Dear friends,
I have news that I want to share with you. I have stepped down from my role as the Guiding Teacher for VIMS––and happily, Peg Meyer and Karen Summer are stepping up into it! Basically, this means that I will be passing on my responsibilities in the general oversight and guidance of our sangha. These functions include my administrative and planning roles, and the nourishing of the direction of our unfolding. I have never held the leadership position alone; I have always shared this with the sangha, especially in conjunction with the Advisory Board, and increasingly, I have shared the responsibility with Peg and Karen as they have developed as teachers. This will be what someone has called “a seamless transition.”
It is with joy and sadness that I make this change. My many years of guiding this continually emerging and always-transforming sangha have been wonderful. This relationship with VIMS has allowed me to work side by side with lots of remarkable people, all of whom are living the Dharma into this world––individually and collectively––with an understanding of the liberating power of the teachings and their amazing potential for alleviating suffering for themselves and for others. In addition to being creative and energetically engaging––and a lot of fun––the position has provided a strong impetus for and influence on the deepening of my own practice in and understanding of Dharma.
I am grateful to you, the VIMS sangha, for your loving support and your trust in me. You are a huge part of the causes and conditions that have transformed my life in almost unimaginable ways. I will always remain a part of this VIMS sangha and, at least for the foreseeable future, an active part. I will be continuing with my teaching roles with the Thursday and Prison Sangha groups, with the occasional daylong retreat, and perhaps with a weekend retreat again if we can find an appropriate place to hold one. I will also have more time for individual study and retreats. In fact, I will be at the Forest Refuge for a month-long retreat in February 2018––a time to refresh, deepen, and begin again.
With a deep bow of gratitude,
Doreen