Sangha Leadership Resources

Skillfully leading a local Sangha requires unique perspectives and insights which differ from other organizations, even other religious organizations.

Four new books by Dr. Ken Barker for the evolving (English-speaking) Sangha in the West with resources for supporting liturgical leadership and participation are now available.  For summaries, see below.  Please feel free to Contact us regarding questions. Information for how to purchase them is included below.  We look forward to hearing from you.

About: Refuge in the Local Sangha: Empowering Lay Leadership and Participation 

Refuge in the Local Sangha takes you into Dr. Barker’s own spiritual awakening to his experience of “Sangha,” and includes an overview of the nature of Sangha as an organization, and addresses important leadership requirements and opportunities. In Buddhist spirituality, a lot of literary attention is devoted to the meanings of Buddha and Dharma, but the third of the three Jewels, the Sangha, has received scant attention. What gives this even greater significance is that—in the West where Buddhist monasticism is rare—lay-led (i.e. non-monastic) Sanghas have sprung up all over North America as meditation groups or Dharma reading/discussion groups. In many cases, those who have willingly taken up the challenge of leading, have often had little or no experience beyond occasional residential retreats. Given that such a significant number of practitioners participate in local, lay-led Sanghas, Barker has undertaken (what for him has been) a personal inquiry into the nature of local, lay-led Sanghas: what they are, and how lay leaders can lead more skillfully. Just as the historic monastic Sanghas of East and West have made the Dharma available to millions, the local Sangha, with a little insight into its unique nature, can still be a powerful refuge for many. ***Now available at Amazon.com.***

About: The Sangha Leader’s Manual:  A Liturgical Resource for Sangha Leadership

This 270-page Manual includes liturgical resources and liturgies to support year-round, weekly Sangha liturgies, with reference material on central Dharma themes and the spiritual implications of special events.  ***Can be purchased below*** Sections include:

Buddhism’s Sacred Days—a concise encyclopedic calendar

• More than a dozen prominent days and seasons for commemoration, with resources for planning and conducting theme-supporting liturgies (including: Buddhist New Year, Sangha Day, Avalokiteshvara’s Birthday, Buddha Day, Dharma Day, Anapanasati Day, Bodhi Day, Observance Days, and more).  All are oriented toward personal spiritual reflection.

• Resources for Dharma reflection on special occasions and events, including:  Members’ birthdays/anniversaries of Sangha membership, the Anniversary of the founding of a Sangha, Going on Retreat/ Pilgrimage, Marriage, Childbirth or Adoption, Visiting the Sick and Infirm, Funerals, Death-Anniversaries of Sangha Members, Appreciating Venerable Persons and Teachers, The Coming of Buddhism to the West, and Celebrating Livelihood and Work.  Occasional liturgies include A Western-oriented Tea Ceremony, Sharing the Merit, Dedication of a Buddha Image, and a Dharma Presentation for Reciting the Lineage of Awakening.

A Sangha Liturgy—an easily adaptable liturgical format for leading a local Sangha meditation gathering based upon a wide survey of Buddhist traditions, with leader’s texts written in large font and contemporary English, in a spoken (rather than literary) style.

Statements of Welcome, used early in the liturgy to both welcome participants and to point towards the day’s Dharma theme or special occasion, capture and focus attention without prompting excessive thinking.  More than 30 Welcome Statements are keyed to Dharma themes, to sacred days and seasons, and to special occasions.

Verses for Sangha (Leader’s Edition) is an indexed liturgical resource containing over 30 verses and gathas (many of which are set for the optional use of simple chant) common to most Buddhist traditions; supportive for both group and personal practice.  Includes commentary on Verses for inviting spiritual reflection and personal insight. 

Also includes Devotional Offerings with interactive readings for contemplating The Noble Eightfold Path and The Training Precepts—a great way to complement a Sangha liturgy especially when no other Dharma Talk is available.

*** The Leader’s Manual *** is professionally formatted on 8.5 x 11 bond, hole-punched for standard 3-ring binders (not included), allowing for easy page removal or insertion of additional documents.  The 18 point Times font is easily readable when leading, with rubrical instructions for the leader in 12 point Italic font.  (The Sangha Leader’s Manual (the first of two) can be purchased on this webpage [see below], February 2020.)

About: Verses for Sangha:  Participants’ Edition

Verses for Sangha is the participants’ (130+ pages) companion for use along with The Sangha Leaders Manual(s).  It contains over 30 verses, gathas, and chants (traditional and contemporary) common to most English-speaking Buddhist traditions, including Contents and Index by title for easy use.  Also includes participants’ liturgical materials for participating in liturgies for special occasions (e.g., Initiation of new members, Marriages, Births or Adoptions, Visitation of the Sick, Funerals, etc.).  This Participants’ Edition also includes Devotional Offerings & Occasional Readings including “Metta Sutta” (Loving-Kindness Teaching for group reading), group readings for “The Noble Eightfold Path,” a guide for Observance Day Devotion, a summary Outline of Buddhist Thought and Practice designed to answer basic questions; also included are mantras to support personal practice. ***Can be purchased below***

***Verses for Sangha: Participants’ Edition*** is published as a handbook (5.5 x 8.5) with durable wire-binding to eliminate stress on spine, and to lie flat for easy use during practice.  Blank pages have been included to allow for the insertion of Verses that a local Sangha may use, but which may not have been included.  Verses for Sangha is an ideal liturgical resource for group and personal practice, and appropriate for giving as a personalized gift to novice members upon initiation. (Verses for Sangha can be purchased on this website [see below].)

About: The Sangha Leader’s Manual: Liturgies for Invitation and Initiation

This 300-page Manual is a supplement to The Sangha Leader’s Manual: A Liturgical Resource for Sangha Leadership (described above).  It is designed to support Sangha leaders with the integration of new members into Sangha life and practice. ***Can be purchased below***

These liturgies of Invitation and Initiation into Sangha include a graduated curricula-guide for inviting, introducing, training, and initiating persons into personal and group practice, and includes four adaptable curricula:

A 60-Minute Glimpse into Meditation—for the curious, a 60-minute interaction with opportunities to experience a led-meditation, to gain some understanding of what meditation is and isn’t, to have questions answered, and to connect with Sangha leaders.

A Liturgy for Exploring Meditation—for those who would like to experience meditation, a basic 3-session series for learning the basics for posture, intention, and focusing attention; an opportunity for further connecting with a teacher/leader.

A Liturgy for Practicing Meditation—for those who would like to continue after Exploring Meditation (above), a 4-session series for delving into dedicated meditation practice for four weeks, in the context of bonding with a leader and small group.

Training in Spiritual Practice—for those who have completed Exploring Meditation and Practicing Meditation (above, or other initial training), this is a 12-session series based upon the Buddha’s Eightfold Path, both deepens sponsors’ practices, and prepares inquirers for initiation into Sangha membership.

A Liturgy of Initiation and Taking Refuge—including a Dharma Talk based upon historic, traditional elements; speaks not only to initiate-novices, but also to tenured members about the meaning of Sangha membership.

A Liturgy for Taking the Training Precepts—an opportunity for existing members to hear, again, the spiritual implications of ethical living, and for novice members to proclaim, in the presence of tenured members, their commitments to spiritual practice, and to receive the support of fellow members.

***The Sangha Leader’s Manual: Liturgies for Invitation and Initiation*** like the first Manual is professionally formatted on 8.5 x 11 bond, hole-punched for standard 3-ring binders (not included), allowing for easy page removal or insertion of additional documents.  Also uses 18 point Times font for easy readability when leading. (Available for purchase on this website [see below], will ship by mid-March, 2020.)

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