This talk offers some details on beginning a practice and discusses some stages as your practice matures.

People asked about questions they had on Mindfulness. There was a discussion about it, sometimes a bit lively. It seemed to engage people.

This talk explores the question of why we would train the mind through meditation practice.

Those in attendance chose this topic. A free form discussion of why this is useful and how to do it followed. It ended with brief instructions on one technique taught by Tongpulu Sayadaw. His method rotates through 10-30 seconds or so of: Seeing, Hearing, Posture (Sitting, Standing, Walking, or Laying down), and touching. Just nonconceptual noticing. For instance, for Seeing, imagine being a baby in a crib. You have no words to describe what you see but just notice the raw color and form. Same for the other three meditation objects.

Being with people on a similar path is so useful. Some of those benefits are discussed and how it may sometimes be difficult when in the company of those not on a similar path.