Deep Conversations at Bethesda Library -- The clouds don’t affect the sky
Details
**ATTENTION: We might be in Meeting Room 2 this week.**
Nov 2: “The outside world and the flow of inner emotions come and go. But you, the one who experiences these things, remain consciously aware of whatever passes before you.”
-- Michael Singer
“Consciousness is the screen on which all the pictures come and go. The screen is real, the pictures are mere shadows on it.”
-- Ramana Maharshi
"Clouds come and go in the sky but the appearance and disappearance of the clouds don’t affect the sky."
-- Annamalai Swami
"Proposition: The only permanent solution to existential angst (from German, 'fear, anxiety') is to find our true identity, what we are at the core of our being."
-- Art Ticknor
Question:
- Thoughts and emotions and physical sensations come and go.
- You are the one experiencing them.
- You are not their changing contents.
If you are not your thoughts, feelings, sensations... what are you? Be specific!
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“I am struck with how rare it is to find a few good friends on the path. It is easy to find people who simply want to sit and be entertained by teachers, or who want to sit and entertain by playing the role of teacher. In other words, the quest for affirmation often outweighs the quest for truth.
Yet you may have one or two good friends, and definitely have one or two waiting to be discovered. Find them; be thankful.”
— Shawn Nevins
'What will make me happy in life?' ... 'Am I my thoughts?' ... 'What is Enlightenment?' ... We meet every week to ask questions like these in the pursuit of Self-Knowledge and Truth.
We are interested in topics like: Zen, stoicism, spirituality, psychology, mindfulness, Nisargadatta, non-violent communication, Socrates, existential philosophy, Alan Watts, taoism, Eckhart Tolle, meditation, Ramana Maharshi, etc. But we are not affiliated with any dogma, philosophy, or religion.
Our goal each meeting is to serve as mirrors for one another using question-based inquiry in a safe environment. In a session, every participant takes turns discussing the week's question or topic, and the group asks reflective questions without any agenda besides trying to understand the person's beliefs.
A few other guiding principles of our group:
- No one is obligated to share
- Be honest with yourself and others
- Do not try to convince others to believe or think as you do
- Keep the focus on the person being questioned
We meet at the Bethesda Library every Monday. The library is a 5 minute walk from the Bethesda Metro on the Red Line, approx 25 minute Metro ride from Metro Center and Gallery Place stations. The library has a a parking lot with metered parking for $1/hour.
*** WE WILL BE IN MEETING ROOM 3 UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED ----- THE MEETING ROOM IS IN THE BACK OF THE LIBRARY ***
Please contact us with any questions!