Wellington’s Simply Meditation has a new name
After coming together for four years as Simply
Meditation, Wellington’s
secular Buddhist community
will from January 2017 be known as:
One Mindful
Breath
a secular dharma practice community
Bringing
together practitioners from differing traditions and from
none,
at the core of our activities was the Wednesday
evening meditation
session. That Simply Meditation was
much more than simply meditation,
though, had been known
for a long time as also on offer were what can be
described as a menu of opportunities during and around
those Wednesday
evening sessions.
Before October 2016,
every session had by default been a beginners’
evening, frustrating those who wanted to deepen their
practice and
explore the teachings around meditation.
Now, the first Wednesday of
each month is ‘Beginners
Mind’, intended as suitable for beginners,
although
people new to meditation practice may turn up at every
session,
It was agreed that a change of name would be
useful. Through a list of
possible names developed
initially among members of the Simply
Meditation care
committee, a wide range of options were discussed.
Thinking about a name for the community that would
suggest the breadth
of our intention, the factors
considered included:
– How well does a particular name
express what we intend to do and who
we believe we
are?
– What does a name say about our values?
–
Who may be attracted by the names we were examining?
–
For whom will a particular name be a barrier?
One Mindful
Breath became the preferred name for the community as it
suits the wide range of our activities, and those we
intend to do. The
strapline ‘a secular dharma practice
community’ situates us within a
secular Buddhist
milieu.
Everything is born within a set of circumstances,
and dies in a
different set of circumstances. Nothing is
perfect, and the change of
our name recognises that all
things are impermanent, including the
dharma. The
Community Formerly Known As Simply Meditation will continue
to meet and develop, one mindful breath at a
time.
ENDS