Open Sangha

Open Sangha Foundation is a grassroots and transparent initiative of volunteers interested in improving access to noble friendship in the West—supporting generosity, promoting camaraderie, and encouraging integration into communities that practice the ancient wisdom of the Buddha. Open Sangha Foundation seeks to facilitate the practice and teaching of Dharma in a way that is both powerfully effective and available to all. We are committed to removing barriers to the Dharma whether they be financial or based on race, sexual orientation or gender identity, spoken language or citizenship status. Students For those wishing to practise within the context of the Buddhadharma, we connect students to a diverse and effective group of teachers, drawn from a variety of lineages, traditions and vehicles of practice, who can guide you on the path regardless of your financial status. We offer this in the form of individual instruction, courses and retreats all of which are offered from a traditional dana based model where no fixed fees are charged. This gives the student the opportunity to practice generosity, honesty, integrity and responsibility and act from a place of abundance and non-separation. Teachers For those wishing to share the Dharma from a place of open hearted generosity, we can connect you to students who understand the opportunity and responsibility around dana in the student-teacher relationship. We also provide a platform where dana based courses and retreats can be listed. For two and half thousand years the teachings of the Buddha have been passed on from teacher to student, shared between friends and passed on from generation to generation. This has been done in community, out of enthusiasm, compassion and generosity. These teachings and their potential for profound transformation, both personal and collective, are now starting to take root globally. At this pivotal moment, we are confronted with a choice: a choice between allowing these teachings to become another item in the spiritual marketplace or to keep with the traditions that have passed these teachings to us and ensure that they are taught with integrity, effectiveness and in a spirit of open hearted, enthusiastic generosity. At Open Sangha Foundationwe are creating, nurturing and supporting a community of practitioners of Buddhadharma, students and teachers, who are committed to ensuring these teachings flourish in the 21st Century without succumbing to the market paradigm and the various hidden barriers built into that system.