Author: Alan Carter

Introduction to Buddhist meditation

~ Alan Carter ~ Leave a comment

‘I teach only two things: suffering and the ending of suffering’ – the Buddha

Wednesday evenings in November at Love Yoga

While meditation apps and five-minute mindfulness are now familiar to lots of people, the Buddha’s full meditation path offers something much deeper. Starting with meditations for relaxation and focus, it builds to awareness and then transformation of the way our mind works. It is a way to become happier, kinder and saner.

This course begins with an overview of the path as a whole, then introduces simple meditation techniques and covers how to meditate comfortably and set up a regular practice. You will also meet other members of the course and the group. We aim to be an open, mutually supportive group where questioning and discussion are encouraged and people share both difficulties and experience to help one another on the path. This is followed by an introduction to the Buddha’s teachings.

The group operates on the basis of dana or generosity. We ask that attendees give a donation to help cover the costs of the venue but, in order to keep the practice available to all, the size of the donation is entirely up to you.

The course is held in the Love Yoga studio at 42 Union Terrace, Aberdeen. Sessions are from 7:30 to 9:00 pm.

To book a place, please call Alan on 01224 276810 or email aberdeenbuddhistgroup@yahoo.co.uk.

06 November – Introduction to the Aberdeen Buddhist Group
13 November – The Buddha’s meditation path
20 November – Meditation practice
27 November – Introduction to Buddhism part 1
04 December – Introduction to Buddhism part 2

We are moving!

~ Alan Carter ~ Leave a comment

For the past quarter of a century, the Friends Meeting House on Crown Street has hosted the Aberdeen Buddhist Group on Wednesday evenings. With its simple decor and atmosphere of calm it has been a very appropriate space for us. We are very grateful to the Aberdeen Quakers for making it available for all these years.

But all things are impermanent, and we have been offered a slot at the Love Yoga studio. This is a bright, warm space at the northern end of Union Terrace, overlooking the gardens and Rosemount Viaduct. It is beautifully set up for meditation practice and (we checked first) also has a kettle! We hope that taking a place in the studio’s programme of events will give the group a new lease on life.

We’ll miss the Meeting House and would like to invite everyone who has ever joined us there to do so for one last time at our last meeting on the 23rd of October to share memories and take our leave. On the 30th we will have our first meeting at Love Yoga with a dedication ceremony and settling in. Once we have found our feet we will have a series of introductory classes over the course of November.

Meetings in July 2024

~ Alan Carter ~ Leave a comment

The Aberdeen Buddhist Group will be open for meetings every Wednesday evening this July. Many thanks to those who have made donations or set up standing orders in response to our recent appeal. These will allow us to afford the rent at the Quaker Meeting House this month. If you would still like to contribute, our bank details are at Contributing to the group.

We have made some changes to the format of meetings. One is that we will finish earlier – at 9 pm – to make it easier for people who have to catch buses or travel from a distance. The other is that not all evenings will have a pre-arranged talk or theme, but we will always be open for members to meditate together and the kettle will always be on. The monthly practice discussion on the second Saturday of the month will remain a fixture.

Themed meetings arranged at present are:
3rd July – Planning – continuing the discussion about reorganising the group.
17th July – Practice discussion, led by Graham.
24th July – Threefold puja, followed by discussion.

Planning meeting 26th June 2024

~ Alan Carter ~ Leave a comment

The 26th of June meeting will be a planning meeting. Having lost a number of key members recently we are reconsidering all aspects of the group in order to make a fresh start. We had a very positive meeting this week with lots of ideas but we would like to continue the discussion before making firm decisions next week. All perspectives would be useful, including regular attenders, people who haven’t made it along for a while for whatever reason and potential new members.

Contributing to the Aberdeen Buddhist Group

~ Alan Carter ~ Leave a comment

The Aberdeen Buddhist Group runs on the basis of dana or generosity. People leading evenings give their time for free but it costs us £30 per week to rent the Quaker Meeting House and we have occasional costs such as hosting this website. We ask people coming to meetings to make a contribution, but in order to keep the teachings available to all we leave the size of that contribution up to the individual. For many years those contributions have gone into a dana bowl – a bowl put out at the end of meetings for cash donations. Now, however, we are finding that lots of people do not carry cash and donations have gone below a sustainable level. It seems we need to find a way of continuing the tradition of dana in the age of contactless cards and banking apps.

If you would like to help the group continue to offer the dharma and support practice in Aberdeen, but you don’t often make it to meetings or you don’t carry cash for donations on the evening, an alternative is to make a bank transfer or, better still, set up a standing order to the group. As with cash donations, the size of this is entirely up to you. Our bank details are:

Aberdeen Buddhist Group
Bank of Scotland
Sort code 80-05-16
Account: 00184161

Thank you!