On December 13, the Secular Buddhist Network (SBN) Planning Committee and representatives of the Secular Buddhist Association (SBA) met to discuss the ongoing process of merging the two organizations.

At the meeting, individuals from both groups expressed enthusiasm about the merger. We share the objective of creating a more vital secular Buddhist movement which is inclusive, democratic, and creative in its approach.

The merger will help to build a stronger secular Buddhist trend by:

• Bringing together the strengths and resources of both organizations
• Providing more opportunities for those who are interested in the secular dharma to learn and connect with each other
• Offering more “spaces” to build sanghas in the secular Buddhist community, and
• Creating a more unified voice for secular Buddhists

The next step of the merger process will be to reconstitute the leadership of the 501c3 organization that SBA previously established to include on its Board of Directors those who have been active in SBN activities. We agreed that we want the new Board to be inclusive and provide new opportunities for participation and leadership.

In the future, we envisage adding to SBN’s website new resources and “spaces” for discussion of key issues related to secular Buddhism.

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SBA Representatives: Amy Balentine, Ted Meissner, Alya Reeve

SBN Planning Committee: Kate Barba, Luis-Daniel Gonzalez, Bero Nizic, Mike Slott, Ronn Smith, Karsten Struhl, Marc Symons, Sharon Tobias, and David Whiteside