Branching Streams Sangha Practice Visits to Green Gulch Farm

The Branching Streams Liaison has been working for some time with the Green Gulch Farm Guest Manager and GGF Director to create a Program that allows Branching Streams sanghas to visit Green Gulch for a period of intensive practice and study together as a sangha. We are ready now to in-augurate this new Program:

Branching Streams Sangha Practice Visits to Green Gulch Farm.

This new Program takes its inspiration from the successful Tassasjara “Private Study Week” Program that many Branching Streams sanghas have participated in.

The basic form of this new Program includes:

  1. A multi-day (3-4-5 night) visit to Green Gulch as a Branching Streams sangha
  2. Participating in the zendo schedule with resident practitioners
  3. Participating in the morning work period, as organized by the Guest Program manager
  4. Having the afternoon each day for sangha meeting and study, individual retreat time, hiking and exercise time, etc.

Further aspects of the Program are:

  1. Number of participants: minimum: A Branching Streams Teacher plus 4; maximum: up to 16 participants.
  2. Time of week: generally Sangha Practice Visits would be scheduled for weekdays, Sunday through Thursday, though weekends may be available on a case by case basis. Visiting sanghas would be expected to participate in work the morning of their last day.
  3. Cost: $75 per night per person, weekdays, including overnight accom-modations and meals. If the booking is over the weekend the cost would be the regular guest rate at a 25% discount. These rates apply only while individuals are participating in an Sangha Practice Visit.
  4. Time of year: Attention should be given to the time of year of a Sangha Practice Visit, because:
    1. depending on when a Visit was scheduled, GGF residents may be in Practice Period, Summer or Interim schedule. Each of these has a some-what different daily schedule. Specifics can be discussed with the GGF Guest Manager (currently, as of 12/2018, Lauren Dito-Keith).
    2. the weather at Green Gulch varies greatly from one time of year to an-other.
  5. A designated meeting space is not included in the booking. However, if the entire Lindisfarne Guest House is booked (12-16 participants), there is a meeting space there. Also the small dining room or the library are often available for meeting. (Or one of the main meeting spaces if they happen to be available — Wheelwright Center, Stillwater Hall, or the Yurt.)

    6. If this new Program is of interest to you and your sangha, please feel free to get in touch with the Branching Streams Liaison, or to contact the GGF Guest Manager at ggfguest@sfzc.org