SONOMA SHAMBHALA MEDITATION CENTER
MEMBERSHIP 
What constitutes membership in the Sonoma Shambhala Center? While our center is modest and growing, the “guidelines” for membership will continue to evolve according to our mutual needs and understanding. Here are a few key points that continue to apply:
Membership benefits include your own keys to the Center, so you may come and practice here at any time. Also, you will be assigned a qualified meditation instructor with whom you can meet at mutually determined times. This is an invaluable aid to one's personal practice and path. Finally, you will receive a member's discount on all Shambhala Buddhist programs and classes.
Membership in the Shambhala Center incorporates what is known as the Three Wheels: Practice, Study, and Livelihood. This means a commitment on your part to:
1. Practice sitting meditation on a regular basis
2. Participate in Center classes
3. Make a monthly financial contribution in the form of dues and a contribution of volunteer effort of some kind
What the Shambhala Center offers is what is known as the Three Jewels: Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha.
Here Buddha means the rich heritage of teachers in the Shambhala Buddhist tradition.
These teachers visit the Bay Area regularly and offer teachings or Dharma.
The Sangha is our community of practitioners, the people you’ve met at our Sunday morning and Tuesday evening practice sessions. They are people just like you who also practice and study Shambhala Buddhism and freely share their experience and support.
Your financial and volunteer contributions help support our activities at every level and support our practice and study. We have two basic levels of membership: Individual Membership ($50 per month) Family Membership ($80 per month) Your financial contribution helps to pay for our rent, utilities, shrine and tea supplies, and mailings. Your volunteer efforts ensure that our phones are answered, our mail sorted, our Center is kept clean, our brochures and fliers are mailed, and we have fresh flower arrangements to enjoy. Everyone's contributions are greatly appreciated. Whether you’re a member or a friend of the Center, you and your friends are always welcome here. Thank you so much for your continued support! Please contact me if you have any questions. Elizabeth Hanson, Membership Chair kinzomar@sbcglobal.net
The Shambhala Meditation Center of Sonoma is a local 501c3 non-profit organization. All contributions are tax deductible to the extent allowable by law. Thank you so much for your continued support!
DIVERSITY IN SHAMBHALA Shambhala is a diverse community. Our centers are located in different regions of the world and reflect different nationalities, cultures, languages, ethnicities, and races. In addition, people who come to our centers may have different religious faiths, follow different spiritual traditions or teachers, or have different paths of practice and opinions, including political views. They have different ages and genders as well as different sexual orientations and physical, perceptual, and mental abilities. What we share as a community is a desire to lead sane, dignified, and confident lives. Through the practice of meditation we cultivate the capacity to be fully open to our experience and the ability to respond to everyday life situations with greater clarity and respect—respect not only for our life situations and ourselves, but for all individuals, social groups, and cultures as well. This does not mean that Shambhala is a perfect society. If you visit one of our centers, you may find that it does not mirror in every way the characteristics of the people who live in the cities or towns where our centers are located. But please note that it is the intention—and the stated policy—of our centers to welcome everyone who enters. This intention is at the very core of the Shambhala Buddhist teachings.
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