WHAT an honour it was for me to conduct the Silent lecture in the beautiful surroundings of the Duncairn Arts Centre on the Antrim Road.
If you have never visited the Duncairn arts centre you're definitely missing out on a venue that is the jewel in the crown of North Belfast.
As a venue it is superb, the acoustics are second to none and the decor has been restored to its natural beauty – a combination of wood, stone and light. There is also a beautiful café on site and the food is to die for, homemade and just what the doctor ordered (plus they have a vegan menu).
Our group arrived early for the 10am start, we used the main mezzanine room upstairs, a perfect setting for the Silent Lecture. The room was floored with solid wooden panels and the sunlight filled the room via the magnificent stained glass windows.
The scene was set as we sat around in a large circle of tables for two people.
For me the beauty of the Silent Lecture is that the silence is the teacher and we are the students – if we care to open up and listen. The day consisted of a number of exercises that can be challenging as we settled into what was described by one of the participants a deep cauldron.
I began by guiding the group into silence, where we become grounded in our own being and we then sat in pairs to explore our journey from the womb to where we are right now.
This exercise was followed by the group sitting in pairs, looking into each other’s eyes as I introduced the question, how do you suffer? One of the pair would be the interviewer, and the other the interviewee.
I then opened this up to the large group and I can honestly say the room filled with compassion.
After lunch we continued and this time I introduced the question, What makes you happy? Once again the room was filled with the rich joy of humanity and human kindness.
I find that this exercise always allows us to dig deep into what makes us happy and I’ve always found that what makes us happy are the simple things in life: family, friends, walks, sunshine, movies, good food, seeing others happy – and the list went on. We also agreed that happiness is contagious.
The day ended with the group deciding where our one-hour Silent lecture should take place on the 15th of October.
Lots of places were mentioned that held suffering: Kincora, Buoy Park, Milltown Cemetery, Lanark Way, the Crumlin Road Gaol and many others, too many to mention. After lots of discussion we decided on our City Hall for its centrality and it’s inclusivity as the people’s City Hall.
