We have some majorly exciting news. 7 monks and nuns from Plum Village, France are coming to the UK to offer a series of mindfulness workshops to young people!
Please check out wkupuk.org for more information about the tour and the London workshop on October 20. Register soon as spaces are limited!
London flyer below:
Nearly a hundred people, friends and strangers, gathered together on Friday 21 September for our meditation flash mob near City Hall.
It was the first time it ever rained on us, but we continued to sit peacefully with each other.
After the meditation and soundbath, we preceeded to singing John Lennon’s ‘Imagine’ to remember the powerful message of this song.
You can see the pictures here and a video will be published soon.
Here are some feedback from the event:
Imagine a symbol of flowers
Brought from near and far
Placed with loving kindness
Under the shadow or the shar d
Imagine finding stillness
As the rain drops fall
Breathing in I smell the incense
breathing out, I feel calm
The warmth of love surrounds us
The sound bath brings me peace
I open my eyes to the lights of London
And even brighter smiles
Imagine all the people
singing in the rain!
You may say i’m a dreamer
But I know i’m not alone,
Meditation will allow us to wake up
and the world will live as one.
– The Hub ChaChaCha
When you really hear the sound of rain
You can hear and see and feel
Everything in the same way –
As needing no translation, as being
Just what it is, though it may be
Impossible to say what.
– Sean Gainford
My first time at one. It was lovely even if it did rain. The atmosphere was so tranquil. I have never felt so at peace. Thankyou
– Teri Raymond
It was so great! Even under the rain..Thank you all for your love!
– Nathalie Dubreu
It was raining but because of the rain everyone was so relaxed, settled and undistracted. I loved the atmosphere and the energy was very peaceful. I loved the “Imagine” song at the end. Thank you to John Lennon and thank you to organisers. I’ve also met some lovely like-minded people. I am very grateful for all of that.
– Elina Vasilevska
We hope you can come to the next one on Saturday 20 October outside the National Gallery! Click here for the event invitation.
Organizations from around the world have come together with the vision of co-creating the Largest Globally-Synchronized Meditation and Prayer for Peace in human history, called BeThePeace.
Our meditation flash mob in London on 21st September is proud to be part of the worldwide events for BeThePeace.
Wishing that you’re all at ease this week. This Saturday (8th) is our next fortnightly Afternoon of Mindfulness from 2:30 pm to 5:00 pm, where we come together to practice mindfulness in the tradition of Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh. Our meetings are open to young people from 16 to early 30s. We welcome people of all experience levels, faiths and backgrounds.You can find further details on our website about where we meet and what we do.
We also encourage people to attend the Mornings of Mindfulness every Saturday hosted by our sister sangha, Heart of London sangha – you can find out more information here: www.hols.org.uk.
Last Tuesday, we organized a positive messages flash mob in front of the National Gallery. What’s that?! Well, it’s a new initiative set up bu ourselves to spread positivity, and above all, make people smile. How?! By holding up signs with a positive message. And, it really does work!
Many participants would express how shy they are in the beginning, but after a while, they feel totally uplifted and energized. Maybe because making people happy makes us happy too. We had around 40 people gather together last Tuesday, which was the biggest number of participants we have had so far (this was our 4th gathering)! We hope to keep this initiative going and inspire people around the world to take part!
Check out this beautiful video of the flash mob here:
Postive Messages Flash Mob from Wake Up London on Vimeo.
And also the pictures: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.476142549071906.113365.264304326922397&type=3
Continue until you see yourself in the cruelest person on Earth, in the child starving, in the political prisoner. Practice until you recognize yourself in everyone in the supermarket, on the street corner, in a concentration camp, on a leaf, in a dewdrop. Meditate until you see yourself in a speck of dust in a distant galaxy. See and listen with the whole of your being. If you are fully present, the rain of Dharma will water the deepest seeds in your store consciousness, and tomorrow, while you are washing the dishes or looking at the blue sky, that seed will spring forth, and love and understanding will appear as a beautiful flower.
– Thich Nhat Hanh
Last night, around 100 people gathered together on the roof terrace of One New Change for the meditation flash mob. It was another amazing gathering which reminded me again of how much I love to organize these every month. Thank you so much to those you made it and to those who sat with us in spirit.
