Sharing pain, practice, and peace
A community for people living with long-term health conditions — exploring how meditation and mindfulness can help us suffer less, even when the pain remains.
What this is
Second Arrow is a small online support group grounded in a simple Buddhist insight. Pain is the first arrow — the illness, the injury, the diagnosis, the loss, the limitation itself. The second arrow is what we add to it — the worry, the resistance, the story about what it means. The first arrow often cannot be avoided. The second arrow, with practice, sometimes can.
Most of us know this without having a name for it. A hard day arrives, and almost before we notice, a second wave follows: “this is going to ruin the week,” “I should have known better,” “I can’t keep doing this.” The diagnosis lands, and underneath the news is a layer of fear, anger, or self-blame that has its own life. The pain is real. The suffering we add on top of it is also real — and it takes a heavy toll.
We meet to look honestly at both. Each session includes a short contemplative practice, a topic to explore together, and open time for sharing whatever is alive for us that week. No prior meditation experience is needed, no particular belief system is required, and no one is ever obligated to speak
Who it’s for
This group is for people living with chronic physical conditions of many kinds — persistent pain, long-term illness, fatigue, autoimmune conditions, the lasting effects of injury or treatment. If you’re carrying something that isn’t going away, you’re welcome here.
How meetings work
We meet online, by Zoom, at 16:00 UTC each Tuesday. Each meeting is about an hour.
A typical meeting includes a brief welcome and settling, a guided contemplative practice (usually 15–20 minutes), a short topic offering, and open sharing. The shape is consistent but unhurried — there’s room to arrive, to listen, and to speak only when you want to.
Between meetings
We also share a small WhatsApp group for the community. It’s a quiet space — not a busy chat — used mainly for meeting reminders, occasional resources, and the kind of light contact that helps a group feel like a group between gatherings. Joining is optional.
About the facilitator
The group is facilitated byTenzin Ngawang(Mike), an ordained practitioner in the Secular Buddhist Tradition who lives with chronic illness himself. The group was developed with the encouragement of his teacher, Venerable Tarpa, and his primary care physician.
This isn’t a clinical program or a teacher-led course. It’s a peer community with light structure — a place where people who are doing this work alongside their daily lives can do a little of it together.
Privacy
What’s shared in meetings stays in meetings. We don’t record sessions, and we don’t keep transcripts. The group is built on the trust that what you bring is held with care.
Joining
If this sounds like something you’d like to be part of, send a short note introducing yourself. There’s no application or screening — just a brief exchange so we can welcome you and share the meeting details.
May you find peace through your practice.