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EBMC Sangha Supporting the Water Protectors of Standing Rock

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Many of you are involved in efforts to support the water protectors at Standing Rock, standing with indigenous nations in protest of the Dakota Access Pipeline. Many of you have expressed the desire and intention to know more, to do more, and to connect with sangha in wise action.

“We have to start learning how to live in a way so that a future will be possible for our children and our grandchildren. We need a kind of collective awakening. We have the dharma; we have the means; we have enough wisdom. We do not have to sink into despair … we can act.” — Zen master, Thich Nhat Hanh

“The battle at Oceti Sakowin is deeper than the pipeline. It’s about how we are to redefine our leadership and how we rebuild community and how we love and have compassion for each other and Mother Earth and all the people who come to support — that’s what all this means.” — Tom BK Goldtooth, Indigenous Environmental Network

Ways you can get involved

LOCAL ACTION

THURSDAY NOV. 10. 3:30p- 5:30

UNION WORKERS BLOCK THE DIRTY MONEY PIPELINE
Water protectors have called on supporters to challenge the banks financing the pipeline.
Wells Fargo Bank
1221 Broadway, Oakland, California 9461

SATURDAY, NOV. 12, 10AM – 6 PM

TRAINING FOR WATER PROTECTORS GOING TO STANDING ROCK
PLACE for Sustainable Living
1121 64th Street, Oakland, California 94608

MONDAY NOV. 14, 12p-3p
LETTER WRITING & CALLING PARTY! Join us at EBMC from 12p-3p for an afternoon of making calls, and writing letters in solidarity with Standing Rock. Useful to bring: cell phones, laptops, paper, pens, envelopes, stamps. We’ll provide contact numbers and addresses, talking points and snacks.

TUESDAY NOV. 15

BAY AREA SUNRISE CEREMONY and MASS NONVIOLENT DIRECT ACTION AT THE ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS IN SAN FRANCISCO

DONATE SUPPLIES

EBMC’s Midday Sangha is gathering items to deliver to Standing Rock. If you have items to donate that are needed (see the lists below), please leave them in the donation spot in the EBMC library.

DONATE MONEY

BOYCOTT

LEARN & COMMUNICATE

SIGN ON TO PETITIONS & STATEMENTS

GOVERNMENT: CALL FOR THE ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS’ PERMIT FOR THE DAKOTA ACCESS PIPELINE TO BE RESCINDED

  • Call the White House at (202) 456-1111 or (202) 456-1414
  • Call the Army Corps of Engineers (202) 761-5903
  • Call North Dakota governor Jack Dalrymple at (701) 328-2200
  • Call or email your Congressional Representatives and Senators: http://www.usa.gov/elected-officials

FUNDERS: CONTACT THE BANKS FUNDING THE PIPELINE AND TELL THEM TO STOP FUNDING IT

PIPELINE BUILDERS: TELL THE EXECUTIVES OF ENERGY TRANSFER PARTNERS, L.P. TO STOP BUILDING THE PIPELINE

GO TO STANDING ROCK

EBMC Open for Refuge, Wed. Nov. 9, 2016

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9am – 5pm, a contemplative space of courageous compassion
Tuesday November 8, 2016

PLEASE SHARE. Wed Nov 9, everyone seeking **refuge,** a quiet place to meditate and gather strength in courageous compassion, can come to #EBMC, East Bay Meditation Center, 285 17th Street, Oakland 94612. We will be open 9am – 5pm, with our usual Midday Sangha meeting at 12 pm, peer-led mindfulness meditation followed by potluck lunch. Contemplative space, a comfortable place to sit, and a warm cup of tea await you!

EBMC is a fragrance-free space, so please don’t arrive wearing scented hair, body or clothing products out of respect to those with environmental illnesses.

Liberation Dharma in the Time of the Great Unraveling

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EBMC Benefit with Joanna Macy & Ty Blair

October 28, 7:00 – 10:00 pm

First Congregational Church of Oakland
2501 Harrison Street

When we face together what’s happening to our world–from climate chaos to permanent war–we can open to the liberation to be found in the Buddha Dharma.  Even as familiar systems unravel around us, we find the vitalizing power of Sangha.  Grounded in the fact of our mutual belonging, the Sangha helps deconstruct the separate self while incubating patterns of generosity and justice to transform the broader culture.

Please join us for a rare appearance by Joanna Macy in her 88th year to discuss the liberatory potential of the Dharma. Ty Blair will join Joanna as a speaker for the evening, and our program will include poetry from Ann Marie Davis, movement with Amana Johnson, an interactive process from the Work That Reconnects, and chanting to close.

The event will be ASL interpreted and wheelchair accessible.