Meditation flash mob on roof top terrace
You can view pictures here: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.471452556207572.111957.264304326922397&type=3
And a 1 min clip of the sound bath: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=787080989071&set=vb.264304326922397&type=2&theater
Earlier in the week, around 25 of us had some fun displaying our signs with positive messages – pictures here:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.470889616263866.111769.264304326922397&type=3
Upcoming events:
Tuesday 28 August
6:30 PM: Positive Words Flash Mob (formally known as ‘Public Display of Positive Messages’, still trying out different names..)
Outside the National Gallery, above Trafalgar Square
Link:
Meetup: http://www.meetup.com/meditationflashmob/events/78423762/
or Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/events/503138869714402/
A couple events for International Peace Day on Friday 21 September
Potters Field Park, by City Hall
6 PM: Making a peace symbol out of flowers before the meditation flash mob (be really grateful for your contribution to help prepare the space!)
Link:
Meetup: http://www.meetup.com/meditationflashmob/events/78422892/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/events/474321499258664/?ref=ts
6:30 PM to 7:30 PM: Meditation flash mob and singing ‘Imagine’
Link:
Meetup: http://www.meetup.com/meditationflashmob/events/72561662/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/events/247414105374851/
If you would like to help promote this event, please invite your friends. I have made this flyer (see below) which you download: http://www.scribd.com/doc/103279291/Meditation-Flash-Mob-Singing-Imagine-for-International-Peace-Day – Feel free to print out and post on noticeboards. Alternatively, I can email you the flyer if you have trouble downloading it.
All the best
Elina
Public Displays of Positive Messages is Wake Up London’s latest project to expand positivity in our city.
Last night, 25 people came together with their signs and happily held them up on Millennium Bridge. Some signs read “You are beautiful”, “Thank you for your smile”, “Be fearless, love fully” and ” You’re loved”. The accounts from participants were very positive:
“Incredible experience – totally surpassed my expectations. Wonderful group and amazing reaction from passers-by to our messages along the Bridge. Thanks very much for organising 🙂 ” – Emma
“This was such a great turn out.. This world needs more love and this is the way forward to spreading that positive message to the world! Peace and love” – Shaima
“An absolutely fantastic experience. Surprised by how at ease I felt doing it and humbled by the friendliness of those I met. Thank you!” – Mark
“I would just like to thank everyone for sharing and shining their true essence. I feel so much more connected to my own as a result of the energy and love we were able to exchange. I’m filled (literally) with warmth and gratitude. Thank you all xx” – James
Below are a few pictures. More will be posted on our Facebook page this weekend.
Our teacher, Thich Nhat Hanh, delivered a guided meditation and talk on 31 March to over 3000 people in Trafalgar Square. His monastic disciples chanted the name of Avalokiteshva, the Bodhisattva of Great Compassion.
Just to remind you that our next fortnightly Afternoon of Mindfulness is Saturday 25th, 2:30pm to 5pm at the Friends Meeting House. Check out this page for directions. Do come a little before 2:30pm so we can start promptly.
The stuff we do in our Afternoons of Mindfulness is practice sitting and walking meditation, listen to a teaching by our teacher Thich Nhat Hanh, and share and listen to one another mindfully. We deepen our practice of mindfully, with the help each other, our brothers and sisters on the path. We welcome a donation to help support our sangha. Herbal tea and cushions available.
Other events:
Thursday 16 August – 7pm to 8:30pm: Public Display of Positive Messages
Millennium Bridge
With all the good vibes in the air lately in London, lets get together and expand it! Bring a sign with a positive message and show your beautiful smile!
More info: http://www.facebook.com/events/389638957756123/
Saturday 18 August – Action packed day!
1. Going Deeper 2.30-5pm – Friends Meeting House
A chance for those already grounded in the practice to explore The Five Mindfulness Trainings more deeply together. We look deeply into our own practice with the trainings through meditations, dharma discussion and touching the earth! Please bring some vegetarian food to share if you would like to stay for dinner or film night!
2. Film Night 7pm – 9pm – Friends Meeting House (first ever film screening!!)
A screening of Werner Herzog’s Wheel of Time – A look at the largest Buddhist ritual in Bodh Gaya, India. Amazing scenes and stories from this Tibetan festival, including interviews with the Dalai Lama. An estimated 500,000 Buddhists attended the initiation at Bodh Gaya, some travelling years on foot to participate, the film contains footage of never before seen rituals and unbelievable scenes of devotion from the pilgrims. Should be a lovely night, I hope you can join us, Please bring some vegetarian snacks to share!
