Gasshō,

The Bridge Walk:
Congratulations to us all on our most successful San Francisco Golden Gate Bridge Walk ever! As some of you may remember, our goal for the first walk in support of the Africa Vulnerable Children Project was $25,000, which at the time seemed absurdly optimistic. Gradually we inched up toward last year’s over-the-top commitment to raise $100,000.
“Can we?”
 “Sure we can!”
“I don’t know; that’s an awful lot of money.”

It sounded impossible until we did it. On the day of the 2006 Walk, we knew we had about $75,000 in hand and were hopeful that the rest would come in. When all the tallies were completed, we came in at $103,000.

This year we decided our amount would be $150,000. We considered $125,000, but we wanted a stretch. And stretch we did! With all of us working together—hardworking, risk-taking, dedicated fundraisers around the world—we were able to generate $132,000 by the day of the walk. We feel absolutely confident that by the time all the money arrives we will have exceeded the $150,000 mark.

So, please, stop right here, close your eyes, take a long, full conscious breath and acknowledge all you’re doing to make a difference.
Together, we can do anything!

The Zen Monastery Peace Center:
For several days preceding the Bridge Walk, the monks and I met with Jan, our Best Year Yet coach, to look at what’s working and not working for us as an organization and to plan our calendar for 2008. At least once a year we hit the same we-can’t-go-on-like-this wall. We are a tiny group of people, and even with all the help we get from neighbors and other close-by Sangha, we just can’t keep up. 2007 was supposed to have a more spacious retreat schedule that would enable us to catch up a little, maybe even get current, look at how to stream-line systems, re-visit priorities, but as we came up to the Bridge Walk we were completely buried.

Then, in that beautiful way we are blessed with regularly, the clouds parted and clarity prevailed. It became obvious that the answer is not to do less or to work harder or to come up with a new and creative way to do more and work smarter. The answer is to go in a whole new direction we’ve never considered.

Since the Monastery came into existence in 1987, we have done everything ourselves. We shop, cook, plant gardens, mow lawns, build buildings, clean, wash cars, fix cars, do bookkeeping, answer phones—everything. We’ve realized that our attempts to do it all are taking a toll on what we care most about, practice. Admittedly it is excellent practice for us, but we simply cannot be as available as we would like for our current Sangha and for others who are seeking a way to end suffering. All the time we spend on maintenance, scheduling, quality control, and such is time that we cannot be spending in retreats and workshops.

Which leads us to our epiphany: We will hire people to do the maintenance and support work and free up the Monks to do what they do best, offer practice.

Seems so obvious once we saw it, but before that it was anything but obvious. Sounds familiar, doesn’t it? In Zen it’s the Gateless Gate. We’re trying to get somewhere; the wall is long and high with no way through; suddenly there’s a gate. We go through, whew, the other side. We look back. No gate. No wall.

The first position we are seeking to fill is Monastery Manager. This person will oversee all the workings of the “physical plant,” and will report to a board consisting of the Monks and myself. When the Manager is thoroughly trained in that job, we will begin to bring on board 1) a Facilities Manager (to maintain the buildings, vehicles, etc.), 2) an Operations Manager (who will oversee the kitchen, Keep It Simple, and housekeeping), and, 3) an Accountant (who will handle all financial aspects of the organization).

Of course, our first thought after the epiphany (always need several of those!) was, “How on earth will we pay for all this?” “Easy,” answered clarity, “the many extra workshops and retreats you will be able to offer will more than bring in the necessary revenue.”

So, that’s our plan. If you, or someone you know, might be interested in such a job, please send an email to opportunities@livingcompassion.org. When we return from our “Walking in the Footsteps of St. Francis” retreat the first of October, we will turn our attention to job descriptions, compensation packages and such.

We are very excited about a future that will allow us to offer more retreats and workshops around the world on a variety of subjects without feeling we’re abandoning the Monastery and anyone left to mind the store as we travel. Our trips to Zambia have strained our little community’s seams, and the possibility of having two or more of us making regular trips to Kantolomba, while those staying at the Monastery are offering practice opportunities to the larger Sangha, is more energizing than we can say.

Peacestorming:
We recently mentioned a new direction for the Peace Project, tying together the practice of peace through service with our working meditation retreats. It began when I had a vision of going around doing evening talks in some of the smaller cities I rarely get a chance to visit. Usually people have to come to us, and I wanted to turn that around as much as possible by dividing up the country into several sections and touring the medium-sized cities in each section: barnstorming. That then became Peacestorming when we combined the visits with a working meditation retreat in one of the locations, doing whatever service project the community wanted us to do. (This is inspired by St. Francis who would go from town to town assisting in whatever projects needed doing in exchange for food and using that connection as an opportunity to further spiritual awareness and practice.)

As things magically and mysteriously unfold, Beyond Shelter, a non-profit in Los Angeles devoted to ending homelessness (and our future partners in providing low-income housing in Ndola, Zambia), came forward to suggest L.A. as our first Peacestorming endeavor. Perfect. They know what needs to be done, L.A. is close to home, they’re very well connected in the larger community, can help us with accommodations for the retreatants, a big enough room for evening groups, and so forth.

So, that’s our plan. We are waiting to hear exact dates but are looking at somewhere in the first two weeks of December. We thought this would be a good time as people often think of service work around the holidays, and we could bring energy and focus to some really important work that’s being done. We’ve decided to make this an annual event, at least for this year and 2008. Next year, we will pick a location in the south, possibly around New Orleans. More information coming your way soon.

Other details:
We are working diligently to organize our schedule such that folks can know from year to year when major events will take place. For instance, beginning in 2008, the Bridge Walk will be scheduled for the first weekend in October each year. The Peacestorming will always be the first couple of weeks in December. We are in negotiations with a camp in North Carolina and, if we’re successful, we will have an annual retreat there in late April. Our aim is to have regular practice opportunities that people can confidently put on their calendars a year in advance. And we will have a Manager to help us make that happen! Look for the new schedule on the website shortly after our return in October from Italy. When the schedule goes up, we will also include new office hours.

Many thanks and gasshos as always,
Cheri

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