On Wednesday I visited the Shambhala Meditation Center for their free weekly meditation instruction. Although I have done plenty of meditation, my instructions were rather informal, just random things I had learned online and once during a humanities course when we were visited by a zen monk. I was looking forward to the chance to learn something straight from the Buddhist’s mouth, so to speak.

A wee bit of history- the Shambhala movement was started by Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, a Tibetan Buddhist monk who had to flee Tibet in 1959 after the Chinese invasion. After a few years acting as a spiritual adviser in Dalhousie, India, and studying religion and philosophy in Oxford, Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche came to the west and established centers of meditation specifically tailored to the needs of western culture. Each center is run by volunteers and maintained by donations, and there are now more than 170 of these centers around the world.

The volunteer acting as the host was kind and welcoming, as were all of the other volunteers and practitioners that I met there. The center itself was small, and though it was sparsely decorated it was very pleasant and beautiful; a very calming atmosphere obviously tailored to the hour long meditation sessions they have every Monday and Wednesday nights.

The instruction itself was short, friendly, and conversational. We sat on raised cushions (the special names escape me) which kept our hips above our knees (which is important for reasons I also forget). Proper posture is important, a straight back with the head tilted downward slightly, as if a string was pulling at the back of your head. Your arms should rest comfortably on your thighs and your eyes should be cast downward.

The instructor advised that we should keep our eyes open, which is an approach I had not heard before. I had been keeping my eyes closed before, but they made a very interesting point. Their form of meditation was focused on practicality, on silencing the mind and trying to find peace in your daily life. Why close your eyes during meditation when you spend most of your life with your eyes open?

Attention to the breathing was paramount. Just focus on the sensation of inhalation and exhalation, trying to deflect other thoughts as they intrude. One shouldn’t become frustrated if you can’t focus of if your mind wanders. Meditation isn’t easy. It is best to have a kind of curiosity about the thoughts that come to mind. Examine them and reflect on them and then let them go, do not angrily try to shove them all aside.

It was a great experience, and now that I am familiar with their form and practice of meditation, I will definitely be heading back in the future, and I encourage anyone else interested in meditation to do so as well. I still prefer to keep my eyes closed, and to keep my hands in front of me with the thumbs connected when I meditate. It just feels right.

Tomorrow morning I will be traveling to the Richmond Buddhist temple for another meditation course. It is a very large, very beautiful temple so I will probably spend most of the day there, meditating, exploring the grounds, and reflecting on Buddhism.