Centre connections and interactions

1 How much contact do you have with people in these groups?

Figure 1

Centres do not report very high levels of regular contact with any of the key groups and entities. The most frequent contact is reported with their Global Community Council representative, and with centres and groups in their own geographic area. Otherwise, in general, contact is either infrequent, or is based on receiving information only. Few centres and groups report regular contact with the Shambhala Board. Very little contact indeed is reported between centres and their counterparts elsewhere in the world.

2 Do you feel that your group or centre would benefit from more interaction with people in these groups?

Figure 2

In general, benefit is more frequently seen in more interaction with other centres, including retreat centres, than with global services or governance. A substantial number responded that more connection with centres in their geographic area would be beneficial.

3 Is your group or centre located in Europe?

We received 70 responses to this question, and only 2 centers chose not to answer. 23% of our respondents came from Europe, leaving 77% from elsewhere.

4 How much contact does your group or centre have with people at Shambhala Europe?

How much contact centres have with people at Shambhala Europe.

This question was asked only of groups and centres located in Europe. The level of regular contact reported is far higher than that reported by centres in relation to any other key groups and entities, and no respondents reported that they had no contact. Contact is also not solely through the provision of information except in a very few cases.

5 Do you feel that your group or centre would benefit from more interaction with Shambhala Europe?

Figure 3

Centres and groups in Europe already report high levels of interaction with Shambhala Europe, and again, this greatly exceeds the level of contact reported with any other groups or Shambhala entities. Only 12 per cent (two respondents) indicate that the level of interaction is not sufficient and would like more. The remainder are either satisfied, or unsure how more contact.would deliver further benefit than they already receive.

6 How closely does your group or centre connect to or identify with the larger Shambhala organisation?

Figure 4

Responding on a sliding scale, centres largely expressed a moderate level of identification with the larger organization.

7 Open Text: Do you have any other comments about your group or centre’s relationship to the larger Shambhala organization?

We received 27 applicable responses. Four of the responses came from non-English-speaking locations.

The largest number of comments (nine) featured reasons why the connection to the larger Shambhala organisation was not strong. Six described the positive nature of the relationship, and five respondents made suggestions on how it could be strengthened.

Examples

“The leadership is very dedicated to remaining part of the global community and feel strongly that having the teachings of Shambhala and Buddhism are helping us thrive.”

“We identify as part of the larger Shambhala organization. At the same time, both the larger organization and our group are gradually working out what that means, as we deal with the limitations and opportunities of the present and try to chart our local future course.”

“We would like to share knowledge resources (practices, teacher training tips, community care tips) with other centers in the larger organization. We sometimes hear about practices at other centers that we’d like to try out.”

“We would like more effort from SGS to understand and accommodate cultural differences between countries.”

“Of course we recognize that the larger Shambhala organization exists, but individual members, say, have really no awareness of this at all.”