Virtual Sit and Share Zoom Meeting Calendar

Sundays at 6 pm (UK time)/1 pm (US Eastern)
Mondays at 8 pm (UK time)/3 pm (US Eastern)
Thursdays at 8 pm (UK time)/3 pm (US Eastern)

This is a Buddhist-inspired online meditation meeting. No registration is needed. To join the meeting click this link:

If you are asked for a passcode,  enter 5ps

Click on the date or host below to see the topic (if available).

DECEMBER  2023

Sunday, 03 December 2023 Janet “Nobody can give you fearlessness.Even if the Buddha were sitting right here next to you,he couldn’t give it to you.You have to practice and realise it yourself.If you make a habit of mindfulness practice, when difficulties arise, you will already know what to do”

Thich Nhat Hanh Fear: Essential Wisdom for Getting Through the Storm

Monday, 04 December 2023 Nicole “I’m sorry,

Please forgive me,

Thank you,

I love you.”

Ho’oponopono, Hawaiian Forgiveness Prayer

Thursday, 07 December 2023 Patrick In an age where there is much talk about “being yourself” I reserve to myself the right to forget about being myself, since in any case there is very little chance of my being anyone else. Rather it seems to me that when one is too intent on “being himself” he runs the risk of impersonating a shadow.

Thomas Merton Day of a Stranger
Sunday, 10 December 2023 Gary A person who is beginning to sense the suffering of life is, at the same time, beginning to awaken to deeper realities, truer realities. For suffering smashes to pieces the complacency of our normal fictions about reality and forces us to become alive in a special sense – to see carefully, to feel deeply, to touch ourselves and our worlds in ways we have heretofore avoided.

Ken Wilber No Boundary: Eastern and Western Approaches to Personal Growth p. 76

Monday, 11 December 2023 Jessica
Thursday, 14 December 2023 Claudia
Sunday, 17 December 2023 Janet
Monday, 18 December 2023 Shaku “Magnanimous Mind is like a mountain, stable and impartial. Exemplifying the ocean, it is tolerant and views everything from the broadest perspective. Having a Magnanimous Mind means being without prejudice and refusing to take sides.”

Dogen Zenji Instructions for the Zen Cook

Wednesday, 20 December 2023 Gary “Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms – to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”

Viktor Frankl, “Man’s Search for Meaning

Thursday, 21 December 2023 Noel
Sunday, 24 December 2023 Fozia
Monday, 25 December 2023 Vince A Zen monk asked Master Yunmen,

“What are the teachings of a whole lifetime?”

Yunmen answered, “An appropriate response.”

The Blue Cliff Record, Case 14

Thursday, 28 December 2023 Gary “The true value of a human being is determined primarily by the measure and sense in which he has attained liberation from the self.”

Albert Einstein (Letter to Hermann Broch about the book ‘The Death of Virgil’)

Sunday, 31 December 2023 Vince A student of Suzuki Roshi asked “I’ve been listening to your lectures for years but I just don’t understand. Could you just please put it in a nutshell? Can you reduce Buddhism to one phrase?” Everyone laughed. Suzuki laughed. “Everything changes”, he said. Then he asked for another question.

Suzuki Roshi

If you would like to volunteer to lead one of these meetings please see the Host Instructions and email info@5th-precept.org

Meetings operate on an informal drop-in basis and are suitable for all levels of experience.  

Please send any suggestions for suitable topics of contemplation to topics@5th-precept.org 

Guidelines on how to attend a virtual recovery meeting can be found by clicking here.


An international directory of Buddhist Recovery Meetings can be found here.