ONLINE Wed, May 13 "Meditation: Refuge or Window of Opportunity?"

Why do I meditate? What do I find there?
A feel-good experience, an escape into quiescence, a sense of freedom?
Or an opportunity for change -but what changes, how am I different?

What is the difference between meditation and self-hypnosis?
Do I enter a trance state, and for what purpose?
What is the difference between meditation and prayer?
Am I blindly following a technique, a turn-key exercise and what has resulted?
What is my goal, my expectations, what constitutes a 'successful' meditation?
Is my meditation what some authority has suggested and what has he/she promised?
Do I attempt to repeat the same state-of-mind, the same feeling every time?

Has my meditation become part of my paradigm, or a possibility for escaping my paradigm?

What if meditation was strictly a personal experience, individualistic, with the only goal to pursue what I really really want in life?
. . .meditation as THE means to find what to do in meditation, how to go about it, looking for a way forward, for discovery.

At tonight's meeting, let's share what that quiet time is for each of us, what we do and don't do, what happens and doesn't happen, and what is our purpose and expectation.
If meditation could be individualistic endeavor, then how could I take it to the next level?