Beings Club is a realisationhouse for the curious.
We gather to realise what is possible — in ourselves, between us, and in the world. Two principles hold the room, and everything else is free to change.
realisationhouse[rɪəlaɪˈzeɪʃᵊnhaʊs]n.A social gathering place where contemplative practice is recognised and engaged as a means of realising new possibilities.
We hold each other as precious
Each life in the room, including the ones nothing like yours, is treated as real and valuable and worth our care. Your own life is precious on the same terms.
Curiosity connects
An orientation to experience that is open to discovery. Practiced this way, it creates the conditions for connection — to ourselves, to each other, and to what is possible.
In the lineage of a tea house.
Beings Club exists because of a tea house at Plum Village, where I found myself in conversations over tea that expanded my sense of what is possible.
Beings Club is in the lineage of that atmosphere: a lineage of feeling, not a body of doctrine.
— John
Creativity is only ever limited by our sense of what's possible — and that sense is not fixed.
It grows, or it shrinks, depending on the company we keep and the flexibility of our minds. When people hold each other as precious and stay curious, the edge of what feels possible starts to move. When we practice intentionally with the ways we meet experience, we find more openness, ease, and courage.
We hope more realisationhouses will arise.
What it's like to be here.
“A space to slow down, reflect together, and make sense of things out loud.”
“Genuine encounters with people whose timelines wouldn't typically intersect with mine.”
“I leave every time feeling more human, more like a being.”
Joining starts with a conversation.
Space to connect — to oneself, to each other, and to what is possible.
Every month we gather to take time for ourselves and to meet one another. Every Salon begins with meditation.
Following, members meet one-to-one and in groups of three. There are no prompts, no themes, and nothing to do except stay curious.
Nothing to prepare, nothing to have figured out.
How a Salon unfolds
The form stays reliable so what happens inside it can be free.
We sit together
About twenty minutes of meditation to open — individual practice, held in a shared field.
We explore together
Randomly allocated, one-to-one and in threes. Three invitations are offered — to be addressed as you prefer, to begin without words, and to stay curious.
We close together
Everyone comes back into one room to land, share a little if you'd like to, and close the space together.
Curiosity connects.
What it's like to be in a Salon.
“Genuine encounters with people whose timelines wouldn't typically intersect with mine.”
“A space to slow down, reflect together, and make sense of things out loud.”
“I have had several experiences of being seen, heard, and held.”
The next Salon is Wednesday, September 30th, 7pm UK.
Meditation for the curious.
A Sit runs as a shared experiment over a set stretch of days — we each sit in our own lives, knowing that others are sitting the same days, and meet live once a week.
John hosts and teaches. The practices are rooted in contemplative traditions and he won't pretend otherwise — but this is a lineage of feeling, not a body of doctrine. Nothing asked of you as belief.
Sceptics welcome, but stay curious.
Meditation is curiosity and care turned towards our experience.
Beyond Belief: the art of trusting yourself.
A 35-day experiment in trusting yourself. Each week takes up one principle as a lens to bring into practice, not an idea to believe — and you're paired with a different lab partner to share the exploration with each week.
Curiosity. Care. Responsibility. Play. Rest.
What it's like to sit with John.
“John has this rare capacity to make you feel at ease, accepted, and guided.”
“John's words are clear, lucid, and deeply supportive.”
“John's spiritual friendship changed how I experience life itself.”
Beyond Belief.
Thirty-five days. One practice.
Beyond Belief: the art of trusting yourself.
Thirty-five days of sitting, six Tuesday meetings, and a group of other people doing it with you. No experience needed, and nothing you have to believe.
Hosted by John.
Pay what you can, online, 15 September – 20 October.
Make friends with experience.
Trusting yourself isn't confidence that things will always go perfectly, and it isn't certainty about who you are. It's closer to a friendship — with yourself and life.
Meditation (sitting) is a way of turning towards our experience and befriending it. Over time, a sitting practice can shift the atmosphere of your experience into the qualities of friendship: gentleness, precision, and humour.
Beyond Belief is a guided exploration into befriending your direct experience. You're invited to come along and see what you discover.
Enough time for it to become yours.
Over 35 days there is time to grow in confidence with the practice of sitting and find your own ways of making it yours.
Five ways of approaching, in an order that matters.
These aren't five topics. They're how a friendship gets built — one quality at a time, each week making the next one possible.
Four things to support your practice.
A written companion
A map for practice. Yours from day one.
A practice log
A way to remember the days, and a record of staying the course.
A different lab partner each week
Someone new to meet, practice with, and discuss your findings with each week.
A private line to John
Available via voice-message and text for the whole thirty-five days for questions, doubts, and guidance.
What it's like to learn with John.
“John has this rare capacity to make you feel at ease, accepted, and guided.”
“John's words are clear, lucid, and deeply supportive.”
“John's spiritual friendship changed how I experience life itself.”
Thirty-five days. One practice.
You send a few lines about yourself.
John replies, usually within a few days, and suggests a conversation.
If it's a mutual yes, John sends you invitations when what you're interested in is happening.