Community Conversation: Reports from An Olive Branch
May 6, 2019
On Sunday, April 20, seventeen of us gathered to review and discuss the reports from An Olive Branch, the third-party organization investigating misconduct within our Shambhala international organization. We reflected on the following questions:
- What can our community learn from these reports?
- How do we hold these stories in our hearts without becoming overwhelmed or triggered?
- What can we put in place locally that prevents the types of harm documented in the reports?
- What aspects of the An Olive Branch recommendations would be helpful for our community?
A broad range of thoughts and feelings were reflected, from sadness, frustration, and overwhelm to a commitment to keep showing up even when we “hit bottom”. There was an awareness of the “ripple effect” that even a single instance of harm between two people can have on a community.
Our local center has already responded to the report’s recommendations in several ways:
- We have posted a contact list in our community room of leaders to engage in the event of a report of misconduct. We reviewed with everyone present its location and what to do if someone reports harm to them.
- Leaders, teachers, MI’s, and all who have positions of authority in our local center will review the provisional code of ethics and sign an Oath of Understanding and Adherence. This should happen within the next month.
- We have recruited a community care team to support and represent those who come forward to report misconduct.
There was general agreement that more could be done, but some difficulty identifying specific items. There was a shared feeling of a need for both greater knowledge and greater skill in helping all those who suffer, and a commitment to deepen our group practice as an expression of our availability to others.
