Mitra Study will resume Monday Nov 24 and will continue on Mondays through December 15. We will study the units that we have not covered on Wednesday nights from the module "What is the Sangha?".
These are:

Unit 2: The Traditional Sangha and the History of the Spiritual Community

Unit 5: Effective Going for Refuge and the Third Order of Consciousness

Unit 6 – Is a Guru Necessary?

Unit 8 – Fidelity and Gratitude

In that order. So for Nov 24 please read the material given for Unit 2, and so on, and it's very helpful if you come prepared with points you would like to discuss.

You are very welcome to join us for this part of the series even if you were unable to come to the first half, but please read the material for units 1, 3, 4 and 7, or at least skim them, and/or listen to the talks - we will probably have some time to talk about these too. If you could let me know if you plan to attend that would be extremely useful.

The Radical Edge - Returning to Buddhism in the 21^st Century
Mon Nov 17, 7pm to 9pm, with visiting order member, Arthavadin (from Manchester, UK)
In the 1960s and 1970s Buddhism gained a foothold in the West. It promised an alternative to the growing hegemony of consumerism and the ‘me generation’. Now, fifty years on, we must ask ourselves has Buddhism changed consumerism or has consumerism changed Buddhism? What can we do to return Buddhism to its radical edge?
Doors open 6:45. Suggested donation $5 to $10

Mitra Study will now resume Nov 24, continuing our study of What is the Sangha? Apologies for the changes, but opportunities like this are hard to resist.

Tonight was the last part of this Sangha Night Series but we still have 4 units of the Mitra Study Module - What is the Sangha? - to go, and we will cover these on Monday nights, November 17 to December 8 (a week later than originally advertized). If you would like to take part, please join us, even if you were unable to take the first 4 weeks - you can catch up by reading the materials listed on previous posts, and listening to the talks, if you like.
Information on what exactly to read for the November 17 study will follow shortly.

Here are the 2 talks from tonight - they're short - about 10 minutes each, and packed full of dharma:
Rochelle's talk is here (it is quite quiet, but you just need to turn up the volume)
and mine (Padmatara) is here (sorry about the abrupt end - I pressed stop while I was still talking but it was just something about discussion groups....)

This week Rochelle and Padmatara will talk about the Meaning of Friendship.
Here is the information for our study groups:

Unit 7 – The Meaning of Friendship

This unit explores the principles behind friendship as a spiritual practice. It builds on

the material we explored in Part 1, Week 10 of the Foundation Year. Please read

Section 16 of Part 3, i.e. pp.197-204 of "What is the Sangha?"

1. ‘In the modern world, friendship is arguably the most neglected of all the

primary human relationships.’ (p. 197)

Do you agree with this statement? Why (or why not)?

2. Which of the five duties we have to our friends seems most relevant to you

and why?

3. ‘If you are practising friendliness you are not only practising the Dharma but

communicating it.’ (p.199).

How can you relate this to your life?

4. In what way is spiritual friendship a training in unselfishness and egolessness?

5. How can you strengthen your practice of spiritual friendship?

Here is a link to Viradhamma's excellent talk from week 3:
https://ia902605.us.archive.org/14/items/Viradharma/Viradharma.m4a

Here, I hope, is Dhammarati's talk, in case you missed it - it was a good one!
https://ia902607.us.archive.org/33/items/Audio10222014195107_201410/Audio_10_22_2014_19_51_07.m4a

Oct 22: Viradhamma will introduce Unit 3 of this Course:
Individuality: the Essence of Sangha.

Please read Section 3 of Part 1 and the Introduction to Part 2, i.e. pp. 35-40 and 87-93 from What is the Sangha, by Sangharakshita.
Questions from the module are given below, but please also come prepared with your own.
Sangharakshita here introduces his key term of the “True Individual‟.
1. ‘I have presented this idea that some people are radically more developed than others in rather stark terms, but it is absolutely fundamental to Buddhist thinking. It is vital that we appreciate how significant this distinction between the individual and the non-individual is.’ (p.35). Why is it so vital to appreciate this distinction?
2. Do you have a sense of what the first three fetters mean in your own life? How do you work to overcome them?
3. What are the primary characteristics of the individual? Which of them strikes you most and why?
Link to the full module: http://www.freebuddhistaudio.com/study/yeartwofiles/Students/Year%20Two,%20Module%205%20-%20What%20is%20the%20Sangha,%20Spiritual%20Community.pdf

Oct 15: Unit 1 - Going for Refuge to the Sangha, Prasadachitta and Megan https://thebuddhistcentre.com/sanfrancisco/sfbc-mitra-study/what-sangha-week-one-oct-15
Oct 29: Unit 7 - The Meaning of Friendship, Padmatara and Rochelle
Nov 5: Unit 4 - The Group, the Positive Group, and the Spiritual Community, Viveka

Last night we looked at the first unit of this Mitra Study Course. The required reading and questions are shown below. Here are links to the 2 talks:

Prasadachitta: Introduction to What is the Sangha? (fyi it takes a while to get going)
https://ia601404.us.archive.org/28/items/sbagley_gmail_Pc/Pc.m4a
or if that doesn't work try this: https://archive.org/details/sbagley_gmail_Pc
Megan (Drace): The Sangha Refuge
https://ia902607.us.archive.org/6/items/Megan_201410/Megan.m4a
or try this: https://archive.org/details/Megan_201410

Unit 1: Going for Refuge to the Sangha
Please read the ‘Introduction’ to (‘Part 1’ and ‘Section 1’) of Part 1 ‘The Sangha Jewel’ i.e. pp. 9-22. This is a short section introducing the topic and placing the Sangha in its traditional context of "Going for Refuge to the Three Jewels‟.

1. On pages 15-16, Sangharakshita says that the Three Jewels come into being in a particular order and suggests that this is also how they have been adopted in the West. In what order did you become aware of the Three Jewels in your own life?
2. What relevance does the Buddha‟s advice to the Vajjians (pp. 18-19) have for your own participation in the Sangha?
3. ‘The real significance of the deep individual-to-individual contact that Going for Refuge to the Sangha involves lies in a simple psychological fact: we get to know ourselves best in relation to other people’ (p.20).
   To what extent is this your experience?
4. ‘The heart of the Sangha is kalyāņa mitratā .... Kalyāņa mitratā is not half the spiritual life; it’s the whole of it.’ (p. 19).
   How do you respond to these statements?
5. ‘There is no future for Buddhism without a truly united and committed spiritual community, dedicated to practising together.’ (p.22). Do you agree with this statement? Why might it be true?
6. In practical terms, how do you go for refuge to the Sangha?