied and discussed the model of the five buddha familes, used in the Zen Peacemakers as a way of including all aspects of your life in socially active practice. After this we did 20 mins of zazen meditation, and ended with our usual celebratory meal, with cake,chocolate, biscuits, and lemon-curd flavoured yoghurt!