Rigpa USA held its annual autumn retreat near Santa Cruz, California from 24 November – 1 December. During the first weekend, two parallel programs were held with a focus on healing. One group participated in a powerfully moving process of listening, hearing and acknowledging, that was led by An Olive Branch, a project of the Zen Center of Pittsburgh with broad experience in helping Buddhist sanghas heal from crises. A second group of sangha members practiced Narak Kong Shak. Both groups found the programmes heart-opening, transformative, and mutually supportive.
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The new Rigpa Code of Conduct is now signed off by all the Rigpa Boards and is in the process of being implemented. The collaborative process of defining and articulating our community’s ethics and values took almost 12 months. Looking back, I see how important it was for our multicultural, diverse organisation to take its time and not to rush. The workshops, meetings, consultations and seemingly endless refining had the side effect of unifying our diverse organisation.
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In the past I worked for a business that created a new set of shared values and code of behaviour after it merged with another company. It was surprisingly rewarding to contemplate values in a commercial setting—it was so different to what we normally spent our time on. In contrast, ethical behaviour is something Buddhists often study, contemplate and discuss from the outset of their studies. It’s an integral part of the Buddhist path.
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