Buddhist Council meeting 2010-10-03
A Jesse Jiryu Davis
Meditation Center, Chris Raines of Middle Way Peace Order, Judy Chen
of Cakrasambhara Meditation Center, Marjorie Markus of Community of
Mindfulness NYC, Bhante Kondanna of Staten Island Buddhist Vihara,
Bhante Wimalajothi, Nick Gershberg of Chogye Int'l Zen Center,
Michelle Dunson of SI, Akiva Daube of Still Mind Zendo, Matt Egan of
Chogye Int'l Zen Center and Chogye-Sa, Doyeon Park of Won Buddhist
Temple.
Last meeting's minutes read and approved.
== Meditate NYC ==
Judy says there are 20 open houses (more on the website than on the
card), 12 speakers. It will be noon to 4pm on Sat Oct 16 at the
Judson Memorial Church. Nick and Joren Wagner redesigned the 2008
card in blue, and we've printed 2500 of them. Nick says he keeps a
stack in his bag and drops them anywhere that seems appropriate.
Akiva says we have a Facebook ad that's been served over half a
million times, with several hundred clicks through to
http://meditatenyc.org. Michelle is maintaining the BC Facebook page
and has updated our CafePress store. We're advertising in TimeOut
NY's website, and we may get into the print edition. We'll be listed
on all the major online community calendars.
Matt says we've recreated the Buddhist Council website, which had gone
down months ago. It's very simple: our mission, officers, and a list
of sanghas. In the future we could make it a collaborative project to
update NYC sangha info. buddhistcouncilny.org Feel free to send
website suggestions to Matt at ega...@gmail.com
Doyeon says we need volunteers for Oct 16th; she'll contact all the
sanghas with open houses, or with tables at the event, and ask for
volunteers. She'll ask last year's volunteers if they can help again.
Matt asks if the teachers have been given guidance on what to talk
about, Judy says they should emphasize a "demo" of their tradition's
meditation techniques, & tell the audience about their sanghas. Akiva
will send speakers the same info as he included in the MNYC press kit.
Marjorie asks how the Blue Cliff monastics will participate -- Judy
says that, depending on when they arrive, they could do a walking
meditation in Wash Sq Park during MNYC to bring attention to it,
before their time slot at the end of the event indoors. We're unclear
on the details of all this, and on what the monastics want to do -- we
discuss many possibilities.
Nick asks if anyone on the MNYC committee is taking care of signage
for the event -- someone will be assigned to the task.
MNYC includes Yoga and Tai Chi teachers, and as Akiva is doing
publicity, publications ask him what the Buddhist Council's
relationship is with these non-Buddhist meditation traditions. He
wants feedback: How should he answer? We say that MNYC is about
meditation, and the BC welcomes all meditation methods at the event.
== Buddhist Forum ==
It will be Feb or March 2011, but we're so focused on MNYC that we
haven't done much planning. The Interfaith Center asks Judy to ask us
if we'd enjoy a dialog with Muslim members of the Interfaith Center --
perhaps the Forum could be that conversation, or we could talk about
it at a separate event. Jiryu questions whether there's enough to
discuss to fill an event, Matt points out that relationships formed
during such an event can be valuable. Judy proposes inviting the
Muslim members to a BC event to see what they have to say. Marjorie
says we should plan any event jointly with the Muslims. Bhante
Kondanna says Buddhists don't generally have any issues with other
religions here in the West, but he's happy to hear what issues Muslims
have, either in general or specific to Buddhism. He points out that
Buddhists weren't invited to the city's first 9/11 prayer ceremony; we
should be more forward about participating in the city's religious
life. Chris adds that in the new year we should make a push for more
members -- if we're a comprehensive group we can talk to the city as
representatives of the whole community. He says Buddhists could play
the role of mediator in conflicts ahead. Marjorie agrees, perhaps the
Forum could focus on mediation.
Michelle asks how our membership is growing after we sent a letter;
Akiva says we have increased recently from 7 to 10 members in good
standing. We're not sure how membership works -- whether it's paid
each January, or if membership lasts one year from whatever date a
sangha pays for it. Matt says the latter might work best for sanghas,
but we think that's more work for the treasurer, and confusing for
some sanghas. Jiryu moves that we make the membership period last
from January to January, but then withdraws the motion until our
treasurer Sookyoung is here next month. Nick wants to make a category
of membership for groups that are not freestanding temples, with a
smaller fee than that for temples. We'll table that for a future
meeting. Marjorie asks if we have a way to invite all the sanghas we
know to become members; Nick says we should at some point continue our
sangha-directory project to collect info about NYC buddhist groups.
Doyeon asks if membership dues are enough for BC's expenses, or if we
need a fundraiser. Chris says, the more money we have, the greater
difference we can make in NYC. Doyeon says the BC can pool the
resources of larger sanghas with smaller ones, and that if we network
more closely together we can support each other. Nick says we must
decide whether we raise funds only by redoubling our membership
efforts, or by creating a new fundraising project. We also discuss
ways to encourage more donations during the MNYC event this year than
last year.
== Marshall Meyer retreat ==
Thurs Nov 4 8:30a-5pm at Interchurch Center 475 Riverside Dr, free
event, topic is "Building Sacred Space in the City: Religious Freedom
in Bricks and Mortar." Will explore challenges to maintaining and
establishing sacred places in NYC, and how to talk with secular
institutions, like the city government. Register:
ssa...@interfaithcenter.org
Our next meeting will be 7pm on Thursday November 4th at Lalitamba
Mandiram, 110 West 86th St. #5D, New York, NY 10024