Dearest Sangha,
Busy days for Blooming Heart!
Upcoming Dharma Discussions
6/8/2008 - ChiSing facilitates
6/15/2008 - Rose Ceremony for Father's Day; Blue Cliffs monastics in attendance
6/29/2008 - Julie facilitates
We are still in need of a facilitator for 6/22/2008 (the weekend of the WI retreat).
Our
wonderful brother ChiSing is in town and will be
facilitating this Sunday. For those of you who haven't had the pleasure
of meeting him, have a look at his website http://www.intermindful.com
If you plan to attend the Fathers Rose Ceremony on the 15th, please let Judith know by Wed. the 11th what color flower you need (red for a father's who's alive and white for one who's moved on).
Monastics Visit
It's June! Attached are some materials sent by Onnie Thatcher, the host for the retreat in Luck, WI. Those of you who've reserved a space at the June 20-22 retreat are asked to complete the registration form and return it to Judith soon.
Also attached is a flier about the full moon walking meditation the monastics will be leading on June 18th. Please do feel free to pass that flier around as widely as possible. Perhaps we could have some discussion about car pooling at the meeting on the 15th, or at least connect up by email.
Finally, the task force asks that you keep close tabs on your email next week as there will be important communications about the Day of Mindfulness.
Administrative Committee
The Admin Committee is meeting at Heartwood this Sunday, June 8th at 6PM. All Sangha members are very welcome to attend. Here is the agenda again, as written by Julie:
1. Day of Mindfulness planning
2. Survey Review (If your survey isn't yet
submitted, please get it to Lori by Friday. Thanks)
3. August 15-17 retreat planning: cost, other
4. Reschedule garage sale? Schedule a potluck.
5. Web site up-date
Thank you all so much for your support during these last few weeks!
Wishing health and peace for all,
Joyce
Dear Sangha,
Some of you we know are unable to attend the Day of Mindfulness; perhaps you
are able to support the day in one of the following ways.
1. Bring to the Sangha meeting on June 8 a food
item that can be used for a treat on June 14. It would need to be
something that will still be tasty six days later. Some good options are
trails mix, nuts, dried fruit, crackers, no-wheat crackers, dark chocolate with
no nuts, mints.
2. E-mail to Judith by Sunday your favorite vegan recipe. This will
help the people hosting the nuns and also be a source of good recipes for the Sangha.
Administrative Committee Agenda for June 8 meeting at 6:00. You are
welcome to attend!
1. Day of Mindfulness planning
2. Survey Review (If your survey isn't yet
submitted, please get it to Lori by Friday. Thanks)
3. August 15-17 retreat planning: cost, other
4. Reschedule garage sale? Schedule a potluck.
5. Web site up-date
A lotus for you, Julie
Dear Sangha,
Would someone be able to provide lodging for the Monastics
on their last night in
A lotus for you, Julie Vinar
Dear Sangha,
Next Sunday at our Admin. Mtg., we
will look at the results of the survey. Because we would like to provide
another opportunity for people to share their ideas and preferences, we are
sending the survey out again, putting it in the body of this e-mail and
hopefully making it easier for people to respond. Simply put your
responses into the body of the text and reply back to me by Friday, June 6.
Thank you so much for your participation.
Lori Zook-Stanley
Blooming
Heart Sangha
Winter
2008 Survey
Of the 39 people on our sangha
e-mail list, 12 responded to our pre-survey question regarding the current
Sunday evening time. Of those 11:
5 said it was a good time for them; 5 said it was
difficult; 1 said it was prohibitive.
We will ask the question again here:
1.
___ Our
current Sunday evening time is good for me.
___ Our
current Sunday evening time is difficult for me.
___ Our
current Sunday evening time is prohibitive for me.
Times I would prefer (in order of preference)
include:
2.
We currently meet a half hour later during the spring and summer. Do you
prefer the same time all-year-round? ____
Yes ____ No
3. Do you
prefer to meet on major holiday weekends? ____ Yes ____
No
4. Would you
like guest speakers to come to sangha on a quarterly
basis? Whom?
5. Would you
like to see more sangha
retreats? ____
Yes ____ No
Do you prefer that these be ____ day-long, ____
overnight or ____both?
Which is more important to you personally:
____ keeping costs low or ____ your comfort and privacy with sleeping
arrangements?
6.
What topics would you like to see addressed during retreats, events and dharma
discussions?
7. During
our weekly gatherings, would you like to include more ___ chanting,
___ singing, ___ other
(please describe)?
8.
In the last several months we have experimented with not having announcements
and/or business meetings at the ends of our gathering as we had previously
done. Do you prefer:
___
Not conducting any announcements and/or business
during our weekly sangha gathering, and instead
conveying this information through e-mail;
___
Holding a weekly time for announcements and/or a short
business meeting following our dharma discussion, with a focus on doing this
mindfully
___
Holding an optional monthly time for announcements
and/or a short business meeting following our dharma discussion, with a focus
on doing this mindfully
___ Other:
9.
Do you have any concerns or comments about how we are using e-mail to
communicate?
10.
What would you like our sangha, which includes all of
us, to do differently? What, if anything, keeps you away from sangha?
11.
What are we doing that is working well for us, that we want to continue to
cultivate?
12. What would help and
support the entire sangha, and would build community?
13.
In order to support the sangha financially, please
check all of the following ideas that appeal to you: _____ annual pledge
drive; _____ regular fundraising events; _____ dana bowl; _____ other.
Name (Optional): ___________________________
I would like __________________________ to contact me
regarding my responses. Please call me at ________________________.