Weekly Email 3-2-23

Dear Common Ground Friends,

Continuing in the tradition of Buddhist monasteries in Southeast Asia, all programs at Common Ground are offered free of charge in the spirit of generosity. Common Ground has been committed to operating this way since the time of our inception. This offering is possible because of the generosity of people like you—from the Buddha on down to all the people in our community—who contribute their practice, time, and financial resources to support the continuation of the center. Generosity or “dana” as spiritual practice invites us to explore the effects of giving and receiving freely. Mindful giving and receiving frees the heart of clinging. It is an opportunity to see fear, greed, and confusion, as well as the basic goodness of a generous act, which leads to both joy and wisdom.

Because each person’s circumstances are different, we do not provide suggested donations or constant reminders to give. The center, however, is completely dependent on your gifts. Your contributions pay for all the center’s expenses: maintaining the buildings, our administrative staff, and Mark Nunberg and Shelly Graf’s support as the Guiding Teachers. Other teachers at the center receive support based on the contributions offered at their programs; they receive two-thirds and the other third is used to support the Center’s operations. Details about how to donate are outlined on our website. Thank you deeply for participating in Common Ground’s continued grand experiment of operating in this unique way in the United States.

Here is a beautiful reflection written by community member, Steve Hillson during our winter Buddhist Studies course.

“I have not really thought of myself as a generous person.  I’ve often wanted to be generous, and I have certainly wanted to be seen by others as generous, but the truth is my giving has been largely transactional, or driven by habit and custom.  But maybe I’m growing a little bit.  Since joining the Common Ground community a few years ago, I’ve witnessed almost unbelievable generosity, taking the forms of money (how did that lovely retreat facility ever get built?), service (how many inches of snow did volunteers move the first 2 months of this winter?), and goodwill (you know who you are: the young couple who invited me to tea after they saw me weeping during my very first visit here).  But most especially, I’ve witnessed the generosity of the teachings, offered day after day and week after week for decades (or should I say “millenia?”), without obligation.

And so Common Ground is teaching me generosity by example.  I’m still a work in progress, a slow and sometimes stubborn student.  I still measure and keep score sometimes, I still find my habits elbowing their way in.  And I’m still easily confused.  How much is enough?  What form is best?  Do I give till it hurts, the way some charitable organizations urge?  But I’m finding my way.  I think I want to give not until it hurts, but until it feels good.  Until it feels right, feels that it is what I can do without neglecting my other responsibilities.  Until I can feel my heart loosening up – which, I’m learning, it does!  And I want to give in a way that assures that Common Ground can continue its work, teaching us all to be more free.”

Warm Wishes,

Shelly Graf
Co-Guiding Teacher

Registrations Open:

Buddhist Studies: The Three Refuges
Three Mondays: March 13th – April 3rd
In-person and on Zoom
Register here

Community Practice Intensive with Sarah Wilson and Mark Nunberg
Three Mondays: April 10th, April 17th and April 24th from 7:00pm – 8:30pm
Ending with a Daylong Retreat on Saturday, April 29th from 9:30am – 4:00pm
Register here

Weekly Programs
To view a complete list of our regular program offerings, visit our the upcoming programs page on our website. As always, our the online calendar is the best way to find correct times and Zoom links. 

Open Meditation
In person meditation is now available, M-F, starting at 6:30 a.m. Check our online calendar for additional times and details. There are many in-person as well as virtual opportunities for silent meditation, 7 days a week. Visit the calendar for times and details.

Weekly Practice Groups

• Sunday mornings, 10:30-11:45am in-person and on Zoom with Mark Nunberg
• Sunday evenings, 7:00-8:30pm in-person with Mark Nunberg
• Wednesday evenings, 7:30-9:00pm on Zoom with Shelly Graf

The Practice of Generosity

Continuing in the tradition of Buddhist monasteries in Southeast Asia, all programs at Common Ground are offered free of charge in the spirit of generosity. This offering is possible because of the generosity of people like you—from the Buddha on down to all the people in our community—who contribute their practice, time, and financial resources to support the continuation of the center.

To learn how to support the center and our teachers, visit this page. Let us know if you have any questions.

Current Volunteer Needs 
Please contact Robin Major at robin@commongroundmeditation.org if you are interested in any of these volunteer opportunities:

• Audio and YouTube Volunteers: We’re looking for volunteers to join our audio processing and YouTube editing teams. It’s easy to learn! No previous experience in audio or video necessary.
• Office Volunteers: We are looking for one or more people with 1-2 years experience at the center and with prior office experience to help us with office tasks and bulletin board maintenance. Experience with G-Suite and general comfort with computer technology would be helpful.
• Website Volunteer: We are hoping to re-do our website in the coming months. If you have experience building websites and are interested in helping with this, please write an email of interest to Robin.
• Retreat Center Wishlist: If you would like to donate a specific item to Common Ground Retreat Center, you can view our wishlist on this document.

Community News 

Article from Buddhist Justice Reporter
With gratitude for our friends at Buddhist Justice Reporter, we share their recently published piece in Lion’s Roar: A Buddhist and a Cop?

Calendar Page Captchas
If you have been experiencing difficulty opening the calendar page, you are not alone! We are working to update our calendar page and hopefully will have it fixed soon. Accessing the calendar through Google Chrome, or another non-Safari platform, works best.

With Joy and Interest You Are Doing Fine
As long as you find joy
and interest in the practice,
you are doing fine.

 Thanks to The Daily Tejaniya for this quote