Our June 13th For the Love of the Dharma Party was a huge success! Thank you to all who attended, and to those who helped make it happen. It was fantastic to see so many people coming together to support the vision of a combined dedicated practice space for our three Sanghas – Sacramento Buddhist Meditation Group, Sacramento Insight Meditation and Valley Streams Zen Sangha. On June 13th 2014 his Holiness the Dalai Lama said “In the 21st century…We Buddhist brothers and sisters must have closer contact and cultivate mutual understanding. This will benefit us as individuals, will help preserve and spread the Dharma, and will be an example of religious harmony for the world.” It is truly exciting to see that vision being enacted right here in our city!!
Patience and Preparation
Bringing everyone up to date with our property search, we told the guests that we still don’t know to whom the Lions will sell their building. All we know is that there is another party who has expressed interest. Susan Orr, board president, reminded attendees that all we can control are our own actions, and not the actions of other groups looking for space, nor the actions of the seller. So we are doing our best to make the strongest offer possible, to be patient, and also to keep our options open. Should the Lions sell to a different group, we don’t want to be caught on our heels so to speak. That is why we are already considering how to be proactive in looking at alternatives. One guest at the party said she has full faith that a location for the Center will arise, even if it’s not this one. We invite you all to join us in seeing this way! In the meantime we are continuing important groundwork though our committees that helps us be more prepared when we do find our new home. An example of that is refining our Conflict Transformation procedures. This is so that when conflict inevitably arises once we are sharing a space – whether between the Sanghas, between a Sangha and the SDC, or between us and our neighbors – we are prepared to learn from it and find harmony in going forward.
Ways to help
At the party we received much-needed monetary support. No matter which way this deal goes, there will be further expenses, and it helps for our financial position to be stronger. We have a thermometer graphic here www.sacdharma.org that shows our progress toward our goal of having 100 Sustaining Circle monthly donors by the end of June. It is so heartening to see the support coming in. Another way that a couple of people can actively support the creation of the Dharma Center is by filling vacancies on our board of directors. If that is a way you might be willing to help, then please email us from our contact page. You will find that it is a way to practice the principles that we learn in our Dharma studies in a conducive setting! Lastly, we are looking at ways that we can utilize volunteers, so please contact us if that is something you are interested in.
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