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Creating Dharma Events and Teachings: the Sitting Group by the Participants of CDL5

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Creating Dharma Events and Teachings: the Sitting Group by the Participants of CDL5 1 Creating Dharma Events and Teachings: The Sitting Group by the participants of CDL5 Winter 2017 2 Table of Contents The Assignment .............................................................................................................................. 4 Andrew Chapman ........................................................................................................................... 5 Margaret (Peg) Meyer ..................................................................................................................... 8 Steve Wilhelm ................................................................................................................................. 11 Marcus Marques ............................................................................................................................. 14 Pauletta M. Chanco ........................................................................................................................ 16 Cory Muscara .................................................................................................................................. 17 Priscilla Szneke ............................................................................................................................... 18 Bob Agoglia ..................................................................................................................................... 20 Jan Rosamond and Beth Shoyer .................................................................................................... 23 EBMC Alphabet Sangha Practicum Group: Amana Johnson, Dawn Haney, Huda Jadallah, Louije Kim, Max Airborne, Patrick Brown, Renee Rivera ....................................................... 25 San Francisco People of Color Insight Meditation Group: Victoria Cary & Tara Mulay .................. 31 Forrest Hill ....................................................................................................................................... 33 Grace Fisher ................................................................................................................................... 36 Julie Novas ..................................................................................................................................... 37 Yong Oh and Janka Livoncova ....................................................................................................... 39 Lulu Cook ........................................................................................................................................ 41 Christian-Buddhist Sitting Group: Christina Leano, Matthew Hepburn, Rae Houseman ................ 44 Cornelia Santschi ............................................................................................................................ 45 Bruce Pardoe .................................................................................................................................. 53 Andrew Chaikin ............................................................................................................................... 54 Creating Refuge for Healthcare Professionals in End of Life Care: Pam Pierce ............................ 64 Insight Richmond: Mary Davis, Thomas Davis and Ashley Sharp .................................................. 66 Emily Carpenter .............................................................................................................................. 69 Carrie María Tamburo ............................................................................................................................................. 71 Shakthi Ganeshan ........................................................................................................................... 77 Paula Simon and Gina LaRoche .................................................................................................... 78 Right Activism: Skillful Means Sitting Group for Engaged Buddhists, Activists and Allies: Kitty Costello .................................................................................................................................. 82 “Every Body” sitting group: Kathey Ferland .................................................................................... 83 Dalila Bothwell ................................................................................................................................ 84 3 Amy Selzer and Helen Kim ............................................................................................................. 85 Kathy Simpson ................................................................................................................................ 88 Janusz Welin ................................................................................................................................... 89 Alice ponce Robison, Jackie Nelson, Kristin Barker, Mark Pugsley, Suzanne Colon ..................... 98 Mary Haberman .............................................................................................................................. 110 Marlon Barrios Solano .................................................................................................................... 113 4 December 2016—CDL5 Homework Theme: Manifesting Community, Contributing Your Leadership This month we will continuine our Practicum (application of your skills) in developing community. Please implement the assignment as it applies to your particular dharma context. While the daylongs and class series reflects the content of what is offered to a group or community, as leaders, we are also responsible for awareness of the process of how the container is created and its evolution. The next stage of this Practicum is to work with your dharma partner(s) to create a template of the process and requirements for creating a sitting group—whether for Buddhist practice or secular mindfulness practice. Some exploratory questions, which will help you develop a plan for sitting groups, are: • Are your intentions to serve a particular community(ies) or a set of needs? • What is the best way to actualize your intentions in description, vision, and outreach for the group? • What logistics (including but not limited to: location, time, day of the week, frequency, fee structure, infrastructure, etc) would best support your intentions? • What is actually needed in starting the group? For example, you might be close to a community that could provide some infrastructure (existing dharma community, church facility, community center, senior center, etc). Or you might not have those availabilities and need to create it from scratch. • How do you make the group sustainable (do you need financial sponsorship and/or volunteer support)? • What values and norms will you invite the group to adopt? How do the precepts and ethical behavior apply? How do you teach generosity? Will there be communication guidelines offered? • How are decisions made in the group as it forms (pros and cons of consensus and majority rule)? (Consider the longevity for whichever decision making process you design). Similar to writing about the creation of a class series, please record, document and journal about the process of starting a sitting group. If you already have a sitting group or are a part of one, you might wish to record and reflect on the process retroactively. Again, our intention is to collect these and put them together in a manual as a reference for everyone in planning future teachings. Please reflect on what you have discovered works best for your community, and your own inclination (which may not necessarily be identical). Sometimes, offering a class series can seed and start a sitting group. Sometimes, you might want to create the frame of a sitting group before you offer a class. What are the elements which will help you see what works in your situation? 5 CDL5 -- Against the Stream Nashville: Manifesting Community, Contributing to Leadership Author: Andrew Chapman Date: December 11, 2016 Topic: Retroactive Reflection on ATS Nashville’s Beginnings & Brief Plan for Moving Forward A. Retroactive Reflection – Starting ATS Nashville Intentions for Serving the Community: Dave Smith, Founder of ATS Nashville, started ATS as a once-a-week sitting group, located at a multi-purpose Dharma center close to downtown Nashville. At the time, there were already several temples and a few meditation sitting groups located in the city. Dave’s primary intentions for starting the group appeared to be three-fold: 1. Start a group in order to apply his previous facilitation experience (as a graduate from ATS Facilitator Training); 2. To specifically offer Early Buddhist teachings and practices; and 3. To meet a growing interest amongst recovering people (mostly substance, sex & love, co-dep, ACOA) in the community. Logistical Support & Initial Needs: Initially, Dave held the group once a week, on Sunday evening, as a general “Intro to Meditation & Dharma Practice.” Logistically, he sought the support of other Buddhist temples and sitting groups in the area, eventually deciding to partner up w/ a center that already had multiple established Dharma-focused sitting groups. He began with one evening (Sunday) a week from 7-830pm. Later, he added an additional “recovery-oriented” evening, Wednesday from 7- 830pm. Based on his training, he was encouraged to implement a model of Dana-based (here meaning, “donation-based”) classes. He purchased some cushions and utilized some of the already established
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