Honey Locust Sangha
Omaha Community of Mindful Living
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Caretaking Council Meeting 8/15/21

Present: Mark Watson, Mike McMahon, Mike McGann, Patrice Watson, Juanita Rice, Dave Watts, Gina Matkin
Absent: Jim Cox, Tina Ray

Check-in and reading of one of Thay's reflections on Sangha.

Sangha Sound System
We agreed to talk about this issue in regard to in-person meetings at the Yoga Path and the issues with people hearing there, setting aside discussion of retreat needs for another day.
Jim Cox submitted an excellent report on various sound and hearing aid systems that we might consider.
Discussion of having a larger sound system with mics and speakers inside the Yoga Path vs individual listening devices for those having trouble.
We want to commit to an environment that is supportive of those who have hearing losses.  We would like to do this in a way which, as much as possible, retains the warmth and intimacy of our being together at the Yoga Path. 
There are lots of different kinds of technologies out there. We decided to spend more time learning about these.

Zoom AND in the park meetings on Monday night
Discussion of how things are going since we withdrew from in-person meetings at the Yoga Path on Monday Night and reverted back to weekly meetings at Elmwood Park, for those who want that, and Zoom meetings for others. Discussion of whether we should commit to all of us getting together on the 4th Monday of the month on Zoom in the interest of Sangha unity. We decided to review information sent in when we polled the sangha about this issue.  We will resume the conversation at the next meeting.

Diversity and Inclusiveness page for the Web Site 
Juanita and Gina are still exploring possibilities for this.  Juanita reported a renewed sense of enthusiasm for this project.

Sangha Directory
Catherine and Gina are exploring ways to put this together.
In regard to both of the above projects we are not in a hurry and are satisfied that something beautiful will manifest as time and energy for them become available.  We are grateful to Katherine, Juanita and Gina for taking these on.

Shining Light Ceremony for recently ordained OI members
Since it unlikely that we will meet in person at the Yoga Path any time soon, It was decided that we do the ceremony via zoom.
We are checking with these OI members for a date when they are all available.

Yoga Path Rent and Dana
Mark Watson - owner of the Yoga Path, recused himself from the meeting for this discussion. There was a vote to keep the Monthly rent to the Yoga Path at full price. It was reflected that the sangha has been doing well with collecting dana and that, at least for now, this is something we can afford. We will revisit this issue after 3 months. It was also voted that we be more mindful of making announcements about dana at least once a month when we gather.
ADDENDUM: On August 20th, a concern was expressed from a CTC member about the decisions from our August 15 CTC meeting under. The email asked if we could continue the discussions regarding Dana and Yoga Path rent at the next meeting. No objections were stated and so the issue was placed on the agenda for the September meeting.


The Honey Locust Sangha / Omaha Community of Mindful Living is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. All funds donated help to fulfill the mission of practicing and raising awareness of the mindfulness practice in the Thich Nhat Hanh / Plum Village tradition.

​You can donate (provide Dana) using the PayPal link at the left (you do not need a PayPal account) or send via Venmo to @HoneyLocust. Please indicate General Dana or specific event (December DoM, for example) in the text via Venmo.