An introduction to Buddhist Meditation gave Chestermere residents resources that can be used to finding pure happiness on Sept. 26 at Camp Chestermere.
“I wanted to explain that Buddhist meditation is not magical, or mystical, it’s a practical exercise, just like exercising,” said Diamond Way Buddhist Instructor Susan Bixby.
Bixby along with two others gave an in-depth introduction to Buddhism, a question and answered period, followed by a guided meditation with approximately 50 people.
“It was great. I enjoyed seeing the people who came from Chestermere,” Bixby added, “I know about 60 per cent of the people here.”
Last year Bixby and her husband, also a Diamond Way Buddhist Instructor, taught in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. During their time teaching, they invited people everywhere they went to attend the Introduction to Buddhist Meditation in Chestermere.
“Amazingly people came,” Bixby said.
For Bixby is was important to show people how rich they really are inside, without having material possessions.
“What goes well for me is when people connect, when something lights up in them, and they recognize their own richness, and they start to see that they don’t have to depend on outside stuff, they themselves have everything they need,” Bixby added, “I sensed that with some of the people.”
Being able to sense when someone connects to what is being taught is a very intuitive thing for Bixby.
“You just feel it, you can’t put it into words,” she said.
“What we want when we have these talks is for people to just feel good. The information you give, nobody remembers,” Bixby said.
She added, people can’t remember what the instructor says, but what people do remember is whether they liked the teacher, or if the teacher seemed like somebody they might be able to sit down and talk with.
“We are responsible for our lives, the things that we say and that we do create our lives. We’re not victims. We’re not having to wait and see if the next shoe will drop.
“If we are kind, and we are compassionate the word shines on us, if we are self-centred, egocentric and negative, we’ll get that back so as soon as people start to realize that what they say, think, and do gives them a happy life or not, that is the biggest power in the world,” Bixby said.
Marina Stefanelli, one person who attended the Introduction to Buddhist Meditation had been interested in Buddhism for a while, and finally decided to take the plunge and learn about the way of life.
“I wish I could be a part of the main event happening, but now I’m going to look into it and see what it’s all about,” Stefanelli said.
For more information please visit the Dimond Way Website at https://diamondway.org.
