When we sit down to meditate and take an honest look at our minds, there is a tendency for it to become a rather morbid and depressing project. We can lose all sense of humour and sit with the grim determination to get to the bottom of this stinking mess. After a while, when people have been practicing that way, they begin to feel so much guilt and distress that they just break down, and they might say to someone they trust, “Where’s the joy in all of this?”
Pema Chödrön is an American Buddhist monk and principle teacher of the Gampo Abbey in Nova Scotia. The Enzo Circle has been reading her book, When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times [our reading list is chosen on recommendations by participants]. What you are listening to is an edited excerpt from the live session. You will not hear the voices of participants as sometimes people share deeply personal insights, thoughts, experiences and we maintain confidentiality of each member.
Members attend worldwide. We are on online, via Google Meet, on Sundays at 8 pm India time and sometimes on Wednesdays 8pm when the group feels it’s needed. We read together, in class, chapter by chapter and see what we resonate with, what it reminds us of, share what comes up and contest what doesn’t work for us. We lean on and learn from each other in the true spirit of a sangha.
You can sign up here: Join the Enzo Circle 2024
Our books for 2024 are:
The Myth of Normal, Gabor Mate
Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind Shunryu Suzuki
The Courage to be Disliked, Ichiro Kishimi & Fumitake Koga
Don't believe everything you think, Joseph Nguyen
What makes you not a buddhist, Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche
Poetry Pharmacy: Tried-and-True Prescriptions for the Heart, Mind and Soul, William Sieghert.
[NB: Not necessarily in the same order and books may be subject to change based on the group’s mutual decision. The fee is a one time fee for the year. It’s bring your own book. Recordings of sessions are available only to members for private viewing and may not be circulated publicly or privately.]
You can still listen to the free edited version on podcasts via Apple, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts every week.
When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times by Pema Chödrön