--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Vaj <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >
> I recently was invited to attend a weekend basic training in > meditation with a close, life-long friend in the Shambhala > tradition. It was probably the most impressive basic meditation > instruction I've ever witnessed as the teacher was a 30+ year > veteran who spoke from his own considerable experience. They > operate under the basic assumption that intro meditation is the > most difficult to teach so the Shambhala people only authorize > their most advanced teachers for the first level. The same has been true in several Tibetan groups I have encountered. And in several martial arts dojos. "Followup" training on some new technique may be handled by and monitored by the upper-ranking black belts in the dojo, but the initial instruction was always given by the head teacher, someone who had been practicing it for 20-40 years. > For a weekend starting with an open friday night lecture with > breakfast Saturday and Sunday, lunch on Saturday, afternoon tea > and a reception gourmet feast on graduation Sunday the > course was only 100 dollars. I have actually encountered beginning meditation weekend seminars with similar schedules and similar amounts of munchies that were offered for free. But that was partly because these groups had a facility of their own and didn't have to pay for rental of a room somewhere. They paid for all the food and goodies themselves because they got off on doing so. > Most interesting was seeing the unity experiences people began > having right away, in that short weekend; young college students, > college professors, old folks, a blind lady with her guide dog. > Lots of time to interview privately with the teacher(s) and small > group discussions as well as along with the whole group. In other words, the way things should be done.
