Note: All silent sittings and meditation practice takes place in Merton Bookshed/Winter Zendo.
The Morning Call Yurt by brook is available for times of solitude.
Prologue: A word about Meetingbrook Hermitage Events:
All are welcome; All events at meetingbrook are free, open, and informal; Each conversation, each night, each practice stands by itself. Each silent sitting is just that, nothing more. Each event and conversation begins with a space of silence. Residents along with Bill and Saskia are two dogs (Rokpa and Cody) and two cats (Panta and Chitta).
NOTE: Chapel/Zendo or Thomas Merton Bookshed Retreat are available for sitting, reading, prayer, or merely visiting at any time of day. Just pull in, park, and make use. If gate is closed, open it. It is just a protection for the dogs from going to road. The Morning Call Yurt by the brook is available for times of solitude.
Morning weekday practice is idiorrhythmic.* We try to find our places by 6:45am. You, yours, anytime. (* Idiorrhythmic, an individualized form of monastic life. The term idiorrhythmia (ἰδιο〈ρ〉ρυθμία), meaning, on one's own, either alone or in a small group.)
1. Monday: No events
2. Tuesday
--Tuesday Evening Conversation Practice, 5:30-6:30pm. Eastern (Taoism, Buddhism, Vedanta) Traditions focus: 15mins silent sitting, followed by circle reading, and reflection conversation.
3. Wednesday: No events
4. Thursday:
a) Morning Hospitality, 8:30 - 11AM (coffee, tea, toast, muffins or eggs)
b) Thursday Evening Conversation Practice, 5:30pm-6:30pm. Western (Judaism, Christianity, Islam) Traditions focus. 15mins silent sitting, followed by circle reading, and reflection conversation.
5. Friday:
a) Conversations at Maine State Prison, (Only Bill, Saskia, Rokpa currently going in.) Warren ME. (7:30am--11:00am).
b) Poetry, Tea, and Thee, at Quarry Hill (Retirement/Assisted Living Facility, Camden ME) 1st, 3rd Fridays, (3-4pm)
c) Friday Evening Conversation at Hermitage, 6:00pm--8:00pm. Theme, Creativity and Peace: Mystics, Poets, Philosophers, Non-traditional, and Various Other Thinkers. Reading, or video, from various traditions, conversation, Soul-friend sharing. Currently focusing on Existentialism, Heidegger, Kyoto School, and Nothingness. At other times, such as Rupert Spira, TED Talks, Creation Eco-spirituality: David Abram, Thomas Berry, John O'Donohue, Ilia Delio, Care and Creation, Franciscan Spirituality; Pagan, Agnostic, Atheism, New Scientific thinking.
6. Saturday:
--Saturday Morning Meditation Practice, 7:30am--8:45am, Buddhist/Meditative Focus: 30min silent sitting, chant, reading, circle reflection, metta, (Coffee, tea, toast after available).
7. Sunday:
a) Quaker Meeting, 9:00am-10am. Megunticook Worship Group, Oct-May, Merton Bookshed/Retreat.
b) Hospitality 10:15am-noon.
c) Sunday Evening Practice, (Practicing Between Contemplative/Meditative Traditions), 6:00pm--8:00pm, 40min silent sitting, mindful walking, chant; table reading, 10min silent eating, open conversation.
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Note: See website, Today at Meetingbrook,http://meetingbrook.blogspot.com/ for any change/elaboration of schedule
Epilogue: Meetingbrook Hermitage is a place of collation and recollection between Ragged and Bald Mountains where we practice with simplicity between traditions cultivating our promises of contemplation, conversation, and correspondence, in the spirit of deep listening and loving speech. Stop by any time to visit cabin, bookshed, or yurt. Hiking trails of Ragged Mountain abound.
