New Chan Forum 8

Mind the Gap

What gap? It was there and now it's gone. Summer holidays. The last issue. An organised retreat. A blank front page, a blank disk, now occupied. Distillations of the spring, early Summer and time gone by.

Before it disappears completely, stop and LOOK! What do you see? What do you feel? Was it exciting, or frightening, as you left one place and arrived at another? What happened in that space?

For the content of this issue, we continue to be indebted to those who travel the Path, those who create the gaps and those who enter the space between.

With the arrival of Autumn, we re-start the regular Wednesday evening meditation sessions at the Iyengar Yoga Centre in Bristol. For those who find Bristol a distant prospect, we are pleased to announce the affiliation of a meditation group in Swindon and to remind you of our long-standing connections with Cardiff. Details of all of these activities and forthcoming short retreats can be found on the final page.

During one of the sessions earlier in the year, John canvassed the opinions of the group then present about what they would like most from the Chan Group teaching. Members were asked to rate on a scale of 1 to 10 their personal interest in having: Discussions, Mondo [Question and Answer sessions], Teisho [Dharma talks] or Dokusan [Personal interviews] during the Wednesday evening meetings. It was taken that any mark below 5 would indicate a negative wish, anything above a positive one:

• Average Scores: Mondo 7.9; Discussion 7.9; Teisho 9.2; Dokusan 9.6

John will therefore try to increase the number of opportunities for personal interview whilst maintaining a programme of talks interspersed with mondo and general discussions. Discussions generally arise naturally on the evenings when John is not present.

Finally, thank you to all those who returned their subscription slips and a gentle reminder to those who have yet to do so!

• New Chan Forum issue 8