Starting a meditation group, any suggestions?

misterCope

Hello! I posted this in the meditation forum, but perhaps it belongs here...

I've read quite a lot about the benefits of meditating with a group (community being one of the three jewels and all), but I've not had the opportunity to do so. The meditation groups available to me are either unattendable due to time constraints or too distant.

So, I am considering starting an informal meditation group at my university. I do not plan to teach in any way, as I am certainly not qualified for that. I hope to find some like-minded people and a space we can use and see where it takes us.

I am wondering if any of you may be able to provide any ideas or suggestions. Perhaps there is a book or video or audio recording that could be useful for my situation? I'd love some "keep in mind"s and a few "be sure to avoid"s. This is uncharted territory for me, so I will be extremely grateful for any and all advice provided.

Thank you so much for your time,
Matthew

misterCope

Hello!

I've read quite a lot about the benefits of meditating with a group (community being one of the three jewels and all), but I've not had the opportunity to do so. The meditation groups available to me are either unattendable due to time constraints or too distant.

So, I am considering starting an informal meditation group at my university. I do not plan to teach in any way, as I am certainly not qualified for that. I hope to find some like-minded people and a space we can use and see where it takes us.

I am wondering if any of you may be able to provide any ideas or suggestions. Perhaps there is a book or video or audio recording that could be useful for my situation? I'd love some "keep in mind"s and a few "be sure to avoid"s. This is uncharted territory for me, so I will be extremely grateful for any and all advice provided.

Thank you so much for your time,
Matthew

MaryAnne

Don't do it! You'll lose your mind! LOL People come at meditation for soooo many different reasons from sooooo many different mindsets. Unless you are prepared to limit this meditation group to one general sort of "generic" meditation style... you're in for a massive migraine from trying to please everyone all the time. Just Say No!

(tongue in cheek, yes, but still a drop of truth!)

Cinorjer

Well, I started a few meditation groups. Keep it simple, with some basic instruction on posture for folks completely new and give everyone a chance to introduce themselves. Be a guide but let everyone know you're open to suggestions.

For the actual meditation, I'd suggest you have something like some chanting or bland flute music to put on for timing, and keep it at about 10 minutes at a time unless everyone is experienced. Ten minutes is a long time for beginning meditation. Then leave time at the end for people to discuss their meditation. If it's a small group, you can even ask if folks would be willing to take turns leading the sessions.

What to avoid? Maybe too much discussion and not enough meditation. People are there to meditate together, not discuss Tibet politics or the best mudra.

seeker242

misterCope said:

So, I am considering starting an informal meditation group at my university.

Does the University have a religion dept or something similar? Perhaps you could speak with one of the professors there and ask them for ideas too. Of course, preferably a professor who teaches or is familiar with the eastern religions.

If not a religion dept than a psychology dept. I would bet some people in the psychology dept would be interested in seeing such a group on campus. Does the university have a "wellness center" or anything like that? Or does it host yoga classes? I would check for interested people in these places too. Who knows, maybe there already is an actual meditation teacher on campus faculty somewhere.

A good "keep in mind" I think would be that you will probably get people who have never done any meditation at all show up. Someone will have to teach them the basics. Otherwise, they will be completely confused, have no clue about what to do, how to sit, etc. and probably won't come back after that.

Sabre

In my meditation group, people all bring along things to share. Sometimes a video, sometimes a piece they read. Especially when we are with little people it is very informal and we'll just see where it goes. Sometimes one of us guides the meditation, or brings along a guided meditation they liked. (open to all influences, also outside Buddhism) Then again most new people already have had experience with meditation from retreat settings, so it's not dealing with newcomers.

So depending on the group, perhaps let a series of videos on meditation be the introduction/guide. Something like this: click, but I'm sure there are many others.

genkaku

I agree with @cinorjer -- keep it simple. Since, when I was starting out, I had literally no clue as to what anyone actually did (just the physical stuff), here is a pretty straightforward how-to with a Zen spin ... it's got pictures. Just skip over the promo stuff at the beginning.

If you need talking points, you could to worse than the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path, though that has a danger of slipping off into "deeeeeeep" discussion, which is hardly the point of a meditation group.

Best wishes in your efforts.

riverflow

Cinorjer said:

Well, I started a few meditation groups. Keep it simple, with some basic instruction on posture for folks completely new and give everyone a chance to introduce themselves. Be a guide but let everyone know you're open to suggestions.

For the actual meditation, I'd suggest you have something like some chanting or bland flute music to put on for timing, and keep it at about 10 minutes at a time unless everyone is experienced. Ten minutes is a long time for beginning meditation. Then leave time at the end for people to discuss their meditation. If it's a small group, you can even ask if folks would be willing to take turns leading the sessions.

What to avoid? Maybe too much discussion and not enough meditation. People are there to meditate together, not discuss Tibet politics or the best mudra.

Essentially, our small sangha approaches it this way and I think it works wonderfully. Good luck @misterCope !

misterCope

Thank you @Cinorger , I'll keep that in mind, especially keeping the time short. Thank you @seeker242 , those are excellent suggestions and I'll definitely look into them; I know there are yoga classes, so I might start there. Thank you @Sabre , I'm definitely going to do that! Thank you @genkaku , maybe I'll make a little pamphlet with basic instructions or something like that. And thank you @riverflow , for your input as well!

misterCope

Thank you @MaryAnne ! I am, in fact, already dealing with people wanting to try chakra meditation, Tai Chi, and astral projection... I will definitely try to limit the group, at least at first.

Invincible_summer

I would just say outright that you are going to host a group for _____ style of meditation. People may come and go depending on their interest, but at least if you make it clear from the outset, then there won't be any of what @MaryAnne is talking about.

Invincible_summer

@misterCope - I'm thinking of possibly starting a small group when I start at a new college in the fall, so this topic is very timely!

The meditation group at my previous university contacted the Buddhist chaplains to lead sits on certain days of the week, as well as staff/faculty that were experienced in meditation. We also had a nun come from the local NKT sangha, so if you ask around I'm sure you can get people to help you out!

misterCope

That's awesome @Invincible_summer ! I'm not sure if there are any temples or even sitting groups near enough to send anyone, but I will certainly look into it.

I'd love it if you keep me updated on your progress; maybe we can share issues/problems and help each other out!