When and Where: Every Thursday evening from 7:15 to 9:00 pm in the Tampa practice center meditation hall (please try to arrive about 10 minutes early). Enter and remove your shoes in the Meditation Hall foyer. Enter the Meditation Hall quietly and settle in.

Our teacher Fred leads this weekly extended evening meditation, which is open to all. On the first and third Thursdays, the evening will consist of two 35-minute sitting meditation periods, with formal walking meditation in-between. These extended meditation periods offer students the opportunity to deepen their practices of mindfulness, concentration and insight. 

While meditation is occurring on the first and third Thursdays, Fred offers private interviews in the Center's downstairs Interview Room to FCM members (those who have become Fred’s students) - please visit Membership for more information. Interviews are conducted in the Zen “dokusan" tradition – going alone to visit the teacher. No advance sign-up occurs for interviews; instead, students line up at the back of the meditation hall and the personal interviews unfold, one following the other, as time permits. The length of each interview may range from 5 to 15 minutes, depending on the situation. Dokusan pertains to issues that arise in the student's personal meditation practice and their life experiences of integrating the teachings into their daily life, not with intellectual or theoretical matters. 

On the second and fourth Thursdays, Fred facilitates a “forum" after a sitting period. The forums are targeted discussions on a contemporary topic as seen through the lens of Buddhist thought and practice. Examples of up-coming topics are: sexuality, use of drugs/alcohol, the non-violent life, meat eating and vegetarianism, abortion and right to life, global warming and social responsibility, and money. Fred will be encouraging an intelligent, open, and practical deep looking and sharing on these various topics.