nicr
New Member
Posts: 4
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Post by nicr on Nov 18, 2023 22:19:56 GMT -5
Hi all,
Listening to the latest discussion between August and Shawn has me wondering how to begin a (local) community.
I see the importance of community (even establishing one) echoed amongst the majority of the TAT teachers, but would not know how/where to begin? I have the surface necessities to begin one (a space to utilise etc), but can't seem to get over the idea that because I have had no major experience, beginning a community would be at some level disingenuous?
Any thoughts or discussion would be very much appreciated.
Regards
Nic
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Post by stardustpilgrim on Nov 19, 2023 0:13:52 GMT -5
Hi all, Listening to the latest discussion between August and Shawn has me wondering how to begin a (local) community. I see the importance of community (even establishing one) echoed amongst the majority of the TAT teachers, but would not know how/where to begin? I have the surface necessities to begin one (a space to utilise etc), but can't seem to get over the idea that because I have had no major experience, beginning a community would be at some level disingenuous? Any thoughts or discussion would be very much appreciated. Regards Nic Do some research, invite some speakers/workshop leaders to come. Plan ahead at least 3 months. When you have 3 or 4 people, arrange a date they can come for a Saturday and Sunday. Then advertise, advertise, advertise. Let it unfold organically. Then plan other meetings, have dates ready for those who came, say in a month or two. And then let the participants give some direction as to what comes next. Let it unfold naturally, there will either be enough interest, or not. Ten people coming regularly should be enough to get it started. Just some thoughts. I don't know where you are, but maybe plan an eclipse party for the eclipse next year. Maybe at a campgrounds. At least one overnight. (Texas is closest for me. It would be a lot longer than the two hours I drove a few years ago (Columbia, SC). But the total eclipse was crazy-dramatic, awesome, unbelievable, unexpected, spiritual-even, once-in-a-lifetime essential). |
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Post by lolly on Nov 19, 2023 0:22:08 GMT -5
What the thing, activity or interest the community members would have common?
Is there already a community like that?
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Post by stardustpilgrim on Nov 19, 2023 0:37:38 GMT -5
What the thing, activity or interest the community members would have common? Is there already a community like that? People come from all over the USA for TAT (quarterly) meetings, but that interest goes all the way back to Richard Rose. There are the-name-escapes-me... I think they are called Meet Ups, for all types of group-interest. Bookstores usually have a place where people can meet, and libraries. I went to one 16 years ago in a coffee shop. There were several such meetings that same night. |
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Post by zendancer on Nov 19, 2023 9:06:37 GMT -5
Hi all, Listening to the latest discussion between August and Shawn has me wondering how to begin a (local) community. I see the importance of community (even establishing one) echoed amongst the majority of the TAT teachers, but would not know how/where to begin? I have the surface necessities to begin one (a space to utilise etc), but can't seem to get over the idea that because I have had no major experience, beginning a community would be at some level disingenuous? Any thoughts or discussion would be very much appreciated. Regards Nic Hi Nic, One thing to check on is whether there are some people in your area who are interested in meditation, non-duality, etc and are already meeting regularly. There may be people who are meeting who you don't know about. Forty years ago my wife and I started a group in our small town by inviting both friends and some people who we knew were seekers. We did guided meditations and also taught people different meditation practices, and after the meditation period we had a discussion about different spiritual paths. We served tea and cookies and then socialized. We started with about 40 people, but the few non-seekers quickly dropped out. Later, some of the people in the group got interested in particular traditions and left to pursue those interests. We ended up with about 10 people. Later, I built a meditation gazebo over a creek behind our home and for six years we had a core group of 5 to 7 people come join us every Sunday morning. After we sold that home, we met in our office. We would start the meetings with a meet and greet, then light incense, chant the heart sutra, listen to a gong for several minutes, meditate in silence for thirty minutes, and then discuss books with