Yesterday it was class no 5, and as always reality had a way to just go along with the class.The guys came in and as always there are some confusion among who should be there or not. The staff seems to have difficulties in communicate when this class is about to happen, who is supposed to participate. Maybe it’s just something to get used to, or it is because we are not one of there own programmes.
We started off with a short meditation and then a check-in. One of the men are leaving prison in just 3 days and it gave fuel some good talk about pain, anxiety and suffering. How this longed for freedom also is a scary thing and that it’s easy to almost panic when the fantasies take over. How will I mess up? Who will be around for me? Will I get back on drugs?
They were very honest about how the release of one affected them all. Emotions of happiness are mixed with jealousy, envy and anxiety even for the ones left behind bars.
So all of this were of course good to relate to during the class and in connection with the key concepts and meditations.
The meditation on pain and the discussion about the difference between pain and suffering was very interesting. Everyone seemed to catch on and enjoy the meditation afterwards.
We also had a new guy dropping in. How do you handle that? Do you have closed groups or do you accept new people along the way?
The class ended with a shorter meditation on the breath with some phrases to explore and experience the notion of basic goodness. Before they left we all wished the man leaving prison the best of luck “out there”.
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