What Is Important About Coming to ISC? What Do You Appreciate?

Listening Session Outcomes

Fall 2017

6 Sessions, 93 Sangha Members

What is important about coming to ISC? What do you appreciate?

Ambience

·  Stepping into the quiet of our meditation hall, a sense of tranquility, calmness and peace, a retreat and refuge, a spiritual home and sanctuary (4)

·  ISC is a safe place (4)

·  Nice atmosphere of congruency, everyone welcome (4)

·  There is no hierarchy, everyone on same level (3)

·  Feels accessible to everyone – easy to come in and sit down, “plug and play” (3)

·  An easy place to meditate (3)

·  Warm and welcoming (3)

·  However you show up is ok

·  Openness and vulnerability, no judgement

·  You can come in, sit and turn inward and you don’t have to socialize or you can socialize at an appropriate level for yourself

·  There is obvious goodwill offered

·  Newcomers feel welcome (2)

·  Feels like home (2)

·  A place where one can be authentic (5)

·  All of self is allowed to be expressed

·  The honesty

·  The atmosphere and aesthetics are very genuine

·  Appreciate just knowing that ISC is in operation and available almost every day all year

·  Inclusive and diverse

·  We have a space held at ISC as an antidote to the outside world

·  A spiritual beacon of peace

Facility

·  The new location (5)

·  The lovely interior simplicity (4)

·  The beauty of our space

·  The new bell

Dharma / Dharma Talks

·  Dharma talks (5)

·  The teachings/dharma (2)

·  The teachings/meditations offer a sense of hope and offer a different way of living and seeing myself

·  Teachings provide a universal path that addresses many different needs (2)

·  Q & A sessions following dharma talks (2)

·  Talks get down to the nitty-gritty of practice

·  Able to listen to recorded talks on dharma seed (2)

Programs

·  Overwhelmed with gratitude with what is offered: diversity, types, styles, daylongs, sits (7)

·  The variety of times for sits

·  Scheduled sits help build time into our days to meditate (2)

·  A place to pause, anchor, and reinvigorate practice

·  Small group contacts

·  The drop-in nature of many of the programs

·  The “respectful rebelliousness”

·  Humor is appreciated

·  The guided meditations (2)

·  The homework assignments - a great way to apply the Dharma outside of the center

·  The daylongs

·  The retreat offerings

Specific Programs

·  The library and its resources (5)

·  Sitting with specific groups (LGBTQ, POC, ATS, etc.)

·  Dharma Friends groups provide a sense of connection and intimacy along the path.

·  The group on Difficult Emotions; small group, easier to get to know people (2)

·  The Dharma Punx approach to practice

·  A great place to pause in the flow of business at the noon sits (2)

·  The monthly Sunday morning sit for taking of precepts and refuges

·  Against the Stream / Fierce Hearts / Dharma Punx (2)

·  The length of the meetings (1.5 hours when most other Refuge Recover meetings are only 1 hour)

Sangha

·  This is real sangha - bigger than each of us; we are all in this together

·  There is good generosity among the sangha (2)

·  Diversity of practitioners, including new and experienced (3)

·  Being with like-minded people searching for answers and peace of mind

·  A spirit of community

·  The sangha is safe and accepting

·  Sitting with others and connecting with community

·  Opportunity to develop spiritual friendships, friendships that support our spiritual development by being grounded in the dharma practice

·  Good spirituality and community (11)

·  Easy to make connections and friends (5)

·  Great sense of community/connection/sangha (3)

·  Practicing with other people deepens and enhances meditation (7)

·  Support of sangha has deepened practice

·  Sense of sangha and community (2)

·  Getting to know people with common values / likeminded (4)

·  Shared values, shared fellowship

·  There is a collective wisdom within the group

·  Being in a group where you share a deep intention and importance reaches something primitive

·  Community support - welcome and warm

Teachers

·  Spiritual leadership of the teachers

·  The number, quality, and variety of teachers and styles (9)

