Quiet Sitting 

You’re stressed at work.  Heck, you’re stressed getting TO work.  The family is driving you to drink.  The house is a mess.  And don’t even get started on the finances.  Face it – you, like the rest of us, need to find a way to RELAX!!!

What if I told you that you could learn some meditation techniques taught by Daoist priests in China?  Sound too good and too other-worldly to be true?  Nonsense!

Each Wednesday, in the Patton Auditorium of the First Congregational Church of Westfield, located at 125 Elmer Street in Westfield, you can learn the art of “quiet sitting”  from 7:00 – 8:30 PM.  It’s not always as easy as it sounds, or as it should be.     There is a suggested fee of $10.00 for each class, and classes will meet every Wednesday night.

These classes will teach students the benefits of sitting quietly in meditation, a basic practice for any Daoist practitioner.  According to the Society of Dao Fa Zi Ran website ,  “In quiet sitting, one can achieve a clearer understanding of one’s own nature.  If one wanted to see a clear reflection of oneself, he/she wouldn’t look in the water during a storm because one’s reflection would be blurred and unclear.  That is the same way with a person. In order to truly understand ourselves, we must allow our brains to quiet down so that we can get a clearer picture in our mind of who we are.  Meditation is the vehicle which facilitates the process of comprehending one’s original nature.”

Quiet brains.  Doesn’t that sound lovely?  Who knows – maybe you could actually even sleep through a night if you could quiet your brain!

Classes will be taught by David Hessler, who has taught Chinese history and Daoism for 21 years at Montclair Kimberley Academy.  He has visited China numerous times, where he has studied Daoist practices with several teachers.  In the summer of 2013, David attended the Second Daoist Seminar for international Students at Bai Yun Temple in Beijing, and became a student of Master Meng Zhiling.

Each class will begin with a combination of traditional Chinese exercises and training in Tai Chi Chuan.  These represent examples of “external gongfu,” or external actions, where the participants will strengthen their bodies by incorporating into their lives the external gong fu practices taught in every class.  The second part of class will focus on “internal gongfu ,“or meditation practice, where the participants will develop a more complete and true understanding of themselves which will lead them to a sense of inner calmness and acceptance of the world and their place in it.

Calm.  Quiet.  Peace.  Count me in.  For more information, check out the website mentioned above, or you can email David Hessler at:  dhessler@societyofdaofaziran.com.