Welcome
Thank you for becoming part of our practice community for Infinite Circle: A Plunge in Community Engaged Buddhism. I am personally very grateful that you have decided to take walk together in the dharma and Zen Peacemaker practice. My hope is that our together-practice benefits many beings.
This introduction will outline the overall objectives of our program and the expectations we have of participants. I ask that you read in before our first meeting and please do not hesitate to be in touch with me if you have questions effecting your participation in the program.
Infinite Circle program is intended to prepare you to practice with and serve those who live close to the place you call home. To that end, we are intentionally using the term “Community Engaged Buddhism” as a refinement of the more general idea of “Socially Engaged Buddhism.” In defining Community Engaged Buddhism, we underscore the importance of practicing and working locally and practically. You yourself may be a caring neighbor, nonprofit worker, a grassroots activist, organizational volunteer, donor, board member, or a steady quiet presence, but you all share a common aspiration for the flourishing of everyone in your community, whether you define that geographically, by affiliation or identity, or organizationally.
By inviting those who feel lost and left behind into the embrace of community, we can realize the Vows of the Bodhisattvas and actualize the practice path of a Zen Peacemaker.
“If you are unable to find the truth right where you are, where else do you expect to find it?” Dogen
