FLORIDA CENTERS AND GROUPS

Education:
Our members would like more classes and study groups....we have limited staffing ability... as one member put it  "So I don't know if that means more teaching materials and more teacher availability to take the load off you and Paula, or what but I think that if we were offering a variety of classes, we could advertise and attract more people"

Related to that are people from all over the state who want to study Shambhala Buddhism, but don't live near a center.  They might benefit from online courses and workbooks that prepare them for onsite classes with senior teachers.  That same format could be used by intown students as well when there are a shortage of skilled teachers.

Practice:
The same shortage of meditation instructors as teachers applies in our area.  It is difficult to provide the personal ongoing support for all new people, and we have no one authorized at the ngondro or sadhaka level. I personally am qualified to take the ngondro instructor course, but don't have the time (or money) to travel to a far away center to do so.  If this could be provided online it would be very helpful as well.  I talked with Gils about this possibility at SMC, and he was interested.  He is going to talk to Reggie about working with the material he presents this fall at SMC.

Volunteerism/Pay:
It has been almost a full time volunteer job for the last 4 years to get our center up and going, to teach, and administrate and handle communications.  As we grow and reach more people, the teaching requests from around the state are also increasing.  I would like to look at a structure that allows teachers (and administrators where possible) to get paid a reasonable fee from the monies charged for the program that they teach.

Questions to consider:

Does the administration need to be centered in Halifax?  Might it not be better to have people spread out throughout the different regions of the country (world) who communicate by phone and computer with occassional meetings?

What are the criteria for the composition of the Board of Directors of Shambhala International, and how does that affect decisions?

Can we develop a structure for the Shambhala Congress itself that will facilitate decisions being made while we are there together?  In other words, if we can articulate the issues ahead of time, can we gather resource people and decision makers together with the groups to discuss real costs and real time lines to make some of our plans materialize?

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