EBMC operates using a gift economics model, which means that all of our regular programs are offered at no set fee and participants are asked to give to the extent that they are able for the good of the community. In order to support this unique approach, which means that no one is ever turned away for lack of financial means, we ask that you purchase your ticket at the highest end of the scale that you can afford.

Fundraising events such as this are the only time we charge an entrance fee. We offer “Generosity Tickets” for those who are not able to purchase a ticket. If you would like to buy a ticket to support someone else to attend, please click on “Generosity Ticket” and choose an amount to donate. We will share it with someone who would like to attend.

We thank you for your generosity!

If you have questions please contact Cassandra@eastbaymeditation.org.

Creating a Shared Leadership Model at EBMC: 8 week process is launched!

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On September 9, 2016, our new consultant Amy Vito met with a group of #EBMC staff, LSangha (board) members, and one of a number of key volunteers, in order to launch an exciting 8 week process.

Project Objectives:

  • Create structures that promote shared accountability and decision-making to ensure tasks are completed and strategic goals are met in a timely fashion
  • Develop and implement an alternative management system for EBMC staff that will support a shared leadership model
  • Define areas of responsibility/accountability rather than static, fixed tasks, allowing the organization to be nimble and responsive to quickly changing needs
  • Ensure this model aligns with and operationalizes integration of traditional HR needs, such as ADA and EEOC compliance, performance coaching, and process for terminations
  • Assess pay structures and make adjustments that are appropriate for the new structure

In many ways, EBMC has always operated as a community and as a collective. We are not a teacher-centered meditation center founded by and dependent on one or two teachers; because our Sangha (community) has diverse experiences, identities and needs, we have been able to attract, develop and retain a dazzling array of amazing teachers, and in alignment with our value of cultural humility, there are numerous ways that the different practice groups and community members collectively determine evolving program needs.

EBMC’s staff has always been an extraordinarily high-performing and committed group of professionals working closely together in communication with the board of directors (Leadership Sangha or LSangha) and our many skilled volunteers. We look forward to the synergy of this two month process which will help to take EBMC to the next level of structural alignment with our vision and mission –  and Sangha members will be kept fully informed through the EBMC website, social media, and in hard copy on the bulletin board in the kitchen.

Why Shared Leadership?

In the spring of 2016, the EBMC board of directors (called the “L Sangha” or “Leadership Sangha) approved moving forward to develop a shared leadership structure for EBMC. Unlike the hierachical power structure of many traditional nonprofits, EBMC will move toward an agile structure in which staff, board and key volunteers will share leadership, while strengthening and clarifying processes of accountability and retaining integrity of task areas as is needed.  The wider EBMC community was excited about and supportive of shared leadership when it was discussed at our May 22, 2016 Community Meeting.

The intention to create a shared leadership model and alternative staff management system at EBMC was announced in the July 2016 EBMC e-newsletter. Consultants then were interviewed to help facilitate this process, and consultant Amy Vito was hired.

What’s the Importance of Gift Economics If “Money Makes the World Go Round”? EBMC Sangha member Krys Simon’s podcast

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From #EBMC POC Sangha member and “techie volunteer” Krys Simon’s DocentYouth podcast, “Money Makes the World Go Round”: “[In our current system] the higher the entitlement, the less the guilt in having more than others. Hello, capitalism…. With the rise of individualistic self-interest, the kind of inequality experienced by most Americans has undermined the perceptions of fairness and trust, which in turn leads to a very unsatisfying pursuit to unified happiness. Not to mention that no matter how smart or hard-working we are, some of us will still fall on the lower end of the success scale, due to our society’s implied biases. Manifest destiny is a sham.” Seeking a different way, Krys turned to East Bay Meditation Center. Krys interviews #EBMC Assistant Director Xiaojing Wang to learn more about Gift Economics as a viable alternative to market economy. During the interview, EBMC teacher Mushim Ikeda happened to enter the room and was “hooked in” to the conversation by Krys. Listen in at around 17.35! Krys goes on to examine her role in fundraising to support programs for youth, and to talk about her faith in humanity’s ability to create a world that works for everyone. http://docentyouth.org/the-business-of-giving-podcast/

Podcast date: September 2, 2016

Real Refuge: Building Inclusive and Welcoming Sanghas, Mushim Ikeda

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Real Refuge: Building Inclusive and Welcoming Sanghas

Tricycle online retreat (August 2013), video, Mushim Ikeda

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Insight Meditation and Multiculturalism

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Insight Meditation and Multiculturalism with Larry Yang

Why Buddhism? podcast with Mushim Ikeda, Rev. Harry Gyokyo Bridge, and Dr. Scott Mitchell

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Why Buddhism?
DharmaRealm podcast with Mushim Ikeda, Rev. Harry Gyokyo Bridge, and Dr. Scott Mitchell