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Stillness in the City for your lunch break hour
Peace beings, being peace in Central Oxford
Supported by Inner Space Oxford and the Oxford Mindfulness Centre
1:15pm to 1:35pm every Thursday lunch time at Peace House on Paradise Street
Pray, contemplate, meditate, or reflect. However you prefer. We call it 'stillness peace' and do not define it beyond this.
Stillness peace is something we propose to work on together; something that is shared in the depth of human experience across the traditions. Our old friend, Thich Nhat Hanh made us a framed calligraphy which hangs in the room where we meet. It simply says, 'Peace is Every Step', and that's where we are coming from. The event is open to anyone!
20 minutes stillness starts or finishes with a short reading or some brief practical guidance of the enabler's choosing. Full details in our welcome handout.
We invite acquaintances and sponsored individuals to enable the silence with either a short introduction or conclusion based on a helpful bit of relevant wisdom from their own religious, spiritual or therapeutic perspectives. Enablers agree to not proselytize, to not ask personal questions of others, or tell others what they should think. This creates a mindful and tranquil environment of mutual respect.
Those appearing to be in a vulnerable space are invited to get some help from the Oxford Mindfulness Centre, with whom we have a reciprocal link.
Please help us advertise
Please help us to advertise Stillness in the City by printing and displaying a poster PDF.
Roots
Stillness in the City began in April 2010 as a formal initiative of The Fellowship of Reconciliation, England (FoRE) (Reg. number 207822). FoRE has Christian roots and has always held that peace is far more than the mere absence of violence. We are a charity that is working on peacemaking from a spiritual angle. With this in mind, this event enables a time of "stillness peace" for busy city folk.
We are now in partnership with Inner Space Oxford to deliver this event. Week-by-week details are sent out in a reminder email on Thursday mornings, and you can sign up for these reminders when you visit.
Inspiration
From a Buddhist
If we look deeply into the weapons, we see our own minds - our prejudices, fears, and ignorance. Even if we transported all the bombs to the moon, the roots of war and the reasons for bombs would still be here, in our hearts and minds, and sooner or later we would make new bombs. Seek to become more aware of what causes anger and separation, and what overcomes them. Root out the violence in your life, and learn to live compassionately and mindfully. Seek peace. When you have peace within, real peace with others will be possible. Thich Nhat Hanh
From a Jew
Power grows from the barrel of a gun but peace is born in the human heart; and it makes all the difference whether we believe the universe is blind, a place where power rules and only the strongest survive, or whether when we open our hearts, we hear the voice of the creator saying, "you are all My children, and even your enemies carry the trace of my presence, the mark of my image". Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, March 2003.
From a Christian
As Jesus has told us, we have to leave behind our whole self. All images of ourselves coming as they do out of the fevered brain of the ego, have to be...transcended if we are to become one with ourselves...Our images of God must similarly fall away...[and as they do] a great silence emerges from the center. ...Existential panic can overtake us when we first face... stillness...But if we can once find the courage to face this silence, we enter into the peace that is beyond all understanding. John Main, OSB, in 'The Present Christ'
