Last weekend turned into a meditation extravanganza. On Friday morning, after he and Leroy woke up

Dave got up and left for Akron, OH, where he went to teach a Shambhala Level 1 Meditation Weekend. Then on Sunday morning I led a two hour meditation session called Calm Abiding at OM yoga. Then Leroy and I went to the park where he demonstrated his own good paying attention technique (which, of course, is related to doggie treats).While we were in the park we ran into our buddies, Koshin and Chodo, who were on the way to Meditate NY Day event at Judson Church just off Washington Square Park. I went into the church with them but Leroy and I got kicked out, because they did not recognize Leroy’s inherent Buddha-nature. Here is Chris, a Zen monk, AKA Reverend Compassion, who was helping out by putting up a sign outside the church.Then Leroy and I walked up to Broadway and 19th St. so Leroy could see his human step-brother meditating in the window of ABC Carpets. The ID Project wants to show that even though they are sitting in little boxes behind windows, these meditators are just ordinary people, too.When Ethan saw me and Leroy, he looked up and we waved to each other and then he blew me a kiss. Then I put my hands under my head like I was sleeping, and asked him through the window, Are you tired? because he started sitting the night before at 7pm and was going for 24 hours. He nodded and kind of rolled his eyes. Then, well, let’s face it, I am a brat. You know how it is when you go to Buckingham Palace and those guards are so stiff and people try to get them to move or react. Well, I did a little dance in front of Ethan and said, “If you practice while distracted, you are well trained, ” which is a lojong slogan. He smiled. There was a little crowd gathered and one lady said to me, Is he meditating? And I said yes. She said, But he moved. I said, well, that’s ok, because he is relating to what is happening around him. She said, No, I don’t think so. That’s not ok. That can’t be meditation.” There were people in other windows, too.Then the day was over. My Calm Abiding students asked when they could meditate at OM yoga again. Ethan got out of the window. David came home from Akron and we watched Larry David on TV.

posted on Wednesday, November 11th, 2009 at 8:00 am.