The Buddha, the dharma and the sangha constitute Buddhism’s Three Jewels. Of the three, secular Buddhism adheres most traditionally to the third; the sangha, or community. Without this peer support and feedback, we face life’s insecurity and pain quite alone.

In an effort to further enhance our practice of compassion, the Secular Buddhist Network is exploring the establishment of what we are calling a Caring Group. However, unlike the many other SBN groups that meet regularly to discuss aging, political action, secularism and the like, the Caring Group’s sole purpose is to reach out to individual SBN members who have gone missing from their usual SBN activities to check if they are okay.

Counseling or therapy of any sort is not our intent. It’s simply a friendly call, text or email of inquiry along the lines of a simple, “We missed you. Are you okay?” It’s about sharing our common humanity in times of stress.

We understand some may find this an invasion of their privacy or outside their needs. That’s why this is a purely volunteer undertaking. You can always opt out or in if your needs or inclinations change. Sensitivity toward others is our guiding desire here. This announcement is solely intended to gauge the degree of interest in SBN for such an endeavor and to involve others who are interested in joining our committee.

Click here if you are interested in begin part of the Caring Group, either as someone who is on a list of people who get support by receiving calls or texts if you have been absent for awhile from SBN activities or if you want to provide support - or both.

Thank you and may you be well on the path.

SBN Sangha Committee: Sharon Tobias, Ira Rifkin, Rachel Topper, Allan Regenstreif, and Riccardo Miggliorelli