Weekly Email 5-11-23

Dear Common Ground Friends,
Dear Common Ground Friends,

After spending much of April teaching at Common Ground’s Retreat Center, I am newly inspired by what we as a community have been able to do together over these past ten years since we purchased the retreat property. The building we converted was originally built as an Amish furniture workshop and family residence. It’s now a simple and beautiful Buddhist retreat center with 16 beds in the main building plus two staff spaces outside of the main building. We have finished an extensive multi year renovation and are now beginning to move into the second phase of the development of the property which involves the visioning of a long term site plan for the land around the retreat building. The possibilities include: more housing for staff and teachers, one or two retreat cabins in a remote location, campsites, a pagoda roof over the stone walkway, a garden walking meditation area to the west of the building, trails connecting these various places, a memorial garden for the ashes of community members in the Southeast area of the field, and Guiding Teacher housing in the Northwest corner of the property. We will take on projects based on the interest and support for continued development from our community. Common Ground has always taken a conservative approach to development. When the donations offered to the center are greater than our operating expenses, then we have spent some of this money on developing the two centers in ways that support the community’s practice. This is how we have ended up with two wonderful centers without any debt. With shifting economics over the past few years, Common Ground has seen a decrease in donations, though gratefully, donations continue to be sufficient enough to cover basic operating costs of both centers. 

For more detailed information about the center’s financial health, I invite you to read Rick Condon’s Annual Treasurer Letter to the Community. Please reach out if you have any questions or would like to learn more about how to support the future development of either of the two centers.

WAYS TO SUPPORT OUR PRACTICE PLACES

• Community Leaders and Volunteers will be planting 400 native bushes and trees at our Retreat Center over Memorial Day weekend later this month. The community is invited to come out to the Retreat Center on Sunday afternoon, May 28th, 1-6 pm, if you want to assist in this planting project. For more information and to register go here.
• Please join in for our twice yearly Maintenance Day at the City Center on Saturday, May 20, 9:00 am – 12:30pm
• We are looking for volunteers for this summer’s mowing team at our City Center. 
• Our garden committee hosts monthly garden work days, on the 2nd Sunday of the month, 12-2pm, following the weekly practice group. All are welcome. 
• Cory Clementson and other leaders will be organizing the annual work retreat at the retreat center, July 17 – 28th. Contact info@commongroundmeditation to inquire about participating.

With Deep Gratitude,
Mark Nunberg
Co Guiding Teacher

Join in for these upcoming community events and programs!

Daylong Retreat for the BIPOC Community with Jen Racho and Stacy McClendon
Saturday, May 13th | 9:30 am – 4:00 pm
In-person only
Register here

Garden Workdays
Second Sundays | 12:00 pm – 2:00 pm
Join the garden team in caring for the perennial and rain gardens, beginning May 14th. All skill sets are welcome.

Spring Maintenance Day!
Saturday, May 20th | 9:00 am – 12:30 pm
Come join the Building Committee for a morning of joyful cleaning, tweaking and fixing. Refreshments will be provided at 12:00.

Tree Sangha: a Work Practice Period with Stephen Gregg & Robin Major
Thursday, May 25- Monday, May 29th
In-person only at our retreat center
More info and registration here

The Practice of Generosity

Ongoing Programs
To view a complete list of our regular program offerings, visit our upcoming programs page on our website. As always, our online calendar is the best way to find the 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, 10:30-11:45 am in-person and on Zoom with Mark Nunberg
  • May 14th with Wynn Fricke
• Sunday evenings, 7:00-8:30 pm in-person with Mark Nunberg
  • May 14th with Ramesh Sairam
• Wednesday evenings, 7:30-9:00 pm now in-person and on Zoom with Shelly Graf
  • May 17th with Jean Haley

Current Volunteer Needs 

Please contact our Office Manager, Robin Major, at robin@commongroundmeditation.org if you are interested in any of these volunteer opportunities:

• Office Volunteers: We are looking for one or more people with 1-2 years of 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.
• Wishlists: If you would like to donate a specific item, check out the Retreat Center Wishlist and the City Center Wishlist.

Community News 

Community Potluck!
Sunday, June 18th | 12:00 – 1:30pm
Celebrate community and bring a vegetarian dish to share! There will be music. If you’re like to volunteer to help out before, during or after, click here.

TCVC Retreat with Deborah Helzer & Vance Pryor
June 17th-24th
This retreat, organized by the Twin Cities Vipassana Collective, will be held at St Anthony Spirituality Center in Marathon, Wisconsin.  Click here for more info and registration.

Volunteer with Dharma Seed
Dharma Seed is recruiting volunteers for its new project to categorize its talk collection. Go here for more info.

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

Every Experience Is A Tool to Develop Wisdom
Let any experience arise. Greed, hatred, and delusion are objects
like any other. Because we are getting to know them,
there is no need to fear them. Just know they are there.
They are tools for you to further, develop wisdom.

 Thanks to The Daily Tejaniya for this quote