Forum: Dharma Overground Discussion Forum

Hi all,

After getting the idea from Shinzen Young's phone retreats, I've been kicking around the idea of virtual sitting (conference calling by phone or computer) for a few months now. I know that the DO moderators have been thinking about this as well. I figured I would get the ball rolling, but I'm open to suggestions. (And Vince, Dan, and everyone, feel free to steal this idea from me, etc., etc.)

Read everything below, and, if you are interested, click here:
http://doodle.com/cw5nren7ykgw6536
(Let me know if you have problems or if you get dates and times outside of the weekend when you choose your time zone! Keep an eye on this discussion for additional information to follow.)

===
Who, what, where, when, why, and how are below:

WHY:
Hang out with other practitioners, enjoy a vibrant sense of community, and gain group momentum and structure in your practice.

WHERE:
Wherever you can find some privacy, a phone, and/or a computer!

WHAT:
Conference call! 1. Twenty minutes of fun conversation and practical questions. 2. We promptly hang up at the twenty minute mark and meditate for one hour and twenty minutes. 3. We end with another twenty minutes of fun conversation and practical questions. Two hours total. (After a few months of seeing how things go, we can talk about different ways to structure things.)

HOW:
We'll use FreeConferenceCall.com* (dial-in numbers in Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, UK, USA). For people outside these countries, I'm hoping Skype.com has a solution that will allow you to cheaply call a number to get into the conference call. (*We all still pay our phone companies, etc., for the the cost of the call, but the conferencing service is free.)

cont'd below

WHEN:
One weekend every month. We will use Doodle.com to choose a time. I stared at a time zone map for a couple hours, made a spreadsheet, and I think there's a way to maximize the number of people available across all time zones. See Worldtimezone.com and this Google spreadsheet I made:
http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=rcHf3ABzevPnVd8Ykw_H3ig
(Let me know if I made a mistake!)

WHO:
Beginners and seasoned meditators are welcome! There is no formal practice instruction planned, though we can certainly consider that for the future. Bring your questions and, seasoned meditators, feel free to give ad hoc instructions for those who are interested.

[end]

There hasn't been a huge response to this, which is fine. If anyone has general suggestions or constructive feedback, let me know. Maybe a private message would be better, as people seem pretty indifferent to this individual attempt.

Mike L, whoever you are, send me a private message.

-Mark