Hi!
I wondered if there is any pragmatic meditators in Sweden. If so it would be nice to know who you are, so we can perhaps arrange retreats or other activities. It would also be nice just to talk about meditation.

I live in Uppsala currently.

If you like you can contact me on facebook or send a message. Take care!

Björn Hjelte

Hej Björn!

We are at least 2 ppl from Sweden at KFDh.

Then I have seen 2 here in these links:

Link 1

Link 2

So 5 in total I know of.

I'm also very interested in creating a serious (pragmatic/hardcore) Dharma network in Sweden. I was previously arranging the local 'official' Goenka weekly sits here in Umeå (switched to Mahasi style a year ago), and have also tried to create a broad network with people from different traditions.

My experience is similar to what Daniel describes in MCTB; very few are interested in discussing techniques, experiences and to help each other out on the path. Probably because of a combination of taboos, lack of faith in the method, unclear goals, etc). I don't mean to be harsh, but it also seems like people who would be better off going to a therapist are overrepresented in meditation circles, for natural reasons.

There must be a mutual goal and (quite) mutual techniques, which calls for a narrow (but not necessarily small) group. If this sounds interesting, please send me a message here or via vipassana.umea dot gmail dot com.

Umeå is a bit far away.. (from Stockholm).

At KFDh we have weekly google hangout meetings (sometimes skype) that could be a starting point.

Wow, great! I didn't expect to get any replies.

Morgan, yeah I think it would be great to create some kind of network in Sweden. I'll send you an email as well. I'm sure we'll come up with some great ideas!


It's really a jungle of different meditation techniques and schools out there. I just know that I want to deepen my knowledge theoretically/practically. This is where I think a network of people would be helpful, to arrange retreats, perhaps study together, share information and experiences.

Hi Björn,

I am here as well. Based in Bromma (near Stockholm). I have been sitting for about 30 years - mostly Zen but also some daoist meditation that I studied in China... I run a center in Blackeberg (www.alipsa.se) would be great to get together sometime for a chat!

Warm regards,
Per

Hej Per,

I've been looking to learn tai chi or qi gong, so i'll visit someday.
/Pejn

Your are most welcome

Hi, that's great!

I will visit Sthlm on saturday, we could get together then if you or anyone else here is interested. I will be at vipassanagruppens saturday meditation, it is from kl 9 - 13, you can join it if you like also, it's open for anyone. www.sangha.nu
After kl 13 I'll be ready to get together.

I cannot make it this saturday unfortunately. We have an all day sitting at Alipsa (http://www.alipsa.se/meditationsdag_powel_en.html) on Sunday. Maybe that would be an option?

Hallå Björn

Just wanted to say hi and thank you for starting this thread. Have read this forum and the old DO for some time and wondered this myself from time to time. Good to know you are out there.

I just registered and I'm not far in my practice, but would say that I'm interested in this "thing" in the practical way presented in the MCTB. I live in Stockholm.

So does anyone have expeience of down to earth, practical, non-dogmatic practice places in Stockholm area? Is "Vipassanagruppen" (sangha.nu) a good place with serious teachers and practicioners?

Anyway, again, very good to know you are out there. Love /Kim

Hi Kim,
Vipassanagruppen is good.
It is Theravada-based and serious with a former monk and long term teacher.
It is down to earth, but you will not hear much abot jhanas, njanas, paths and such technical stuff. More traditional teaching. But it is high quality.

Hi Kim! Nice to see more swedish people here! If you live in Stockholm there are many different meditationgroups you can go to. I advice to go to a few different ones and see for yourself!

I guess it can be difficult for us to get together since we all live in different places.

If someone is interested just to chat with me over internet that would be nice. I have MSN, ICQ, Skype....many alternatives!

Pejn: Hi and thank you for the recommendation. I will make the effort to visit Vipassanagruppen. It's actually close by where I live! I don't know what it means when you say the teaching is more traditional. Care to elaborate?

Björn: Can you tell me about the other places in Stockholm to practice vipassana? I only know about Vipassanagruppen and Stockholm Buddhist Vihara. Of course you are correct that the best thing to do is to visit all of the places myself and form my own experience and opinion. The thing is I don't have the motivation to do that. I suffer from social anxiety and to get a recommendation from someone and a little bit of information about what to expect when I get there helps a lot with overcoming my fears. Just writing these posts is kind of a big deal for me.

In the same spirit of openness and sharing what we know to help each other I will share what little knowledge I have about practice in Stockholm. I attended a beginners course on Stockholm Buddhist Vihara a few years back. The main focus was meditation practice with a little theory to back it up. After just a few weeks results were expected from the monk/teacher. He was even a bit surprised that the results weren't showing in my practice. I can only blame myself for this though, as I didn't follow the instructions very well outside of the weekly sittings. So overall I would say this is a good place to practice (although I have nothing to compare to). The only thing I found negative is perhaps a bit of difficulty with language as the teacher's swedish and english was somewhat lacking and also that I was uncomfortable with the buddhist ceremonial stuff surrounding the practice. I would perhaps go there again, only that I moved to the other side of Stockholm so it's a bit far to travel.

If you don't think it's a good idea to share this kind of stuff or that this thread is not the right place, please say so, and maybe we can start another thread about swedish meditation centers. /Kim

You can also go to a group called 3juveler http://3juveler.blogspot.se/ , they use the same place as the vipassanagroup and are very similar I think.
The other place I've been to in sthlm is Stockholm buddhist center. http://www.stockholmsbuddhistcenter.se

And then there are several Zen, and tibetan groups but I've not been to any of them, yet. I live in uppsala so I just go to sthlm sometimes.

By traditional I mean it is Theravada based with some chanting, taking refugee etc. Vs pragmatic dharma that sometimes has no "buddhist feel" to it at all.
Not much though.
If you have been at the Vihara it is of course even more traditional there... :-)

Vipassanagruppen has bi-weekly half-day saturday sittings as well now.

Hope you all found each other, or some of you at least...

Now, what about Malmö? Is there any underground vipassana society here, of course it doesn't have to be underground, I hardly know what that means... or just someone who lives here and would like to have coffee or tea or a walk sometimes... I feel an urge socialize around dharma... something I haven't really done. This coffee/tea/walk could of course be completely silent as well.

So people who live in Malmo... what do you do? Do you meditate by yourself or is there any group? Would you like to meet up?

Hi, another way to connect is through skype. Any swedish people interested to test pingpong noting?
I just posted a message in this thread: http://www.dharmaoverground.org/web/guest/discussion/-/message_boards/message/4259385
Björn