ZOOM

I'm sure I have mentioned--forgive me if I repeat myself!--that I started a neighborhood sitting group here on the Franklin Hill (east end of Hollywood) a while ago. In fact, about four years ago. Tempus fugit! We are not allowed, of course, to gather as a group these days, but I suggested a virtual session last week at an agreed time, when we all would sit without direct communication, but with the knowledge that others were sitting, too.

So someone suggested a Zoom session, and one of our members kindly agreed to make it simple for me by acting as the host. I put out word, and we agreed on a first experiment yesterday evening.

We did pretty well. Some of us are less tech-adept than others, so we fumbled around a bit at first to get everyone checked in on video or audio. But we ended up with everyone checked in and online, and I was able to start with the bell and my usual guidance (we had two participants who were new to meditation, so this was especially important yesterday).

I found it a bit disorienting, not knowing for sure that everyone was able to hear me. I had to proceed with more trust in the process than I usually need, venturing on into the silence with no assurance that I was not, in fact, alone. I was fairly soon accustomed to the uncertainty, though, and was able to set that worry aside and focus on the task at hand.

I followed my usual pattern, leading the way with my voice for 20 minutes or so before inviting individual work in silence for another 20. To end, I suggest returning to the thoughts of goodwill with which we always start, and sending those thoughts out to other living beings. I only found out after the end bell--which I soon discovered nobody else heard--that my computer had run out of juice at just this moment, and everyone was left to end their sit in bewildered silence.

We managed to recover from this glitch, however, and reassembled in those small video squares on our computer monitors for a catch-up discussion about how we are all coping with this new reality we're living in. Various participants chose to check out at various times, and we ended up with just a handful of diehards.

All in all, I think the experiment was a great success, and I have had some reinforcing feedback. I must remember, obviously, to be plugged in to a power source next time, but we all agreed that we would be able to refine the process and do even better in the future. I'm looking forward to it!