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1. Because Manzanita Village is a Sanctuary, a Retreat Center, offering retreats and workshops of many different kinds, open to all levels of experience. In addition, we offer a two year training for Social Activists, and retreats for People of Color, Youth, and Transgendered and Queer folks.
2. Because the land is a sacred site. We are close to the urban centers of Southern California and yet we border some of the wildest country in the south of this state. The canyon where Manzanita Village sits has been called by some, including native folk, a place of power and deep transformation.
3. Because we recognize Buddhist Practice, Social Responsibility, and Political Awareness to be an integrated whole, beyond sectarian affiliations and rigid points of view. We understand that every situation is the ground on which we both cultivate and test our wisdom and our love.
4. Because we do not promote any particular sectarian point of view. Although our work is centered on the teachings of the Buddha, we follow the Buddha's example when it comes to views and doctrines, encouraging people to investigate and question and test the teachings for themselves; and to respect all traditions and teachings
5. Because we never turn anyone away due to lack of money. We charge only the minimum required to sustain the center, and always give scholarships when needed. Our two year training for activists, 'Sanctuary' is conducted at no charge (dana only).
6. Because we offer this opportunity to practice dana, and to support an endeavor which is not based on the personal profit or aggrandizement of anyone or any particular point of view.
Manzanita Village depends entirely on donations from people like yourself to sustain its work.
(without your support we simply could not survive)
- Give a one-time donation by check or through paypal CLICK HERE
- Membership. A regular monthly, or quarterly, donation CLICK FOR MEMEBERSHIP BENFITS
- Setting up a bank draft or recurring payment to Ordinary Dharma through your Bank or Credit Card company
(contact your bank or credit card company for details on how to set it up) - If you have practical skills: construction (plumbing. electrical, carpentry, painting etc), or landscaping skills, we can always use your help to maintain and improve the facilities and land. We also always need cooks (with experience of cooking for meditation retreats).
New zendo (we still owe $25,000 on it!)
Dana
The dharma is priceless and the teacher is a gift. The dana I give comes from knowing that I cannot transform my mind on my own, that I need the teachings and someone who has worked on themselves enough to share the clarity and beauty of the Buddha's words. When I give from my true self I experience a peace of mind and deeper sense of gratitude for this practice and all of my teachers who have guided me back to the path countless times. Kathleen Hoag
CLICK HERE to read the whole article by Kathleen Hoag
CLICK HERE for more on Dana
Membership
Membership is a way of tithing to support Manzanita Village and Ordinary Dharma, the teachings, and the teachers on a regular, ongoing basis.
We encourage you to give on a regular monthly basis to support the work we do, and the people who come, and will come in the future, to practice here.
Suggested membership is between $50 (minimum) and $150 a month, more if you are able. If you cannot support us financially then six days of work (60 hours) a year, at Manzanita Village, also qualifies you for membership and helps us with the upkeep of the center.
Membership gives you:
- 20% reduction of registration fee for retreats and workshops,
or if you pay full registration amount you can upgrade to a private room (if available) at no extra cost.- Interview/spiritual counseling with teacher/s — as available.
- Reduced rates for stays at Manzanita Village during non-retreat times.
- A means for you to practice Dana Paramita, the perfection of generosity, recognizing that all things are interconnected, and that there are time-honored models of mutual support beyond those presented within the dominant culture.
A suggested guideline for how much is appropriate for you to give as membership is to tally the equivalent of what you earn in an hour each week (e.g. if you earn $15 an hour, membership would be $60 a month.)
Towards a Statement of Purpose
- Our work is to teach and practice the Dharma in a way that is relevant to a society/culture/planet in crisis
- To learn from the great teachers of the past, and to adapt as appropriately and skillfully as we can.
- To avoid the pitfalls of fundamentalist thinking which proposes singular views and a singular 'truth'
- To explore the contradictions implicit in undertaking spiritual practice in a secular age; and to question the abuse of power that is apparently intrinsic to most religious institutions, including Buddhist ones.
- To look at the Shadow, within and outside ourselves, in whatever form it takes. To examine the unexamined.
- To explore how various forms of cultural anxiety have left certain questions unasked or unanswered.
- To affirm that Buddhism as a discipline of spiritual transformation need not be trivialized, diluted, or diminished by cultural appropriation.
- To include and welcome whoever may come. To be open to the possibility of learning from difficult situations and people.
- To unlearn racism, homophobia, sexism, classism, ableism, and elitism of all kinds, and to encourage others to do the same no matter how difficult.
We are, so far as we know, the only Buddhist Retreat Center that is 100% queer and trans positive! - To celebrate life and to see the creative process, joyful celebration, and community, as inseparable from spiritual practice.
- To honor the ways of our ancestors, and to learn to live in wisdom, and act in ways that can safeguard all human and natural resources for the generations to come.
The Five Precepts
- Yurt/ger for meeting space, extra accommodation. (a ger - usually incorrectly called a yurt - is a circular Mongol style dwelling made of canvass or similar material). If you've been around
- Pick-up truck (our 1968 ford is on it's last legs)
- Good quality mattresses, futons
- Large stainless-steel wok 14" or more
- Sliding screen doors for standard size sliding glass doors
- Photovoltaic panels, batteries, inverter etc for intended move to a solar powered Manzanita Village. + skilled technical help to install system.
- Please contact us if you have items you think might be useful at Manzanita Village
Los Angeles
310-470-8443
In Warner Springs
Manzanita Village
PO Box 67, Warner Springs, CA 92086
760-782-9223 Phone
760-782-0655 Fax
manzanita@ordinarydharma.org