·  Different perspectives various teachers offer, helps develop insight (2)

·  Having a main teacher

Philosophy

·  ISC balances the traditions (Theravada and others) with a spirit of open inquiry and practicality about what works

·  The mission statement is inclusive and represents the center’s acceptance of everyone (2)

·  ISC is open for many events and programs, each different from another

·  No rigid or dogmatic belief systems, no rules or guilt for not “doing it a certain way” (2)

·  I can invite other people to ISC

·  The non-judgmental approach

·  ISC is not mercenary, does not always ask for money

·  ISC works on dana, non-transactional (7)

·  Volunteering is an important option so people with less money can still give (3)

·  Dana-based rather than fee-based. It is nice to be offered space to practice when you need it whether you can afford it or not. You give when you can. (3)

·  Based on Theravada Buddhism

·  Awareness of diversity - reflected in groups and sits offered

Outcomes

·  People come to ISC to become happier and the small group reported that they are happier after some years of practice; they appreciate that the practice works for them

·  Practicing in community is helpful in maintaining a consistent, regular practice

·  Synchronicity of the move with my decision to practice

·  Coming to ISC supports sobriety

·  Good supplement to 12-step program

·  Each small sit is like a mini-retreat

·  Likes to volunteer

·  Compassion and positivity we bring from these sits out into the world; helps in our workplace where others are not so mindful

Organization

·  Organization is strong

·  The flyers about upcoming events

·  The calendar helps me be consistent with practice

·  The Listening Tour is appreciated

What would help you deepen or strengthen your practice? More generally, do you have other suggestions?

Program

·  More specific dharma talk topics

·  Dharma talks at more sits

·  Ending sits on time

·  More evening or morning sits (doesn’t need dharma talk)

·  Offer more sit times during the week

·  Have sits at the end of each day

·  More evening classes

·  Consistency with teachers and schedules

·  Have more offerings of the same classes. For example, if you work during the week, you can’t attend the 32 Parts of the Body group. It would be nice to add a second group for those with different schedules.

·  Make it clearer that sharing called for in some classes is optional and they you can always take a pass on speaking. “Passing” needs to be OK.

·  Offer more opportunities for small group interactions during sits/dharma talks

·  On-line links to further resources

·  More weekend non-residential retreats (2)

·  More and longer retreats or retreats for different levels of practitioners

·  More daylongs

Meditation Practice

·  Mentors to help deepen practice (4)

·  Provide information on practicing on one’s own

·  Hot line - Someone to talk with about dharma, practice

·  Support or resources for those trying to build a daily practice

·  Make more practice discussions among sangha members in the context of sits and dharma talks. That is, give people a chance to talk with each other about some point/practice and then either report out of small group discussions or ask questions of the teachers in more open discussion formats.

·  It would be valuable to have practice discussions and the opportunity to ask more questions

·  Have more instruction on how to deepen practice at various places along the path

·  More of the practice of inquiry (what is here, now) helps deepen practice

Newcomers

·  Help newcomers feel welcomed

·  Begin each sit with an introduction of the group for newcomers (not individual intros... just a little bit about the group itself)

·  Have more introduction beginning classes at different times

·  Provide information about beginners’ groups

·  Have teachers suggest upcoming events that would help newcomers (more in-depth information than reading announcements)

·  Web resources - support people who are trying to jump start a daily practice (tips and tricks)

·  Have events that are for two or three hours (or half a day) as a way for newcomers to transition to longer practice sessions

New Programs

·  More out-posts like the Watsonville outpost, weekly sitting groups around the county, particularly in south county

·  Reach out more to the local business community through appropriate support programs like MBSR for a business or for many businesses

·  Do more community service projects or participate in some that already exist

·  Provide opportunities to volunteer in the SC community through ISC

·  Offer resources for therapists and other wellness practitioners who have a Buddhist approach to healing

·  Would like to have a “sitting buddy” to encourage getting to center

Program Topics

·  More family programs

·  Create a teen program (2)

·  Program for young adults/students (2)

