At a recent mahasangha day, meditators from multiple traditions sit together.
Photos by: Karen DeCotis, Michãel Palmer

In December the Bozeman Dharma Center hosted a “mahasangha” half-day retreat, which included offerings from multiple Buddhist lineages.

At the Bozeman Dharma Center, in Bozeman, Montana, we are fortunate to have six groups in as many lineages practicing under one roof, providing a rich feeling of fellowship. While these groups mostly conduct their own practices in their own lineages, these mahasangha retreats have developed  into a unique reflection of the collective  nature of the center.

The December mahasangha retreat began with a Plum Village morning chant invoking the spirit of the venerable Thich Nhat Hanh, and ended with a Tibetan prayer. Participants shared practice during sitting and walking meditation, chanting, and dharma talks. People new to the Bozeman Dharma Center were able to get a feel for which group might be the best fit for them, and those familiar with the center enjoyed the chance to connect as a larger community, and to learn from other traditions.

On any given week at the Bozeman Dharma Center, you’ll find practitioners sitting with the Bozeman Zen Group in the Soto Zen lineage of Suzuki Roshi, or with Joining Rivers in the Plum Village Rinzai Zen style of the Venerable Thich Nhat Hanh. We have two groups in the Tibetan lineage: Tergar Bozeman under the guidance of Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche (Nyingma and Kagyu schools), and the Palyul Sangha under the direction of His Holiness Penor Rinpoche and the spiritual guidance of Khenchen Tsewang Gyatso Rinpoche (Nyingma school). The Bozeman Insight Community offers instruction and practice in the vipassana lineage. Finally, we have a non-denominational group called MindSpace, a group for the millennial-plus generation, which studies books and teachings from all of the lineages.

During the mahasangha half-day retreats, a representative from each group offers a short practice from their lineage. These mahasangha days are a wonderful opportunity to connect as a larger community.

Each mahasangha retreat is a different experience, although they have the same general structure. About two months beforehand, we check in with the group leaders to see if they or a senior student has time to provide a 20–25-minute practice in their tradition. These have included practicing with koans, reading a text, touching the Earth practice, chanting the refuges in Tibetan and English, and of course meditation. In between each group offering are five-minute breaks, during which participants are encouraged to do walking meditation unless they need a bio break.

Since the Covid  pandemic, we have  found that about half the people attending our programs do so via Zoom. While some of these are in the Bozeman area and participate online out of convenience or for health reasons, a good many have moved away and are happy to stay connected through technology. Because of this, we offer the mahasangha retreats both in-person and via Zoom. We’ve learned that we need a dedicated Zoom yogi to take care of the technology, so the leaders can focus on offering the dharma. 

The Bozeman Dharma Center was founded in 2013 to join the resources of three Buddhist groups already practicing in the Gallatin Valley around Bozeman. Since then we have experienced impermanence in action, with one of the original groups disbanding and the pandemic causing us to give up our original space at the east end of town. We have also experienced births with several new groups, so we now have more groups practicing at the center than ever before.

Because of this growth, in 2022 we leased a new space.  Located on the second floor in an older office building on the rapidly expanding west end of Bozeman, the Bozeman Dharma Center feels like a hidden gem.

People walking through the front door are asked to remove their shoes in the foyer, which also has hooks for coats and an information board. Farther inside participants pass the lending library, which has five large bookcases with texts from all lineages.

The meditation hall offers black mats and cushions, meditation benches, as well as chairs. The hall is shaped like a long rectangle with the main altar of flowers, a candle, and Buddha statue at one end, and storage for extra chairs, mats, and cushions hidden behind a screen at the other end.

Tucked into an alcove off to the side is another altar with a statue and wall hanging of Kwan Yin, the bodhisattva of compassion. At this altar, the community is welcome to offer metta and good will for those who have passed or who are undergoing some hardship, by filling out a card with the person’s name or initials.

Each sangha is welcome to rearrange the hall’s cushions and chairs to best fit their practice forms, but all reset the space to the same basic arrangement of two rows of zabutons and zafus perpendicular to the main altar, with a row of chairs in the back.

The new space is much smaller than the original, but our community embraced being able to practice in person again, and set to the task of making it feel like home. In early November, visiting teacher Greg Grallo from Missoula said, “It’s a joy to be in a space that’s been tended to by many different hands, hearts, and traditions, all with the goal of relieving and ending suffering.”

Participants from all groups tend to the altar, provide flowers, vacuum the space, empty the dishwasher and more. This care for the Bozeman Dharma Center extends to governance and finances. Members from all groups sit on our board and other committees, and each group offers monthly dana (donations) to the center, creating a true sense that we’re all in this together. 

The populations of Bozeman and Gallatin County are growing rapidly, bringing people who need ways to connect to the community. Mahasangha half-day retreats are a way to connect people with a Buddhist group they feel most comfortable with, in an easy, nourishing way.