At the Oct. 20 meeting of the Emerald Coast Meditation Society, Nancy James will talk about a recent retreat she and 800 others attended with a world-renowned Vietnamese Zen Master. She calls her talk, “Present Moment, Wonderful Moment: My Five-Day Retreat With Thich Nhat Hanh.”
The ECMS meets at 6:30 p.m. at 480 N. Co. Hwy. 393, Santa Rosa Beach, one-half mile north of Hwy. 98. The meeting, open to the public without charge, begins with 30 minutes of silent meditation. The group meets the first and third Thursday of the month.
James began meditating in 1970 and in 1972 was a founding member of the Minnesota Zen Meditation Center in Minneapolis. After earning a journalism degree in the 1950s from the University of Minnesota, she spent most of her career working in public relations, first for the university and then the Metropolitan Council of the Twin Cities Area. Retiring in 1991, she and her partner, Martin Duffy, moved to Seagrove Beach, in the area where they had vacationed for 10 years.
After serving with the Friends of the Coastal Branch Library, which raised $800,000 toward a new library, she became active in the South Walton Community Council, serving as president for two terms and helping start the group’s annual Back to Nature Festival.
In 2009 James sponsored a Zen Buddhist priest friend’s talk at the library on “How to Taste a Strawberry When a Tiger Is Chasing You.” This attracted more than 150 people, some of whom were interested in a regular meditation group. Thus the Emerald Coast Meditation Society was begun that spring.
The ECMS is an ecumenical group open to anyone. The evening will end around 8 p.m. with a short guided meditation. Anyone who would like meditation instruction should come at 6:15 p.m. Questions? Contact Nancy James, nancyjames@embarqmail.com.
The ECMS meets at 6:30 p.m. at 480 N. Co. Hwy. 393, Santa Rosa Beach, one-half mile north of Hwy. 98. The meeting, open to the public without charge, begins with 30 minutes of silent meditation. The group meets the first and third Thursday of the month.
James began meditating in 1970 and in 1972 was a founding member of the Minnesota Zen Meditation Center in Minneapolis. After earning a journalism degree in the 1950s from the University of Minnesota, she spent most of her career working in public relations, first for the university and then the Metropolitan Council of the Twin Cities Area. Retiring in 1991, she and her partner, Martin Duffy, moved to Seagrove Beach, in the area where they had vacationed for 10 years.
After serving with the Friends of the Coastal Branch Library, which raised $800,000 toward a new library, she became active in the South Walton Community Council, serving as president for two terms and helping start the group’s annual Back to Nature Festival.
In 2009 James sponsored a Zen Buddhist priest friend’s talk at the library on “How to Taste a Strawberry When a Tiger Is Chasing You.” This attracted more than 150 people, some of whom were interested in a regular meditation group. Thus the Emerald Coast Meditation Society was begun that spring.
The ECMS is an ecumenical group open to anyone. The evening will end around 8 p.m. with a short guided meditation. Anyone who would like meditation instruction should come at 6:15 p.m. Questions? Contact Nancy James, nancyjames@embarqmail.com.