Closely following on Greg Zwahlen’s excellent post, “Why I am not a Tibetan Buddhist ” with its thoughtful look at the panorama of Buddhist traditions available to practitioners in the USA today comes Meditate NYC, an opportunity to sample the rich banquet of Buddhist teachings and — perhaps more important — Buddhist sanghas in New York City.

It’s on Sunday, the day after the big Interdependence Project 24-hour Meditation Marathon in the windows of ABC Carpet and Home. (Seeing a bunch of people sitting in display windows for 24 hours could make one at least a little curious about meditation, perhaps?)

At Judson Church on Washington Square, from 3-7 PM,  a wildly diverse
set of Buddhist teachers will be speaking and presenting their sanghas
and traditions. Says one of the organizers, A. Jesse Jiryu Davis:

 “The event is a rare example of collective action by the New York
Buddhist community as a whole, bringing together groups that have often
been in conflict:  Theravada and Mahayana, Zen and Nichiren, Chinese
and Japanese.

“Together, we’re trying to raise our profile and provide people a
chance to compare the traditions and try out the practices to see which
is best for them.

“The event stands for the principles that Buddhist practice is relevant
to everyone, and that practicing alone is not enough:  it is limited
unless we practice in community with a teacher.”

The following week, November 9-15, 15 to 20 meditation centers around NYC will hold
free open houses for beginners to learn meditation and to try practicing with a teacher, in sangha. 

I’ll be speaking about the IDP at 5:10pm. The event is at the Judson
Memorial Church on Washington Square Park, 55 Washington Square South,
November 8th 3-7 PM. 

It’s free, and attendees can come and go whenever they want. You DON”T have to attend all four hours!

If you’re unaffiliated with a sangha or just curious about meditation,
I’d say this sounds like a good bet for checking out the scene.

And of course, if you come around 5pm, you’ll meet me!