every day in every way I am getting better, better and better by the grace of God..

Advice for Sanghas

Sanghas most often run into trouble because they've enthusiastically gotten started before answering the 'W5' or the who, what, where, when, and why... Our advice is that every moment you take thinking these questions through first will save you time in debate later. Rather than tell you what to do here, we'll give a few completely different hypothetical examples:

First Northern Seattle Gratitude CoffeeSangha

  • Meeting times: every Tuesday at 7am
  • Location: The coffehouse at the fish market
  • Members: This sangha has one organizer/leader, who works as an architect in downtown Seattle. The other members found out about the sangha from a flier.
  • Size: Agreed maximum size of 8 - 9 before group will split into two sanghas
  • Sample: everyone shares what they're grateful for, members discuss this week's sangha group reading, which is from 'Living Buddha Living Christ' by Thich Nhat Hanh, one of the members reads a short passage from the gospel of John, which the group then reflects on, and closing with a little prayer. Once in a while people have dinner at various member homes. Special passages are also celebrated.

The BayBasement Teen ShabbatSangha

  • Meeting times: every Friday before sundown
  • Location: The basement of the downtown church
  • Members: This sangha is lead by the youth minister in the basement of a Bay Area church. It's open to all under age 21.
  • Size: Open
  • Sample: Candle blessing, bread and wine blessing, and scripture in the traditional of a Shabbat. High Holy Days celebrated.

The Rec Center Mothers Club Sangha

  • Meeting times: every Saturday at 1030
  • Location: The local rec center
  • Members: This sangha is lead by a local mothers club mom.
  • Size: Open to all who register through the rec center.
  • Sample: many parenting issues come up, and this sangha is particularly drawn to the metta practice of loving kindness, the refuge chant, and the visualizations.

Are there other questions you can think of? Are there other questions that we should list on this page? Help us make this page more helpful!