Sangha of the Month for February 2016: Wake Up Edinburgh
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How did Wake Up get started in Edinburgh?
In 2012, four of us from the Wild Geese Sangha in Edinburgh had the idea to create a group for young people to practice mindfulness and feel more comfortable sharing amongst their peers. At first the meeting were very ad hoc. We’d meet up at someone’s flat or go to the park. It focused more on social gatherings of practitioners than practicing together. However, after Keith came back from his one year on Plum Village’s Happy Farm, he talked to Gustaf, who though busy, had taken the most responsibility of continuing the Sangha, and the mindfulness energy from Plum Village gave an injection of energy and Sangha experience to allow them to start creating a structure for having regular meetings and really practice together. After they had organised two successful mindfulness days, Keith found a location that offered us a place to practice on a regular basis.
What kind of people come to your Sangha?
We have many highly stressed PhD students who seek a mindful refuge alongside young professionals and undergraduate students who have just started their studies in Edinburgh. Many of us are neither local to Edinburgh nor to Scotland which makes our group very diverse. So really, we have people from all walks of life united under a common goal of practicing mindfulness together.
Where and when do you meet?
We’re meeting every Monday 6.30pm – 8.30pm at the Himalaya Centre on South Clerk Street. It’s a very lovely little cafe run by a Tibetan family. They offer their cosy basement for our gatherings. There is always the beautiful smell of cake and chai lingering around when you enter the space, and it feels very welcoming and warm.
On average, how many people show up?
We have grown over the last year and are becoming more established with a growing number of regulars. It always varies from week to week, but usually we have about 8 – 10 people coming every week and there is at least one or two additional people who are either entirely new or are re-visiting the group. Our moderate size generates a really lovely mindful energy and creates an intimate atmosphere for the Dharma sharing.
How are your gatherings?
We have a structure that is quite flexible and open for changes depending on who is facilitating. We invite facilitators to share their favourite practice with the group which is why we usually have a 15-minute silent sitting that can be replaced any time with another practice such as a mandarine meditation or a body scan. Afterwards, we usually go around and introduce each other and share our mental weather. That is followed by a reading from one of Thay’s books. We like reading together so the book gets passed around, and everyone may participate in reading a paragraph if they wish to. Following the reading, we’d have a 25-minute guided mediation and then there is another 20-minute window for us to share. Lastly, we like rounding up our gatherings with a cup of tea upstairs in the cafe.
In addition to our sessions, there are also monthly mindfulness mornings once a month which are hosted by one of the group’s members. They are extensions to our weekly practice where we can come together at the weekend to watch a Dharma Talk, share new practices, and have a mindful lunch together.
What challenges (if any) have you faced as a Sangha and how did you deal with them?
In the past, we were challenged by core members/facilitators moving away. However, there are always new faces coming to join the Sangha frequently so we’ve been able to actually grow the group of core members who help us organise the Sangha.
What makes Wake Up Edinburgh special?
The diversity in our group is very special. It’s really nice to practice together with young people that all have such a different background. Also the size of the group and the location of the gatherings make the sessions really intimate and warm. We like sharing responsibilities, facilitating, hosting, etc. as much as possible so everyone can be part of shaping the Sangha. Our structures are therefore very organic. Moreover, the beautiful landscapes of Scotland have allowed us to do beautiful walking meditations in nature. We have hosted a Sangha-building workshop in our friend’s family cottage along the coast which was a uniquely stunning way to strengthen the bonds in our Wake Up group.
If you’d like to get in touch with Wake Up Edinburgh, click here or visit their Facebook group.