People from multiple traditions sit together at the Walla Walla Dharma Sangha.
Photos by Janaki Howard

“How to bring multiple lineages into one small-town sangha,” is the koan that motivates the Walla Walla Dharma Sangha. We have been working on this koan for 17 years, and continue to breathe into it every week in new ways.

Walla Walla is a relatively small community of 40,000 people in southeast Washington state. We view ourselves as an “eclectic” or non-denominational group of Buddhist practitioners.

Our goal is to provide a space for Buddhists of all traditions to share in sangha, the supportive spiritual community. We accommodate members’ different needs by bringing in teachers from various lineages. We also share retreats with Insight Meditation of the Mid-Columbia, from the Tri-Cities area of central Washington.  We have been visited by teachers from Tibetan, Vipassana and Zen lineages, to provide teachings for our sangha.

The Walla Walla Dharma sangha meets every Sunday evening throughout the year at the Many Waters Wellness Center. When we created Walla Walla Dharma’s sangha, we reflected on the three jewels of Buddhism: the Buddha, the dharma and the sangha.  We realized one can individually focus on the Buddha and dharma, but it takes a community to actualize the jewel of the sangha. Our goal is to maintain support for anyone wanting to practice Buddhism in our community.

We recently held a one-day retreat led by Debra Seido Martin of the Zen West/ Empty Field Zendo from Eugene, Oregon. The next day she gave a talk at Whitman College on “Embracing the Inconceivable.” We organize retreats at least two times a year in conjunction with the Tri Cities group, with more than 40 retreats offered to date.  All are welcome to attend, and scholarships are available.

One of the biggest challenges in establishing our sangha was finding a permanent meeting place.  After numerous moves in the first few years, we have been able to meet at the Many Waters Wellness Center for the past 10 years, where we share with the owner a vision of supporting spiritual opportunities in the community.   

Our regular Sunday evening meetings begin with a reading from any Buddhist tradition, chosen by the weekly volunteer leader. The leader is free to read whatever inspirational passages they choose for that evening. After the reading, the leader leads the group in chanting our own version of the three jewels.

We then generally sit for 25 minutes, followed by a ringing of the bell and a period of walking meditation together in a circle.  We then sit for another 25 minutes to end the session, followed by dedication of merit.

On the second Sunday of the month, we have a reading and a group discussion on whatever is presented by the leader that evening. We collectively created this part of the schedule to provide some spiritual education, and to give group members opportunities to learn from each other and to get to know each other better.

On the final Sunday of the month, we again vary the regular schedule for a “check-in”.  We do the regular schedule of reading, sitting and walking, and then open the floor for sangha members to share about their practice, or to speak about anything in their life in general.

There is no cross talk, or comments about what a person offers.  Most people are willing to share, as the group listens. We created the check-ins out of our sense of the importance of social aspects, for a successful sangha. We have found our check-in sessions to be quite rewarding for sangha members, who share their ways of practice from which others can learn, and who also are able to disclose more challenging aspects of their lives.

Reflecting our intention to create a meaningful and enduring sangha, we believe it is beneficial to maintain a balance between the spiritual/meditative aspects and the social aspects. We are not fortunate enough to have a resident spiritual teacher, but we can support each other and encourage regular practice.

To maintain our social “togetherness,” we offer sangha potlucks each Memorial Day and Labor Day, at a local park. These potlucks are well attended, with members often bringing their spouses and children. We also offer occasional movie nights, during which we watch movies with a dharma theme, as another way to bring sangha members together.

For many years Walla Walla Dharma Sangha has made a strong effort to maintain a regular presence at the Walla Walla Penitentiary. The prison meditation group was cancelled due to the Covid pandemic. However it is now picking up again, with sangha members going to the prison on a regular basis to lead meditation with the inmates, and to encourage their spiritual practice.

Every week volunteers work with inmates of the maximum security and protective custody areas of the prison. Regular visits by sangha members to the prison are very uplifting and powerful experiences, for both sangha members and prisoners. Sometimes inmates say how helpful it is to have periods of quiet meditation as part of their prison lives, experiences that are missing without our visits.  

It is difficult to measure how valuable is our contact with the prisoners. Some attend the sessions as a way to get out of their cells and have social contact with others. Others seem to be seriously interested in learning about meditation, and having an opportunity to practice with others. Visitors from the sangha also teach yoga and Qigong, during some of the sessions.

Walla Walla Dharma Sangha can be found on Facebook and at our website.  Janaki Howard maintains the online presence and writes the bi-monthly newsletter.

Focusing on our sangha koan provides an ongoing positive vision. It feels that we are meaningful to many, while only time will tell how enduring we will be. Even though we do not presently have a resident teacher in Walla Walla, we feel fortunate to join together to learn, meditate and share the teachings of the Buddha, with each other and the community.