July 16

With palms together,

Good Morning Everyone,



Lately, I have been thinking about our mission. We say we are an Engaged Zen Sangha. People who have filled out membership forms have said they would like to find ways to make our practice socially relevant. We have practiced at parks and on the street. We have taught meditation at yearly Peace Camps for five years. We have sporadically volunteered at the local soup kitchen. And, recently, we have reconnected with the J. Paul Taylor Juvenile Correctional Facility to offer meditation to the youth incarcerated there. Members of the Order are volunteers at hospice. One member is going through the initial stages of accessing the Folsom prison network. Moreover, our Temple has opened itself to examining religious diversity and women’s issues through our groups focused on these areas.



With few exceptions, these are often individual projects, not accomplished as a community together. I wonder about that. We are a small group, spread out, that comes together most often through sesshin and Zazenkai. Our practice schedule makes it possible for some of us not to know others in the sangha. We have individuals who come sometimes on weekday mornings. Some who come to groups only. One who was just coming to Zen in the Park.



Then there is the on-line sangha, those who no one knows, except perhaps me, but who feel a part of us through their reading of these posts and, perhaps, Skype interviews. Where do these folks fit in the overall sangha?



Maybe the question is, how do we share our mission?



Here is my two cents: we should do our practice and share our practice. Part of the mission is to model our practice so that others may feel invited to take up the practice and step onto the path as they see it. This is not to evangelize, but rather to model. We are not interested in converts, we are interested in helping others learn to practice for their own benefit. We know that when a person practices, the rest of the universe benefits. We need not underscore this or give it a name.



What do you think?



Be well.