Sometimes the world around us moves too quickly and among all the ruckus we tend to forget that we should take care of ourselves too. If you’ve been feeling down lately, Kadampa Meditation Centre opens its doors every Tuesday night. Hidden in an unassuming building on South Fraser Way in Abbotsford, they provide tea, cookies, and solace from all the stress life throws at us. Once you find your way in (which is harder than it sounds, with the doors hidden out of the way), a small, very un-Buddhist-like hall greets you with a reception table and a witty monk peeking out from behind it. If you felt out of place before, all worry leaves you here. Chatting away, time runs quickly and sooner than you know it, the meditation itself is about to begin.
The participants move into another room, with statues of Buddha both big and small, made of clay and gold, smiling at you from the opposite wall. They watch as you sit down on a rather uncomfortable chair and await the second monk, who guides the meditation. Dressed in a typical temple tunic, he talks you through the whole process.
The meditation itself takes about an hour, and it is divided into three parts. First you go through 10 minutes of breathing exercises to relax and settle down. Then a half-hour long talk follows, concerning the topic of the actual meditation. Every meditation is concentrated on different areas in our life and mind, like love, pain, or happiness. After the monk is done talking, the last 20 minutes are given to the meditation itself, and showing attendants how it should be approached when they do it at home.
I won’t lie to you, when my friend took me there for the first time, I was quite skeptical. With no great knowledge of Buddhism, I believed that there was no reason for me to be there. How wrong I was. One of the beauties of the Tuesday sessions is the fact that you are not pushed into anything. You don’t need to know anything, believe in certain things, or associate with specific ideas. The only thing asked of you is an open mind. The monks are very welcoming people with calming presences, and the whole place just oozes a non-judgemental atmosphere. More important, having someone experienced leading you through the meditation gives you an opportunity to take its benefits without figuring out how to do it properly. During the sessions, you will see folks from all walks of life attending regularly. This feeling of mutuality is quite profound, and really stuck with me.
During my very first visit to the centre, the head monk said: “Always remember that every living being wants to be as happy as you want to be, and doesn’t want to suffer as badly as you don’t want to.” We seem to forget that sometimes. It’s not bad to be reminded of it, for your sake as much as for everyone else’s.
Kadampa Meditation Centre runs every Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. You won’t need anything except $10.
