A Buddhist "Prayer Circle"? (Join today!)

Ashley Wells (Reporting on a fledgling group)

(synergisticcenter.com)

IDEA: Getting together in person and in mind for those as close as their computers.
WHO: For like-minded folks who feel or sense they might be interested.
WHAT: I'm looking to start a Prayer Circle. A typical meeting might begin with 20 minutes or so of meditation. We'd discuss everything and anything from Buddhism to Eckhart Tolle, New Age mysticism to the Law of Attraction, and so on. At the end, we'd meditate again -- this time with the intention of healing those in the group who need healing in various areas of their lives. We might even agree to read something we all agree on and discuss it at the next meeting, sort of like a Spiritual Book Club with meditation. 

Write us if you too are interested! ashleywells2008@yahoo.com

WHERE: It would be in Santa Monica, California in a place I have in mind with plenty of free parking.
WHEN: I've never done this before but would like to meet once a week. We can all decide on the best day.
WHY: It's what the world really needs right now. It's great to be around positive energy and like-minded folks.

RESPONSE: This is a great idea! Defining "prayer" not as the loaded (yawn) verb reminiscent of Sunday morning schlepping, but as in
The Isaiah Effect: Decoding the Lost Science of Prayer (Greg Braden) and Ask and It Is Given (Abraham-Hicks). We see a wonderful pod of light blossoming. Meditation (which means "bringing into being"), Buddhism, mysticism, Tolle...it's all fantastic.

BUT WHY IN CALIFORNIA?
This should be held in my hometown, you say? Or in bustling New York, or on the Golden Gate Bridge, or in Oprah-Obamaland (Chi town)? It should be everywhere to knit a matrix of light. But this one has to be in Southern California. The new Hitchhikers' Guide to the Galaxy (i.e., Wikipedia) tells us why:

As the twentieth century came to a close, 40 percent of all Buddhists in America resided in Southern California. The Los Angeles Metropolitan Area has become unique in the Buddhist world as the only place where representative organizations of every major school of Buddhism can be found in a single urban center.

Hsi Lai Temple in Southern California and The City of Ten Thousand Buddhas in Northern California are two of the largest Buddhist temples in the Western Hemisphere. The state also has a growing Hindu population. There is even a thriving number of new age movements, cults, and Eastern religions. Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism, Shintō, Sikhism, and Taoism have symbolized California as a progressive place for spiritual innovation since the 1960s, though these religions were partly introduced by Asian immigrants when they settled in the state.

California also has the greatest number of (disgruntled and disaffected) Roman Catholics anywhere in the country -- Irish, Italians, Latinos, and Filipinos -- and (bored) Protestants. Los Angeles is estimated to have the second-largest Jewish community in North America, with about 550,000 Jews. And California also has the largest Islamic community (3.4 percent of the population) in the United States, with approximately 100,000 Muslims residing in San Diego alone. Source

Original posted at: http://wisdomquarterly.blogspot.com/2010/04/buddhist-prayer-circle-join.html