That’s two friends of mine, Mike and Suvarnaprabha (also known as our very own Auntie Suvanna) meditating in a shop window on San Francisco’s bustling Valencia St.

They were just two of thirty-two people from the San Francisco Buddhist Center and the wider Buddhist community who spent a couple of weekends last month meditating in public.

Suvarnaprabha said, “For me, the experience of sitting was completely different than I thought it would be. That is, I thought the ‘being looked at’ part would be more prominent. I became deeply absorbed, just hearing the sounds of the city–cars passing, high heels clicking, dogs barking, conversations… and noticing the response …