By Jonathan Maxson
I will be starting a new semester of college this September, and I feel the best way for me to keep in touch with the Sangha is through regular correspondence with more experienced members of the Sangha. They can support and encourage me as one of the younger practitioners whose life circumstances and schedules prohibit closer involvement. I hope others will undertake something similar.
In particular, I would like to see mindfulness retreats held especially for younger people.
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By Jonathan Maxson
I will be starting a new semester of college this September, and I feel the best way for me to keep in touch with the Sangha is through regular correspondence with more experienced members of the Sangha. They can support and encourage me as one of the younger practitioners whose life circumstances and schedules prohibit closer involvement. I hope others will undertake something similar.
In particular, I would like to see mindfulness retreats held especially for younger people. At these retreats, three or four young persons of the same age could be "adopted" by a stable member of the Order of Interbeing. Throughout the year, they could write to each other—as brothers and sisters in the practice—and to their adopted spiritual parent, to share thoughts, feelings, and encouragement. Perhaps once or twice a year this small family could reunite, either as part of an individual retreat or in the context of a larger one.
I think this kind of practice could help many young people develop a sense of community and shared responsibility. It would also help older Sangha members become more skillful in the transmission of the teachings.
Jonathan Maxson, age 23, lives in Albany, New York.