There are over 10 million people incarcerated worldwide. I am interested in mailing CDs to people who are confined and want to learn to use their minds. Your comments and info and links would be appreciated.

aldoran@hotmail.com

please enter this in your email subject line: rehabilitation

I haven't been back to the site for a little while and I find these wonderful posts from people who've discovered us and I'm suddenly feeling a little ... what did I say? Nervous? Maybe that's not the right word but my mind is all, like, "Wow. People discover this site or this idea and seem to like it/love it feel inspired" and then i compare that to how I see us and I'm like, "Wow. Will they be disappointed?" Activity on the site from we "members" always seems low to me (or rather to my judging, worried mind). aren't people looking for something more profound or amazing than a bunch of folks who want to sit and be together but really rarely seem to get anything more off the ground? it's been a while since we made a cushion, much less saved the old world. I donno. I guess it's me wishing we were more impressive somehow.
but you know we are pretty impressive, from my perspective. when I think about what I get out of this, I'm sort of amazed. because I've been sitting regularly for almost two years now! regularly meaning almost every week, but that's regularly, too. and I have felt supported and cared for and encouraged and nurtured for all these years, too. not in the "everything I ever needed" sense, but again, SOME. and some is better than what I had before.
JD brought up a question she got by email from another sitter from another little vancouver group, asking us how we were organized, how we worked with events and finances and all the such and such. I think we had a giggle (inner or outer) because, well, we're not, actually. "Organized"? Ask K how much work it took her to get ANYONE to show up for a business meeting last time! We seem to manage to get the door unlocked every week (make that twice a week now), and somehow, someone always gets the cushions out and someone rings the bell and someone leads our guided metta meditation. Group organization gets that far, anyway. Events? Well, day-long meditations happen when they happen, and usually they happen because someone wants to meditate for a couple hours at a time rather than just the one. But it's not exactly Change Your Mind Day in Central Park. And when it comes to events, ask JD how much has fallen onto her shoulders trying to get the Noah Levine documentary brought to town. And finances? Well, we actually don't have any. Or not many, anyway. Summer months have given us all the option of enjoying the fine sunny evenings rather than coming indoors to sit and practice, and as usual that brings down the numbers and thus the donations, and what money we had in dana's hat is dwindling. (to some of us that's welcomed with a "thank goodness").
I felt strange discussing those questions briefly last week, maybe because an old aquaintance was sitting with us and I was embarassed that DIY wasn't a Big Deal that I could hold up and say "Hey! Look what I've been doing!" But you know what, I'm afflicted with the apologize-y klesa uin my own life, so I guess it coming out on my attitude to my community isn't all surprising.
Because what we do do is sit together. and sit together. and we sit. and you know that's something wonderful. if I am longing for something to fulfil my ambitions to create a whole new world in my own image, or to overthrow all the hideous powers I seem to think are surrounding us, then DIY will probably never be IT. And thank goodness for that. But when it comes to a place where anyone and everyone who would like to practice silent meditation, discuss their experience and their problems with openness and genuine heart, and maybe take a look at a few other people who are just as neurotic and problematic as they are but still find a way to find some beauty to practice some wisdom and love together, then come on down!

Fantastic! I'm new to the community... new as in registered about 5 minute ago. Up until now, I've been practicing yoga for 3-4 years and have started practicing meditation regularly on and off over the past year or two. I've had a love affair with audiodharma.org and Gil Fronsdal's dharma talks and guided meditation sessions. Being a 'geek', I'm all about finding new sites, blogs, resources, podcasts and social media resources to further my practice. Audiodharma and myyogaonline.org is what has mostly provided the basis for my home practice... that is until now!

I've been searching for a community to sit with for awhile and though I've attended a few events here and there, I haven't found a regular sitting group quite yet. Then, through some miraculous coincidence, I was looking up something on Jack Kornfield and somehow stumbled upon the DIY Dharma site. When I went to check out the events, I was ecstatic to see a 4 hour sitting happening right down the street from my house. Of course I found out hours too late, but the existence of such an event seemed to answer exactly what I was seeking.

Because I haven't sat yet or spent too much time on the site, I hardly feel compelled to do anything but give kudos to the designers / webmasters. Love the rad interface, wealth of streaming audio and social media applications/interactivity. All I can say for now is lookin' forward to sitting with you guys soon.

Went to my first DIY sit last night - sort of tumbled into a discussion on "sangha," which was good, :) and that led to a mention of a possible change in the identity or self-description of DIY.

For what it's worth, the description of "freaks, geeks, queers, rebels and outcasts" (I may have listed them out of order) is precisely why I came to DIY, and why I intend to keep coming back and be a part of... whatever it is. :D

I do understand that some folks might possibly be put off by the description, but at the same time I recall seeing something that said essentially that you "need not qualify" in order to join. That's good, that's inclusive, and that's important. However, I'm really hoping that DIY holds its ground as a sangha for "freaks, geeks, queers, rebels and outcasts" - there's any number of more "genteel" sanghas out there, if people aren't comfortable with freaks, etc., well, they should go where they won't find as many of them.

DIY feels - in my admittedly desperately limited experience of one sit - different, and I hope that that difference is recognized and held worthy of preserving.

Metta to all...

Quando dou pão aos pobres, chamam-me santo. Quando pergunto pelas causas da pobreza, chamam-me comunista. "When I give bread to the poor, they call me a saint. When I inquire into the causes of poverty, they call me a communist." - Dom Hélder Câmara