existential themes, and finally socialize and discuss anything people were interested in. It was not unusual to have only four people show up, but the core group of 4 to 7 people met together every week for more than twenty years. In big cities there are often many small groups that meet to discuss ND, and TAT has at least 15 groups in different locations around the country. There are groups in Pittsburgh PA, Raleigh NC, Durham NC, Knoxville TN, Gainesville FL, and dozens of other places, and you can go to the TAT Foundation website or read the TAT newsletter to find out if there's a group near you. Besides meeting in person, there are numerous ND zoom meetings held every week. A fellow in Lynchburg, VA hosts a TAT zoom meeting that's attended by 25-30 people in the USA, and there are dozens of other ND zoom meetings that attract people from all over the world. Most of the well-known teachers have regular zoom meetings, and many of them attract hundreds of people from around the world. The Gangaji Foundation, for example, hosts a monthly zoom meeting that starts with 30 minutes of videos, and then breaks up the 150 attendees into small 6-8 person discussion groups. The last time I tuned in we had people from Australia, Ireland, Canada, Germany, and the USA, and it was interesting to hear everyone's story. Lots of fun! Finally, there are numerous ND 3 to 7 day retreats held around the country. TAT holds four in-person 3-day retreats every year at it's retreat center in Durham, NC, and there are countless other TAT-type ND retreats, as well as Zen retreats, Tibetan Buddhist retreats, Advaita retreats, Adyashanti retreats, etc. Even if you can't find enough interested people in your town, you can find countless people online who meet regularly. Don't worry about how much you know or how much you've experienced because many seekers will be in the same boat. It's sufficiently enjoyable just to meet and discuss common interests with people who share the same curiosity about existential issues. ZD |
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nicr
New Member
Posts: 4
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Post by nicr on Nov 20, 2023 19:16:22 GMT -5
Thank you all for your words and comments  |
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Post by lolly on Nov 20, 2023 22:33:09 GMT -5
Wait. What about the questions?
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nicr
New Member
Posts: 4
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Post by nicr on Nov 23, 2023 4:31:32 GMT -5
What the thing, activity or interest the community members would have common? Is there already a community like that? Apologies Lolly, I glossed over this. Both Sailor Bob (Advaita Vedanta) and Linda Clair (Zen/Non-Sectarian Meditation) are close to me, though Linda travels quite a bit. I have found a thirst for a kind of combination of the two. The aforementioned communities differ greatly: one is a more talk-based approach wherein everyone gathers and talks in non-dual lingo so-to-speak, and the other is a very body-focused meditation approach (zazen sitting). The community I seek is much more akin to one Rose talked about; perhaps a meshing of the two. Elements of confrontation, group (ladder) work and the like are missing from both. I love the sharing of ideas and information, but feel a practical means to ground ideas is favourable. I hope that makes sense. |
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Post by lolly on Nov 23, 2023 6:05:43 GMT -5
What the thing, activity or interest the community members would have common? Is there already a community like that? Apologies Lolly, I glossed over this. Both Sailor Bob (Advaita Vedanta) and Linda Clair (Zen/Non-Sectarian Meditation) are close to me, though Linda travels quite a bit. I have found a thirst for a kind of combination of the two. The aforementioned communities differ greatly: one is a more talk-based approach wherein everyone gathers and talks in non-dual lingo so-to-speak, and the other is a very body-focused meditation approach (zazen sitting). The community I seek is much more akin to one Rose talked about; perhaps a meshing of the two. Elements of confrontation, group (ladder) work and the like are missing from both. I love the sharing of ideas and information, but feel a practical means to ground ideas is favourable. I hope that makes sense. I like both those teachers. I'm surprised Sailor Bob is still alive. He must be 90 something by now. I'm into Linda's body awareness thing. Satsang doesn't do it for me. I don't know anything about Richard Rose.
Setting up community services has steps to follow, basically fulfil need, but in your case you already have the thing you do and just have to discern if there's a need. If there's already two services in the area,then maybe that need is already catered for.
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