I promised naweiner a report on last night's "Bring Your Cynical Friend Night" open house at the Boston Shambhala Center.

I met lagaz and kaiwoklaw in Brookline Village, and we made our way over to the center at about 6:45. Sitting meditation began at 7... I went to the main shrine room to sit, while they went to the small shrine room for meditation instruction.

At the end of the sitting period we all gathered in the main shrine room for the talk and discussion. I was surprised at how full the room was - when the people came in from the small shrine room, it was necessary to set up about a dozen extra chairs and meditation cushions to accommodate all of them. Apparently the Wednesday open house is thriving - Adam Lobel opened his talk by saying that the group seems to be developing into a community. He also asked who was there because of "Bring Your Cynical Friend Night." I think six to eight people raised their hands, including the three of us.

The subject of his talk was how and why we open ourselves up to receive teachings. To explain how we can open ourselves up, he invited us to contemplate the first two of the "four thoughts that turn the mind toward the dharma," also known as the "four reminders." The first reminder is the preciousness of human existence - contemplating this means cultivating an appreciation of the richness of our lives and experience. The second is the reality of death - contemplating this means facing the fact that we must at some point let go of everything in our lives, all our hopes and fears, whether or not we choose to do so. As for why we must open ourselves up, it is quite simply that by sticking to our usual pattern of constantly rehashing the past and planning for the future, we numb ourselves to what is actually happening in the present, and as a result we "miss our lives."

After the formal talk, we rearranged in a circle for a discussion period. Members of the group offered real-life examples of genuine appreciation; of death and destruction; and of things that, like the dharma, cannot not be mastered intellectually but rather require giving up on being in control and simply opening up to experience. I found some of these quite striking.

We got out shortly after 9:00, which confirms the impression I had during the talk that it was running longer than is usual for the open house. (The web site says the event runs from 7:00-8:30.)

So, my cynical friends lagaz and kaiwoklaw, what did you come away with from the evening's events?