3. Meditation flash mob on the Roof Terrace, near St. Pauls Cathedral 7pm – 7:40pm
Yep, we have a clash with the film night – oops!
But here’s the info: http://www.facebook.com/events/330997976983612/?ref=ts
Thanks to everyone who came! We sat at the back of the Turbine Hall. For the first 15 minutes, the space was very quiet, then suddenly, a group of performance artists motioned around us. We were told that they were practicing for an upcoming event. It felt that our stillness and their movements were part of some kind of performance art! Here’s an account by Bob Harvey, a flash mob participant:
Today I went to the flashmob meditation at the Turbine Hall of the Tate Modern.. All the time I have been in Italy I have been following these events on Facebook and I was delighted that I could finally make the trip down from my new home in Lincoln.
It started with about 30-40 of us, sitting in a circle on the floor, then the numbers quickly doubled. once we had started.
Then a most amazing thing happened. Unbeknown to Wake Up London, the space we were using had been booked by a contemporary dance group to rehearse their live installation at the same time, so while we were meditating we started to hear the shuffle of feet all around us. About 50 dancers were going through a slow-motion silent routine which gradually built up speed to become a Zen Walk – racing around silently without bumping into each other. All the while our circle was in silent meditation – but the effect on the energy was amazing – as if someone had turned on a high-powered motor.
As the dance group moved away to the other end of the hall, our circle started a resonating OMMM and the energy gradually subsided.
It was the most extraordinary sensation and literally took my breath away.
I spoke to the organiser of the dance troupe afterwards, and they had no idea of teh impact of their energy on our energy. Maybe not everyone had the same experience as I had, but for me it was truly beautiful.
Click here for more pictures.
We all have the seeds of love in us.
We can develop this wonderful source of energy,
nurturing the unconditional love
that does not expect anything in return.
– Thich Nhat Hanh
Dear friends,
I hope you’re enjoying this warm and sunny weekend.
Thanks to everyone who came to practice together at our bi-monthly
Afternoon of Mindfulness. Here is the full transcript of the dharma
talk that we read together. And here is the guided self love
meditation:
May I be happy
May I be peaceful and at ease
May I be free from suffering
May I be safe from harm
May I learn to love and accept myself unconditionally
May I learn to recognize what is good, beautiful and true in me
Our next Afternoons of Mindfulness for young people (from 16 to early
30s) is Saturday 14th July.
Other stuff happening:
DAY TRIP TO AMARAVATI BUDDHIST MONASTERY – JULY 7
A few of us are going to Amaravati Buddhist Monastery in Hemel
Hempstead next Saturday. We will get the 9:54am train from Euston and
then get a taxi to the monastery. Lunch is at 11:30 am and there is a
meditation workshop from 2 pm to 4 pm. Please let me know if you’re
interested in coming along so I know who to wait for in station next
week. You can also contact me on 07910675357.
WAKE UP YOUTH RETREAT IN PLUM VILLAGE – JULY 13 TO 21
The annual Wake Up youth retreat is happening from July 13 to 21 in
Plum Village, monastery and practice centre of our teacher Thich Nhat
Hanh. Please click here for more information.
MEDITATION FLASH MOB BY LONDON EYE – JULY 14
For those who are not going to be away in Plum Village, or Buddhafield
festival etc… there’s going to be a meditation flash mob by the
London Eye on Saturday 14th July – so straight after our Afternoon of
Mindfulness. Please come! RSVP and invite your friends to the Facebook
event here.
WAKE UP T SHIRTS FOR SALE
We have some medium to large navy t shirts with the ‘Wake Up’ in white
letters. They are £15 each and you can buy them at the next Afternoon
of Mindfulness. Or you can order them and I can pop one in the post to
you. Let me know.
Have a great weekend, dear friends.
Elina
info@wkuplondon.org
Wake Up London is a community of individuals practicing together to promote peace and reconciliation within ourselves and for our planet. We’d love to highlight what’s happening within our community, and how the practice is positively impacting our society.
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