On Sunday, July 30th we held a Sangha Care meeting prior to our usual time for group practice. Discussion included our upcoming Day of Mindfulness, an opportunity to host a regional retreat, and reviewing our weekly meeting procedures and resources. Some notes on sangha care, following the meeting:
Sangha member Jane, who made our beautiful circle cloth that we use at our meetings, brought a beautiful meditation cushion (aka “zafu”) which she made for the sangha. She is working on sewing a cushion and mat for the bell minder.
Sangha member Anne, our sangha librarian, has organized a system for checking out materials. Labels, a stamp with the sangha logo, and USB to hold digital media that can be checked out is in the works, and Anne will make materials available each week. Members are asked to check out books or materials for 2 week periods and then return for others and she will keep track of the items.
Sangha members Janet and Dave, co-treasurers for the sangha, have been keeping our dana collection safe each week, and delivering the funds to KUF financial contact Ken. The funds received are shared between the Sanga and KUF (sangha keeps 40% of the donations, and KUF keeps 60%). So far, the portion collected since our first meeting in October reserved for the sangha is $550.00. Anticipated upcoming expenses include expanding our library of Thich Nhat Hanh books and media, and funding to bring the new documentary, Walk With Me, to Kingston.
Sangha member Keith reported reaching out to the producers of Walk With Me, and speaking with Wendy Huot of Kingston’s Screening Room, regarding bringing the film to this venue. Concerns were raised at the meeting about accessibility (currently Screening Room is not fully accessible) and alternative spaces may be considered. For now, we are still waiting to hear when Canadian distribution will become available. Discussion about charging for tickets to the film screening led to an agreement that asking for a donation would be the best way to recoup costs but not limit people for whom this may be a barrier.
After sangha members Keith and Collette attended the retreat in Ottawa with the monastics of Blue Cliff Monastery in May, Keith reached out to Brenda from Ottawa Pagoda Sangha and began dialogue about helping to connect sanghas in Ontario, which led to discussion about hosting a regional retreat in Kingston. Ottawa Pagoda Sangha has hosted the monastics for a weekend retreat for years, and Brenda suggested that our sangha might consider taking turns, by hosting the retreat at a location in Kingston in May, 2019. Among our sangha care team and members present, there was agreement that this was a wonderful opportunity, and that we could all support this as long as members are willing to help. Keith is event planner for Principal at Queen’s University with 13 years of event planning experience, and is willing to take the lead on this. He will continue the dialogue with Brenda and report back. In the meantime, members have been brainstorming locations, as we will need to reserve a location more than a year in advance. Possible locations include Elbow Lake, Queens University, or the Sisters of Providence.
The Building Committee at KUF has kindly requested all groups to lock the door once participants have arrived. In the interest of moving forward with this request, a weekly Door Minder will now secure the exterior door during transition from sitting to walking meditation. This is reasonable time for arrivals to conclude, and occurs at a predictable weekly moment of natural transition, so it will hopefully not cause any difficulty for KUF, regular attendees, or newcomers. This new policy has been posted on our home page for potential visitors.
Concern has been raised about photography or recording at our meetings. We will be making an announcement at the beginning of our meetings to remind people to silence their cell phones and electronics, and if anyone new to the sangha is with us, to respectfully request that they not take photos or recordings during our meetings without express permission.
Lastly, planning for our retreat was discussed at the July 30th meeting – more information about the event and itinerary can be found at interbeingkingston.org/retreat.
