7. First meditation class

I sat in Washington Square Park listening to Sangharakshita on MP3, his lecture on Karma and Rebirth. Andrew called. He would be late, he's printing out stuff for the second half on the 4th Nobel truth, the 8 fold path. He had the bells. As I was walking towards the class, I remember the Tibetan store near by. So I walked there and got some bells for $30. I'm not employed at the moment, and I wondered if I really needed them, but I bought them, telling myself, it was a gift I should not mention. (So much for that.) Andrew offered to go halvsies, but I declined. I made the choice.

I liked the class, hearing about people's new practice. I taught a guy who missed the 2nd week, the Metta Bahavana. Then I lead them through Piper, and onto the metta bahavana. It's hard to keep time when each section is only 4 minutes, and I was very nervous alone there. But it went OK, and we talked about it. I quickly reviewed Piper and told them about taking the practice out of the class, the usual 4th session.

Andrew came and he let me go over 6 minutes. Everyone stayed for the Buddhist section, and Andrew did a good job trying to cover the 8 fold path.

Walking out, I talked with Andrew. He's seeing progress at work. His positive harmonious communication is paying off in 2 areas. His co-workers and with the authors. I was very happy for him, and fought the jealousy, and it cheered me up to hear he was doing well. Andrew is a good guy, I like him quite a lot.

I thought I did horrible in my first try, but I think I'm just appreciating the complexity of the activity. It's hard not to refer to every little thing you know, but that's not appropriate. And it's easy to get side tracked. It's given me a greater appreciation for Vajramati. He's an excellent teacher.