Honey Locust Sangha Caretaking Council Meeting
Sunday, August 18, 2019
Present: Gina Matkin, Colleen Brown, Dave Watts , Mike McMahon, Mark Watson, Mike McGann
Absent: None
We began, as always with meditation, TNH reflection on holding a meeting, and check-in.
1) We noted that future items we need to discuss include: a) what we might do with the $9000 balance in our account; b) consideration of bringing new people into the roles of sangha treasurer, and CTC facilitator and secretary.
2) This was our first meeting after a summer hiatus. We did a brief Sangha check in. How do we think things are going with the sangha?
We noted many positive things: there are quite a number of practice opportunities beyond the Monday night gatherings and they seem to be doing well: Weekly Friday Night Noble Silence Meditation, Monthly half- DOM, Monthly Women's group, monthly book club. Some of our members have begun other meditation practices that are not exclusively in the Thich Nhat Hanh tradition including a Weekly Saturday and Sunday morning meditation at the Yoga Path, a weekly meditation at the Unitarian church, and a weekly meditation group for at risk youth at the Omaha Bike Club.
One of the challenges with more people and different offerings is keeping ourselves grounded in Thay's teachings and practices, making sure new people are receiving good instruction in our practices especially for sharing in sangha.
3) Discussion of our current policy regarding the composition of CTC, balance of OI vs at-large sangha members, and possibility of rotating OI in and out of CTC.
4) Discussion of process for bringing new at-large sangha members into the CTC. Concerns were expressed over previously approved method of accepting all volunteers from among qualified sangha members, then randomly selecting from among them. It was proposed that the CTC knows the sangha well and that we seek out new CTC members we think might best serve the sangha. Brief discussion of this and decision to table action until next month's meeting.
5) Discussion of whether to continue check-in at Monday night sangha. With the number of people attending Monday nights (usually 20-30), check in can take up to half and hour. Is this the best use of our time? Two views: a) the "talky" atmosphere of Monday night stands in contrast to the Noble Silence atmosphere of our retreats. Since we consider silence so nourishing, wouldn't it be better for the sangha to feature more of it in our Monday night practice?; b) the check in and sharing that happens on Monday night is particularly welcoming to new comers and people who have not meditated before. There are other opportunities for practice besides Monday night including the Noble Silence meditation on Friday nights. This discussion has been with us for some time and probably will continue.
Closed with Mike McMahon reading the poem, "Mindfulness" by Mary Oliver
Sunday, August 18, 2019
Present: Gina Matkin, Colleen Brown, Dave Watts , Mike McMahon, Mark Watson, Mike McGann
Absent: None
We began, as always with meditation, TNH reflection on holding a meeting, and check-in.
1) We noted that future items we need to discuss include: a) what we might do with the $9000 balance in our account; b) consideration of bringing new people into the roles of sangha treasurer, and CTC facilitator and secretary.
2) This was our first meeting after a summer hiatus. We did a brief Sangha check in. How do we think things are going with the sangha?
We noted many positive things: there are quite a number of practice opportunities beyond the Monday night gatherings and they seem to be doing well: Weekly Friday Night Noble Silence Meditation, Monthly half- DOM, Monthly Women's group, monthly book club. Some of our members have begun other meditation practices that are not exclusively in the Thich Nhat Hanh tradition including a Weekly Saturday and Sunday morning meditation at the Yoga Path, a weekly meditation at the Unitarian church, and a weekly meditation group for at risk youth at the Omaha Bike Club.
One of the challenges with more people and different offerings is keeping ourselves grounded in Thay's teachings and practices, making sure new people are receiving good instruction in our practices especially for sharing in sangha.
3) Discussion of our current policy regarding the composition of CTC, balance of OI vs at-large sangha members, and possibility of rotating OI in and out of CTC.
4) Discussion of process for bringing new at-large sangha members into the CTC. Concerns were expressed over previously approved method of accepting all volunteers from among qualified sangha members, then randomly selecting from among them. It was proposed that the CTC knows the sangha well and that we seek out new CTC members we think might best serve the sangha. Brief discussion of this and decision to table action until next month's meeting.
5) Discussion of whether to continue check-in at Monday night sangha. With the number of people attending Monday nights (usually 20-30), check in can take up to half and hour. Is this the best use of our time? Two views: a) the "talky" atmosphere of Monday night stands in contrast to the Noble Silence atmosphere of our retreats. Since we consider silence so nourishing, wouldn't it be better for the sangha to feature more of it in our Monday night practice?; b) the check in and sharing that happens on Monday night is particularly welcoming to new comers and people who have not meditated before. There are other opportunities for practice besides Monday night including the Noble Silence meditation on Friday nights. This discussion has been with us for some time and probably will continue.
Closed with Mike McMahon reading the poem, "Mindfulness" by Mary Oliver