Sangha Meeting Notes – October 10

October 10, 2021

Topic: Ideas for Program Offerings for 2022 from our sangha members

  • Bear in mind that the community has finite resources
    • Each and every suggestion will need volunteer support
    • Be patient with the limited time and resources; all suggestions cannot be realized
    • Long retreat at SCOL will happen sometime in 2022
  • Community suggestions
    • Three month retreat (or “kinda long” retreat)
    • Regular tsok practice
    • Milarepa daily practice
    • Vipashyana practice
    • Small groups discussing what would be helpful for long term program planning
    • Aging and illness on the path
    • Aspirations for Mahamudra and other prayers—exploration of meaning
    • Bringing young people into the community, making opportunities apparent
    • Mahakala and other esoteric practice (require empowerment)
    • Break weeklong programs into sequence of weekends
    • Buddhism after patriarchy, including the issue of embodiment; looking at female buddhas; context of buddhism’s development
    • Different curriculums for individualized practice. Reading lists, videos, progressions of practice
    • Facilitation of access to outside resources such as Maitripa
    • Outreach to other Buddhist communities
    • Continuing participation in Portland Buddhist Festival
    • Green Tara study group and retreat
    • “Faculty” support for individual study and practice
    • Groups for peer support for practice
    • Retreat at SCOL for female identified participants
    • Book groups initiated by individuals
    • Shared stories about how we got involved with Buddhism —a way to get to know one another
    • Teachers from other sanghas
    • In depth offerings from other expert teachers in the lineage
    • Three turnings program specific to the lineage
    • Comparative studies (Zen, Vajrayana etc)
    • Online short teaching videos and reading lists