Harvest of Peace 2016

Dear Sangha,

On Sunday, September 25th, we held our annual Harvest of Peace at the Berkeley Shambhala Center. About forty community members gathered to mark the end of summer, celebrate what we have accomplished, and look ahead to the coming months.

The Sakyong addressed us in a short talk, which you can watch here.

We have been busy! Over the summer at the Center, we had important retreats this summer: a Regional weekthun and a week-long Shambhala Art retreat. On September 10th, we hosted about forty people at the UNtraining in a daylong anti-racist workshop.

In the past few months, we have also conducted a phone survey of a quarter of our membership and began a neighborhood “deleg” system of community care.

We also laid out the 2-year strategic plan, which you can read about here (.pdf download). Part of this plan is having a single practice day each week where community members can gather to do their various practices. We’re calling this Sangha Sundays.

We also gave special thanks to two of our Center leaders who are stepping down.

Our Council Secretary, Laura Burr, stepped down at Harvest of Peace. She has done a wonderful job of supporting the Governing Council, and we are grateful that she will continue in her role in Membership Communications.

Mina Dadgar also concluded her role as our Membership Coordinator over the past two and a half years. Over that period, we’ve welcomed over 30 new members and benefitted from a 73% increase in membership dues. Thank you, Laura and Mina.

Finally, I have decided to extend my position for another year, beyond the original end date. I now plan on serving as Director until April, 2018.

Through the generosity of our members, we have maintained financial stability despite a significant increase in our rent this May. However, we are preparing for another increase in rent of about $1000 per month. To help us meet this increase, please consider giving to our year-end campaign on a one-time basis here. If you are interested in becoming a member or increasing your dues, please email us at [email protected].

Many Thanks,

Rees