CIMC’s Sangha Life Committee is a Board Committee with representatives from each of CIMC’s Affinity Groups, Members-at-Large and the Board of Directors. Our mission is to attend to matters that sustain and care for all members of CIMC’s Sangha and support the flourishing of a diverse and inclusive dharma center. We engage in this work on behalf of the entire community.
Our vision is to create more spaces and avenues for relationship-building and communication across the different identity groups and individuals that gather at CIMC. We aspire to create opportunities for sangha members to listen and relate to one another, and through this emergent process, realize the mutual and interconnected nature of our personal and collective liberation. In addition, as our community comes to a greater understanding of its shared concerns (particularly ones that have been left on the margins), members can become active participants with teachers, staff, and leadership in guiding the growth and development of the Center.
Click here to learn more about the Sangha Life Committee’s thinking and inquiry into practices that can support our vision.
Sangha Circles 2021
We believe it is essential for CIMC practitioners to have periodic opportunities to connect meaningfully with one another across groups, to build community, and to speak directly to CIMC leadership about their experiences at the Center. The first of the series of CIMC Sangha Circle Meetings was held in February 2021 on Zoom to allow CIMC practitioners to connect, learn from and be nourished by the beauty and challenge of being in community. It included spaces for CIMC yogis to connect with each other in multiracial, intergenerational and gender-diverse breakout groups.
In June, 2021, we held our second Sangha Circle: What’s a KM Group? This panel discussion focused on Spiritual Friendship, or Kalyanna Mitta, groups. CIMC’s Sangha Life Committee and community members who have experience forming and being in KM groups shared their personal experiences and offered insights into the nuts and bolts of starting a group from scratch.