Sangha News

Welcome to the first electronic version of Sangha News. You will find links to descriptions of upcoming events and articles on the left, as well as email links to board members. We hope that most people will read their newsletter on the web, but we will provide shorter hard copy for members that request it and a few extra printed copies will be kept at Willows hall for distribution to visitors.

We held our annual general meeting on June 6 and all board members agreed to a second term of office. Please renew your memberships if you have not done so this year, see Ken Bilski or John DeGrace to pay $15 and get a tax receipt. Members should be sure to read the proposed amendment to the constitution in the minutes which will be voted on at the AGM in early June 2005. Because we are smaller than when the constitution was drafted we proposed that board members be allowed to serve for longer than two years, as necessary. We have sketched out a full schedule for next year: see UPCOMING EVENTS on the left.

The last year has seen a lot of changes in the Sangha. We are still adjusting to the economic changes in Prince George with many members being personally affected by lack of employment, and others leaving town to pursue their careers elsewhere. We need to build up our Sangha and encourage each other, remembering that Shakyamuni ranked Buddha, Dharma and Sangha as equally important to practice. In spite of the challenges we face it has been an active year with Vipassana, Zen and ecumenical activities taking place .Various members have attended a Theravaden monastery, residential Vipassana retreats and a Zen Sesshin. Both Zen and Vipassana groups have organized one day retreats without a teacher, and both have ongoing relationships with a regular teacher. Adrianne Ross has been leading two day Vipassana retreats and Eshin Osho of the Vancouver zen center has been leading two day Zazen-Kai. Establishing and maintaining a Buddhist practice is hard work and the Open Door Sangha continues to provide support and access to qualified teachers for a diverse group of practitioners.

Monday nights now has a small core of about 4-6 people practicing Vipassana with regular leadership provided by Jim Bell and John DeGrace. There have been about 50 people who have visited on Monday nights and we pleased that Nicole has stuck with it, establishing a regular meditation practice and completing a two day retreat. Nicole is about to graduate with a masters in mathematics and will probably leave town this summer, we will miss her – warmest wishes for your future Nicole. Mary Renton organized and led a one day Vipassana retreat at St. Michael's. The spring retreat with Adrianne Ross at UNBC attracted over 20 people.

Tuesday night Zen practice is well attended with a core of about 8 people who come regularly. In addition, Beata from Quesnel and Carlo from Kitimat regularly drive to Prince George for zazen-kai. We now hold two annual zazen-kai, one in the fall and one in the spring. Don, Edward, Judith, and Larry are currently signed up to take a turn at the jiki and shoji roles for evening practice and Kinnie has regularly and competently served as tenzo at zazen-kai. Gerry donated a new bell, several people donated money for a new mokugyo, and Don donated a wooden butsudan that doubles as a storage box so we are much better equipped than last year although we still need a permanent wooden tray or table for the jiki equipment. We will miss Ken in the fall when he will be in Scotland with his family. Several new people have tried Zen during the year; including Stan, Barb, Jim who made us new hardwood clappers, and Tawnya who made it through a two day zazen-kai and a week at Birken. Thanks Jim, and congratulations Tawnya.

Both Vipassana and Zen groups need to get better at using the guest book so we can contact visitors with our news, and we generally need to improve our skill at following up with newcomers. Introducing a form of practice to a new student is a big responsibility. Talking to others who have tried this sangha and quit, and drawing on my own early experience, it is clear that overly eager help from other students often comes across as egotistical, dismissive and condescending. Of course people need to know what to do, but they don't need to be told what to experience.

Teachers with monastic training and a lot of experience take their time entering into a student's world before they make suggestions, and they are careful to encourage questioning rather than giving too many answers. As a student I am generally too wrapped up in my own experience to do this well. I need to cultivate a more spacious listening attitude, allowing the person to say why they are here and how their meditation is going, remembering that we cannot really answer anyone's questions, only support them experiencing their own answers and connecting with a teacher. Accepting each person as they are, offering support without judgment, being sure that each person has an opportunity to be heard and to freely find and discuss their own experiences rather than being hemmed in by the views of others - this a difficult practice for me - but essential.

There is a supply of orange brochures in the new wooden Zen box – please help yourselves, give them to new people, distribute them to interested friends and post them in appropriate places. Our president, Larry Steele, will be hosting a social event in September and a Buddha's birthday celebration in the sping, dates will be announced closer to the time. Be sure to inform new people about these events. We had a Saturday morning (9 a.m.) coffee and dharma chat group going for a while, this proved a useful way to foster friendships within the Sangha. We are planning on starting this up again in September if we can find 4 people to commit to host the group on a regular basis.

Mary and Guy are moving back closer to town in the fall so perhaps we will see more of them. Mary Cosman continues to be an active Tibetan Buddhist, and is involved in entertaining visiting Tibetan monks who are giving a dance performance at the playhouse on July 18^th. Anyone interested in having dinner with the monks on July 18^th should contact Mary. Posters are available in the Zen box at the Willows - feel free to hand these out. Mary’s business, Pema Design (http://www.pemadesign.com/,) continues to provide us with benches, zafus and other equipment. She donated a couple of zafus this year - thanks Mary. Guy has been accepted into the new Fine Arts program at CNC, congratulations Guy.

All members and visitors are welcome to submit articles, book reviews, photos, quotes, art etc. for this newsletter. If you have contributions, suggestions or comments please contact me. Help keeping up with people's changing lives is most welcome. I will be checking the guest books regularly – so please encourage people to sign in; email, phone or snail mail me their news and views and look for themselves in the newsletter.

I hope to see you at Willows Hall.

Gassho

Judith