Facilitating
All are welcome at Dharma Buddies. It’s a space to be heard, gain perspective, and rejuvenate. We understand that facilitating may not work for some given their circumstances and energy and that some may take awhile to become comfortable with our format.
We are a small, peer-led group. Sit attendees take turns facilitating, which involves a brief topic presentation and moderating the following sharing and listening session. Topics are typically drawn from Buddhism, but may come from other spiritual traditions. Topics need not be overly processed or prepared. Poems can be meaningful topics. Video or audio recordings of Dharma talks may be used in addition to readings. We’ve sometimes done group exercises. Have a look at past sit topics and materials for ideas. The writings of Thich Nhat Hanh, Pema Chodron, Jack Kornfield, Adyashanti, Jeff Foster, and Byron Katie have provided inspiration for some of us. One approach is to search for your subject of interest and the term “Buddhism” to discover things that various branches of Buddhism have to say about the matter.
Facilitation is what keeps our sits vibrant. A facilitator’s topic is the starting point for our explorations as a group. What are you excited about? Struggling with? Finding meaningful? It’s okay to search for an answer rather than providing one.
Bringing topics to the group can help the facilitator find direction, as well as others.
Given our size, sharing facilitation keeps our sits sustainable.
If you haven’t facilitated before and would like to discuss it, email us at db@dharmabuddies.org, and we will get back to you!
