the worst horse: Rep Your Sangha: readers tell why the place the go to practice Buddhism is the place they go back to

		THERE A LOT OF PLACES TO GET TOGETHER WITH PEOPLE AND TO MEDITATE OR OTHERWISE ENGAGE IN BUDDHIST PRACTICE. WHICH IS GREAT. *BUT: WHAT MAKES THE PLACE YOU GO TO THE PLACE YOU GO BACK* TO? HERE ARE JUST A FEW ANSWERS, FROM THE WORST HORSES' MOUTHS.**
(Part One.)		NOTE: These are, hopefully, only the first installments of Rep Your Sangha. Click here to learn how to rep your own sangha.
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		NEW ADDITION: Hello, my name is Juan-Carlos Castro and the name of my sangha is The Interdependence Project (The ID Project for short), and it's in New York. Our website is theidproject.com. We have 2 main branches: activism and art, I'm the co-director of the art division and have curated 2 shows last year, dealing with meditation and Buddhism. There are gatherings twice a week, Mondays and Wednesdays during which our teacher Ethan Nichtern leads the group into meditation and discussion on Buddhist topics. He has a book coming out next year entitled One City: A Declaration of Interdependence. It's a great group of people in their 20's and 30's of mixed race/income/interests, and it has a great vibe. We recently launched Sentient City, an online magazine, and had a great party with poetry, music and art. Check us out!

		My name is Tempel Smith. My Sangha is BPF (Buddhist Peace Fellowship) Young Adults. The web site is: www.bpf.org/ya.html All of the members have been on an intensive retreat hosted by the BPF. These retreats are partly silent and meditation, and party interactive and community building. We approach Buddhism with an eye for compassionate action and service in combination with mindful awareness. On these retreats we can see very deeply into ourselves when silent and then connect from that deeper side when we interact. It's a beautiful and very real community. When we hang out we do silent meditation together and then practice challenging interpersonal exercised together to uncover true interconnectedness. One game we do is called Hot Seat, where a volunteer is deeply witnessed by the rest of the group. Another is dyad meditations where we share something with another that is deeper within us. There is also down time where we play music and goof around as well. People come from all over North America to attend the week-long retreats, and from northern California to attend the day-long and weekend retreats. The folks attracted to the Buddhist Peace Fellowship Young Adult Sangha are young, of course, and often deeply involved with progressive activism or social change.

		My name: Kalsang Dorje. My blog: http://sheer-emptiness.blogspot.com/ Sangha name: Nyingje Companions. Sangha link: http://www.nyingjecompanions.ca/ Home-ness: The great thing is that there is a teacher and former monk that lives in the area. The next one is 1.5 hours away from here (London ON, Canada). The other home feeling is that I always feel like I'm visiting somewhere outside of the world. Somewhere that the universe of my stupidity can't penetrate :) Unusual ways of hangin out: I don't think there's a really cohesive unit that comprises the sangha except the Lama himself. When we see each other we greet kindly and there's no guarantees as to when you may see each other again. This has its benefits as there's no chance of getting a "cult feel" from a bunch of people that already know each other when you are the new guy in. Who goes there?: Mostly folks from this city and a range of ages. Main Practices: Chenrizig puja Lineage: Karma Kagyu descending from Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche and Thrangu Rinpoche.

		greetings, Dharma bums. they call me caesar. our Lama called me bob for a few weeks, after first attending. until i thought maybe it's time to clarify. i thought, what's in a name anyways? afterwards she explained that bob was one of her favorite names! so i thought, how auspicious! =) i've been a member of the Pasadena BodhiPath Center for almost 2 yrs now. after years of trying to fly solo i realized i needed a teacher and sangha. the experience has been wonderful. the best way i can describe what makes the place feel like home to me is through some descriptions i found in the definition of the word "home": An environment offering security and happiness. A valued place regarded as a refuge or place of origin. The place where something is discovered, founded, developed, or promoted; a source. cool or unusual ways we get together for practice? humm? (Om Mani Padme...=) we haven't had a movie night, though we've talked about doin' one. we have monthly group practice, pujas and even a book club at a member's home. this usually consists of practice and Sangha socializing. (plenty of laughter & joy!) all this is separate from our weekly teachings and meditation classes. so it's wonderful to see the Sangha develop the aspiration to practice. we also meet monthly for what we call the Pasanghabiz (no, it's not Sanskrit, Pali, or Tibetan. just silliness.) Meetings: here we discuss the groups activities, upcoming retreats, membership, space rental fees, Lama needs, and anything relating to keeping the center functioning. we have a very diverse group. i'm South American. we have Japanese, Japanese-American, Chinese, Italian-American, Iranian, a British-Chap, German, and just good ol' apple pie americans! we have a very tight-knit group. but not too tight. ; ) there's always space for more. and it's really wonderful to see the Sangha grow. may the Dharma flourish! infinite blessings! caesar(bob)

		Unfortunately, living in Kentucky, I find myself pretty isolated in my practice -- a sangha would be fantastic, a new route in my path. However, where there is a will . . . So unable to participate in meetings, groups or "formal" sangha I discovered resources and powerful teachings in the following two sites. http://www.bswa.org - Buddhist Society of Western Australia. Though my current practice has become more Vajarayana-bound, Theravada was my introduction. The Dhamma talks given by this once-theoretical physicist turned Theravadan Abbot are given beautifully -- sometimes even hilariously. Countless talks in audio and video. Chants and discourses alike. At one time, my "sangha" was found in those downloaded dhamma talks alone. http://buddhanet.net - Name says it all, and an enormous multitude of resources. Even an interactive Buddhist Organizations list from around the world. I highly recommend it to all schools and lineages. Both offer a plethora of other incredibly useful, practice and study sites. I just wanted to add what I could offer. My Best Wishes, Tim Brown

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