Creating Community Archives - Secular Buddhist Network

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Creating Community

Reflective meditation retreats as a space for independent and critical thinking

In leading meditation retreats based on a reflective meditation approach Linda Modaro and Moline Whitson aim to create a middle path between a strict adherence to an intensive schedule and completely doing away with the structures and guidelines that have been considered worthwhile on vipassana retreats.

Bringing secular dharma practitioners together – the perils and joys of setting up and running a sitting group

Ramsey Margolis sets out his experience creating and sustaining a secular dharma community in Aotearoa New Zealand, and offers some practical tips on how to make one work.

Exploring the meaning of community

The community of practitioners – the sangha – is a crucial aspect of the dharmic path for secular Buddhists. But what do we mean by community? How is a community different than other forms of collective organizations? How do we create a true community of practitioners that help each other develop their practice and contribute to a ‘culture of awakening’?

Moving away from hierarchy and toward democratic sanghas

Developing a secular dharma which is relevant to our contemporary world requires us to engage in a serious examination of traditional models and practices of the community of practitioners – the sangha – and to be willing to experiment with new, more democratic forms.

Moving toward student-centric meditation teaching

Almost everything that has changed in how we have developed and teach reflective meditation over the past several years, arises from our experience reclaiming our practice and moving forward from a deeply painful split in our community. Like many Buddhist communities torn apart by failures of leadership, we continue to examine our ideals and assumptions about teaching and leadership and search for a middle path.

Sharing our practice in a group

In meditation, we cultivate an inner space of openness and acceptance free of judgement. But this space should not remain private: sooner or later we have to extend it, and before we try to cover the entire world with an enlightened society, let’s start with smaller circles.

Creating a Buddhist community – connections that work

Stephen Batchelor explains how ‘community is not something you join or something that you find. It’s something you create. Community is a practice of ... forging and developing connections and friendships and relationships.’

Four bonds of fellowship that help build community

Martine Batchelor discusses the four bonds of fellowship that help build community at a Gaia House talk. What are these four bonds? Generosity, kind words, beneficial help and consistency.

Dharma and community for meditators

Winton Higgins has written extensively about democratic communities and the development of secular Buddhism. In this article Winton offers some defining characteristics of a democratic sangha.

Secular Buddhism and democratic communities: sanghas r us

Winton Higgins discusses the importance of not just giving lip service to the importance of community, or sangha, but making it a central part of our practice.

Sangha essentials – creating community & bonding

In the third of three talks given at a day-long workshop in New Zealand in 2019 Winton Higgins discusses the centrality of creating communities or sanghas in the secular dharma path.

The dharma as a culture of awakening – developing a sanghic life

In this 2016 talk Winton Higgins discusses how awakening, gaining significant insight into our human condition and its full potential for personal development, is a key component of a secular Buddhist approach.

Creating the Secular Buddhist Association in the USA

In the U.S., the Secular Buddhist Association has grown organically around Ted Meissner’s podcast, The Secular Buddhist, and its associated Facebook page. The individuals who were frequent participants on Facebook became the core volunteers who would go on to create the Secular Buddhist Association website and, later, the non-profit organization incorporated under that name.