You're invited to join online for this quiet day of meditation. It begins at 8:30 a.m. (ET) with timed sittings, followed by a talk by Stephan Bielfeldt at 11:00. In the afternoon there will be timed sittings followed by a group dialogue, where it also will be possible to ask Stephan questions about meditative work.
Stephan has an interest in how meditation, awareness, can manifest in daily life. In an excerpt from his book "Seven Days in Silence," translated from the German by Robert Watson, he writes:
Does sitting regularly make it easier for us to be aware? See for yourself! Is there
something happening? Does it become easier to pause during the day and just be still and look inward? You shouldn’t have high hopes, but something has already changed in your life because meditation and awareness have pride of place.
I noticed an unexpected change many years ago in my conversations: I found that there was a new kind of attentiveness present when meeting people face to face. There were more often moments when I could truly listen not only to the person but at the same time, there was space to see my own thoughts and feelings.
Indeed, our everyday life is hardly a day of retreat, and our heads are full of a thousand and one thoughts, but even in our everyday life, there are moments when we can be still and quiet and look inwards. Then we have the space to see and do not always have to act blindly. The longer we meditate the more likely and the easier it becomes for us to make use of these moments of awakening. Our body learns, and being still and quiet and looking inwards, awareness of what is taking place within—this becomes part of
our daily life and experience. Little by little, meditation reaches independency of formal sitting, and then one day, we realize that our life has been transformed.
More information about Stephan, including recordings of his talks, may be found on his Springwater Center website page.
To register for the All-Day Sitting, please use the Button below.
