86 - Class

Today was Opening Ceremonies for the 39th Pennsic War. Simply put, all the Kings from the different SCA Kingdoms (of which there are 19) come together to support either the King of the East Kingdom or the King of the Mid-Realm as they declare War on each other. The War Horn is then sounded and the Pennsic War officially begins. There is usually a big parade and lots of pagentry as people from all over the world (over 10,000 people in fact) gather to this little spot in Pennsylvania. It's quite impressive.

Today I missed the Opening Ceremonies so I could attend a class on Zen Buddhism. Unfortunately, it really had not much to do with Zen or Buddhism as much as it had to do with meditation. Basically, the instructor of the class was tired of meditating on her own, so she created a "class" so people would come and have it become a big group meditation.

At the end of the 20 minute meditation, the instructor went around the room and had people talk about what they experienced and their own meditation practices. Amazingly enough, one of the people in the class was a Zen Buddhist. He wasn't a Buddhist monk, but close enough for me. After the class, a small group of us went up to him and started asking questions. Instead of answering everything then and there, he arranged for us to meet in Runestone Park the next morning at 8:30am. I can't wait!