·  A drop-in schedule where we can sit quietly by ourselves

·  Class in introductory Pali

·  Class on the Pali sutras

·  Program on the science/benefits of mindfulness

·  Offer a yoga class before a sit

·  Schedule a more accessible LGBTQ sit; it’s currently scheduled at the same time as Dharma Punx

·  Provide information or a class on the history and traditions of Buddhism (3)

·  Have an Open Mic Night

·  Have engaged Buddhism program

·  Community service programs

·  Develop more special interest groups and diversity practice groups

Dharma Friends

·  Make dharma friends groups more prominent

·  Improve the opportunities for people to connect with sangha members with more dharma friends programs

·  A book club

Library

·  The library more available than the 15 minutes before or after a sit

·  Would like the Pali reference book in library to be available to check out

Sangha

·  Appropriate opportunities for social connection in the Sangha balanced by supporting and allowing the interior focus of many practitioners

·  Improve the opportunities for people to connect with sangha members for intimacy and spiritual friendship with social events (4)

·  Monthly potluck

·  Provide sangha events outside the center, not necessarily sitting (beach, picnic, hiking, hugs, dinner, move night, community hug day) (4)

·  Build Sangha: use media, radio, Facebook, printed cards, etc. to let people know about ISC (5)

Finances

·  Create ways to contribute $ at the center without using cash (2)

·  Have a fundraiser featuring various healthcare practitioners (chiropractors, massage, etc.) and have proceeds go to ISC

·  Provide monthly updates on ISC finances so sangha has a clear idea of our financial situation (rent, monthly expenses, how many people attend/contribute, infographic to show big snapshot of monthly situation and update every 6 mo. or yearly); feels transparency is important so people can figure out how much dana to give. Concern is about transparency around ISC’s finances—our monthly budget of expenses, our income, our reserves, and how donations are disbursed, both for sangha expenses and to teachers. I’d like that kind of info to be easily accessible on our website on a timely and regular basis.

·  The way that ISC teacher dana is allocated is little-known, complicated, and very questionable, and perhaps it would be difficult to defend to the sangha at large

·  Concern that fundraising for teacher pay is out of alignment with the spirit and tradition of dana. The vinaya prohibits monks asking for donations in any way, to maintain the purity of the tradition.There’s a real difference between monastics, who operate under a vow of poverty, and American lay teachers, if they expect a middle-class income from transmitting the dharma. If the sangha is asked to support the teachers with enough dana that they don’t have to have another income, in my opinion, we are no longer operating on a dana basis. A donation is no longer an expression of gratitude and appreciation, but a fee for services rendered.

Facility

·  Get facility issues (like lights and door locks) solved

·  Suggest sensory approach to enhance center: plants, incense, oil diffuser, self-service tea

·  The lights outside of the center are very dim at night. It would help to feel safer if they were brighter.

·  Apparently, more than once, someone will enter the meditation hall and peek in to “see what’s going on”. It isn’t quite clear if they are Sangha members from the sit in the other room or if they are people who wander in from outside to use the restroom and decide to check things out. The concern is regarding the privacy and confidentiality of the recovery group being at risk.

·  Put up signs near bathroom that lets people know they are not public restrooms (2)

·  Place a “quiet - sit in progress” sign when there is a session in the community room (2)

Philosophy

·  Focus on being inclusive, ecumenical, but not all over the place

Teachers

·  Offer a wider variety of teachers

·  Have a more diverse group of teachers (2)

·  Have more consistency of teachers teaching the same class/sit with not so many substitute teachers

·  Miss having Mary Grace Orr and would like her to return

Miscellaneous

·  Train all leaders and openers/closers in the use of the audio equipment

·  There was a request to make Fierce Hearts shirts & other merchandise

·  Make volunteer opportunities better known

Questions

·  What is the power structure or decision making process in the organization?

·  Want to volunteer but not clear how to do it?

Personal

·  Take advantage of what is already being offered (3)

·  Sit more often and sit longer!