The sangha is important for Buddhist practice. It is the third Jewel of Refuge. However, it is not always possible for people physically to come together either for short meditation sessions or for longer periods on retreat. In order to address this and as part of the invitation to develop new ideas and experiments in Chan, the Western Chan Fellowship offered a “virtual” sangha event to allow practitioners at different locations to practice together over the celebrations of Wesak 2013. We called this “Connected Practice for Wesak”.
We built on the experience of the Cardiff Chan Group who had previously run an Enhanced Practice period. 1 The proposal for the event was agreed by the WCF Practice Committee. It was advertised on the WCF website with links to Facebook and it was promoted by email to those on the WCF mailing list and by post through the WCF Newsletter. I acted as co-ordinator.
Participants were invited to join for a period of 12 days around Wesak into a commitment for connected and enhanced practice, undertaken in daily life, at home or in the workplace. This increased the opportunity for mindfulness in daily life and offered the silent support of knowing we were not alone in our practice. In addition, a mindfulness bell was rung at noon each day, when everyone, wherever they were, could join the silence marked by the Noon Bell.
The Evolving Practice
This opportunity for practice was used in many different and creative ways. In total, 48 people formally signed up and these were divided about equally between men (23) and women (25). Many more joined unofficially. Only about half of the formal participants were WCF members. Each participant chose how they wished to enhance their practice and this depended on personal circumstances and choice. Many participants intended to use the opportunity for more meditation practice combined with mindfulness practice and observation of the Noon Bell. Participants were invited to state how they would use the time:
- I am intending to sit, come what may! - at mid-day on each of the days as well as incorporating mindfulness into my daily activities. It will be especially good knowing that others are choosing this moment for silence.
- I will sit every morning and evening from 6.30 – 7.30 encouraged by others doing the same.
- I will pause to take three mindful breaths at moments during the day and take a breath before answering the phone at work.
- I will take extra care with a challenging relationship.
- I want to make an extra effort to be thankful for the food I eat and to eat it mindfully.
- A random act of kindness every day.
- Mindful travel to and from work as far as possible. This will usually mean abandoning the car for the train.
- We will be walking for a few days along the Pembrokeshire Coast Path, which should be a good time and place for silent reflection in magnificent wild places along an ancient route of pilgrimage.
- Mindfully let our hens out and feed them at 7.15am.
- Attempting mindfulness throughout the day as much as possible, using prompts such as when switching on the kettle.
- To feel gratitude. I don’t know why this came to me, and it is not gratitude for anything specific, just gratitude.
There were many excellent ideas. It was clear that experience of ‘attending to’ the Noon Bell 2 was a useful element of the practice. Here are some comments:
- My target was small – to listen for the bell at mid-day every day!
- We rang an answering bell each day at mid-day on retreat at Bala Brook
- Every time my noon alarm went off I thought of all the other folk stopping or taking a moment and sometimes I stopped and took a moment to appreciate my surroundings and the experience of what it was like to be there.
- The 12 noon bell was a good reminder to come back to the moment and recall the practice. In fact, I left the reminder on my phone for a week after the end of the practice. A rather nice coincidence was that the church bell near my office rings on the hour and this drew my attention out into the world around me.
- I did not attempt to remember to stop at the noon bell as this did not fit in. I am not usually aware when noon is but I quite often thought about it being rung, and it had a resonance that way, if not exactly always at 12.
- I had some friends from other groups joining in from other parts of the country and one of my friends said that come 12 noon she looked at her clock and felt the energy of others surrounding her because we were all doing the same.
- I was inspired to clean & hang up the heavy old bronze school bell which has been lying around our yard for too long. We hung it with a stout rope on an apple tree in the garden, and rang it with gusto at noon.
Feedback and Reflections
Following the event, we asked for feedback. Everyone who completed the evaluation, (41 participants) stated they would join in a future event. Of these 41, most had heard about the practice mainly through the email mailing list and newsletter as well as through their local groups (12), with some finding out via Facebook (2) and the WCF website (2). Several people told friends who joined in unofficially. Members of one Chan Group joined in without 'signing up' and reported it to be very beneficial and important. One local group went on to email a weekly gatha to their members to help maintain the momentum of the connected practice period.
Nearly everyone reported that they were pleased with how things had gone, with several commenting they recognised any failings were their own. All were grateful for the opportunity and there are lots of ideas for doing things differently. These include more use of WCF-talk; establishing a dedicated internet forum for discussion or using Skype; a telephone list of people who might be available for a supportive chat and a type of communication exercise on the phone every day.
Caring responsibilities in particular can make regular practice difficult and attending a retreat impossible, so we were interested to find out if the connected practice period was useful for this group of people. Some participants with caring responsibilities found their practice easier and more focussed but a few said it made no difference.
It was clear that the experience of being involved in the event had an impact for how a future event would be approached. One participant stated that she would engage in a future event “with an awareness of the challenge connected practice poses”. Another would like to try again and “be a bit more connected this time – a bit more AWAKE!” Here are some other comments:
- A vital part of practice is to integrate it into your daily life. Anything that can help with that process is welcome.
- Doing little things can make a difference to one’s practice and day; Connected Practice clearly can encourage this.
- I like such a simple but powerful idea of joining other people in practice.
- I realized that I should do more practice in my everyday life than I usually do, and that it was possible to do so without too much sacrifice of normal activities. I enjoyed feeling 'connected' to others and found it very encouraging.
- The sense of being part of a different and almost ‘anonymous’ group brought new insight to the concept of interdependence.
- This Connected Practice period for Wesak seems to have concentrated the mind and practice, and has thrown up some unexpected and memorable moments.
This experiment in lay Chan practice was a success. As someone commented, “It was just good to feel connected.” Everyone found the mutual support of the Connected Practice format to be helpful and encouraging. This enhancement to daily practice proved a valuable tool in integrating practice into daily life. The WCF could run more Connected Practice periods, making them part of our general programme.
Notes
- For general instruction see “Period of Enhanced Practice” on Cardiff Chan Group web page
- See an article by Rob Stratton on ringing the Mindfulness Bell
Connected Practice Event in May 2014
A similar connected practice event will be run 18th–29th May 2014.
