Membership Policy Working Group

September 7, 2004 - minutes


Present: Wendy Layton, Corey Simpson, Mary Whetsell

Next Meetings:    Tuesday, September 21
                                     Tuesday, October 5
                                    

            For all meetings: Dial-in #: 1-831-600-1000. Access code: 1110811
            9am Mountain, 10am Central, 11am Eastern, noon Atlantic, 4pm BST, 5pm CEST

1. DRAFT # 4: REVIEW BY THE SAKYONG AND THE PRESIDENT

Revision number four of our membership policy recommendations has been completed,  and has been reviewed by President Reoch. After making a couple of changes to our document, Mr. Reoch gave it his seal of approval and said he feels it is ready to present to the Sakyong. Mr. Reoch will discuss our recommendations with the Sakyong during their trip to India and Tibet. Following his return in mid-October, Mr. Reoch will join our working group via phone conference to relay any feedback the Sakyong may have for us.

2. CORE QUESTIONS

In addition to the policy recommendations draft document, our working group also submitted several core questions for Mr. Reoch to discuss with the Sakyong. These questions addressed

  1. the nature of the relationship between the Sakyong and members,
  2. which core practices and teachings bind us as a mandala and should therefore be related to by all members, and
  3. whether it's possible any longer to be a member of this mandala and be only a Buddhist or only a Shambhalian.

3. SHAMBHALA MEMBERSHIP OATH

We agreed that our efforts to revise a pledge of membership should be put on hold pending feedback from the President and the Sakyong.

4. IN THE MEANTIME

Draft #4 will go out to review group members, with a request for feedback. Mary will set up a phone conference for this purpose with the review group. Many issues regarding implementation and logistics can be discussed while we await the Sakyong’s feedback.  Working group members are also encouraged to gather feedback from members of their local communities regarding this document. Everyone who reads this document should be aware that it is a draft, not a final document. All recommendations remain subject to change, either via directives from the Sakyong or from collective community wisdom.