hello fluffy and peanut!
re quaker etiquette, fluffy is quite correct - you arrive (no need, at all, to contact them beforehand - everyone is very welcome) and sit down in silence - no-one ever talks at this point. some meetings are, thereafter, more vocal than others. in mine, an average of 3 or 4 people stand up at irregular intervals during the hour that follows, in order to share a thought, or an anecdote, or an insight with the rest of the meeting. some people read from a book (eg 'notes and queries' one of the key quaker texts) or maybe quote from a text that has inspired them. they then sit down and silence resumes. in our meeting the unspoken rule is that no-one ever stands up more than once! the silence is broken after one hour, when the elders shake hands - that is the sign for everyone else to shake hands with those nearest them and to greet each other. then people are usually invited to reflect and, if need be, comment on anything that has been said. then it's notices and business matters - and tea!
i once went to a meeting in bristol and could not believe how much more talking there was than at our meeting; equally, i have heard of meetings where it is rare for the silence to be broken even once during the hour! so they do vary. i like ours very much - just enough talking to focus the mind on new and often inspiring themes, but not enough to detract from concentrating on that lovely, peaceful inner stillness, in the warm and loving company of others who also value that beautiful sensation and see it as valuable and something worth cultivating.
it is really worth going onto the uk quakers site (i think it's quakers.org) and ordering their free welcome pack, because it includes a lovely introductory book and also a copy of notes and queries (a slim little booklet) as well as some general literature in the form of leaflets.
i love that you googled 'quakobuddhists', PFS - that had never occurred to me before!! will check that site out later! i agree that there is something soothing about quakers in that it is a more culturally familiar scene - i do find it quite restful sometimes to take a break from, as you amusingly put it, 'red buddhas and hungry ghosts' ...day to day i find buddhist 'tools for living' invaluable however, and would be much diminished without them.
hugs to you all, you lovely people. i am off to meet a good friend for coffee then take my little girl to the dentist. still no sign of her top baby teeth coming out aged 8 ! to finish on a more prosaic note!!
xxx