Listening to the Community

I am pleased to report that after the first full week since the re-launch of TMG, response from the community has been largely positive. Building an online meditation community can often seem like an oxymoron when you consider that meditation is largely a solitary endeavour.

That said, I believe that the same principles that apply to a traditional Sangha can also apply to our extended online "Sangha" here at TMG. Yes, meditation is a largely introspective process, but most of us find practical benefit from practicing as part of a group. We encourage each other. We keep each other honest and focused. We hold each other up when we feel weak.

In the early days of our practice we seek the wisdom of others in the community. Later we are called upon to share that wisdom. And 'round goes the wheel.

As I may have mentioned elsewhere, the TMG re-build was a 6 month project. In the early days, we had little idea of how the site would actually look when it was finished, but we did have the benefit of experience and a few simple goals around how the site, and hopefully the community, would change as a result.

This is not something I take lightly when taking the principle of causality into account: one's individual meditation practice is a very precious thing to be cherished and nurtured. If the content of this site is to have an impact on someone's practice, we had better be mindful of what kind of impact we have.

Again, the benefit of a healthy Sangha comes into play. Take a moment and contemplate your role in the Toronto meditation community in general and this site in particular. What can you do to positively impact someone else's meditative path? How would you change this site to be a more useful tool?

Leave a comment on this post, start a thread in the discussion forums or shoot us a note via the contact form with your thoughts on how to improve, build and grow the Toronto meditation community. It is my firm belief and experience that it is through the benefit of each other's mutual counsel that we most effectively develop.