Guiding Teacher report:
– Taigen’s vacation will be from July 14 through August 4
– A Practice Council meeting will be on July 7 to talk about intensive practice opportunities – Event with author Ruth Ozeki this Friday 7pm 6.24 at Ebenezer Church, also on Zoom, co-sponsored by Women and Children First bookstore
– Recent webinar on Dogen’s Extensive Record: 45 people signed up, most of these attended; 14 of them are Zen teachers.
Treasurer’s report : Our bank balance as of 6/18/2022 is $97,263.48. Our Building Fund balance as of 6/18/2022 is $245,767.08. We have 57 active supporters representing $2,665/month pledged.
Ebenezer Practice Location: City COVID levels have recently been reduced from high to medium, which presents a low level of contagion for those wearing a good mask such as a KN95. The board decided to begin meeting in person for ADZG events beginning Sunday June 26, and will communicate this to the sangha, along with safety protocols.
Temple Search Committee: Taigen presented progress that has been made by this committee, which include:
– Consensus among committee members that to create a budget for purchasing, building out, and maintaining a building over time, we need to look at specific properties. Taigen is doing so with the help of a realtor and Ed Donley.
– Our ability to afford a building will probably involve having some income-producing capacity by the building itself (i.e. rental units).
– For non-residential use such as ours, the kind of mortgage that would be available to us would be a 5-year balloon payment, at which time a new mortgage would have to be obtained or negotiated.
Technology Report/hybrid program:
The committee is considering:
– training more people to host technology when we are in person
– incorporate online participants more effectively in zendo forms
– the possibility of purchasing another laptop for a second camera
There was discussion about how the projection on the wall of online participants affects the experience of in-person participants, to be kept in mind as we think about how to improve our hybrid offerings.
Fall Practice Period: This will be discussed at the Practice Council meeting of July 5. Currently the thought is for the practice period to be 6 weeks long, starting mid-September. Topics under consideration are the Paramitas and the Genjokoan.