A group of spiritual friends who gather together to sit in meditation
and study the Dhamma.
The Atlanta Secular Buddhist Sangha is a group of spiritual friends who gather together to sit in meditation and study the Dhamma. Collectively, we are committed to the journey of living a peaceful life. As a group, we take refuge in the Buddha, the Dhamma, and Sangha. By taking refuge in the Buddha, we embrace the historical Buddha and his teachings on working with the mind and heart. We also take refuge in our own awakened heart. We take refuge in the Dhamma, the teachings that guide us in developing our own understanding of the path to peace and freedom. And, we take refuge in Sangha, this community of friends who support one another as we face life's challenges and joys.
ASBS is dedicated to the secular teachings of the Buddha as presented in the Theravada tradition. Our Sangha is open to anyone interested in living the Dhamma.
We welcome everyone and strive to be a diverse and inclusive Sangha. Specifically, we aim to be a welcoming environment for people of color, members of the LGBTQIA community, people with disabilities, and other underrepresented groups. We ask everyone who practices with us to come in the door with a welcoming attitude of love, acceptance, and openness for all living beings.
As this Sangha is secular in nature, we also welcome people from all faith traditions, as there need not be conflict between our study and practice and any personal religious affiliation.
We are committed to Engaged Buddhism. Through volunteer efforts within our own community, we look for ways to apply the insight gained form meditation practice as well as from the teachings on LovingKindess and compassion to issues of social, economic and enviornmental justice.
In our Sangha we practice Dana.
Dana is the Pali word for generosity. The Buddha described Dana as one of the highest forms of letting go. In giving freely we practice renunciation and further our understanding that the path to freedom is found through letting go, not accumulation.
We are grateful for any and all Dana as we are a fully volunteer supported group. Your donation helps pay our teachers, rent, utilities, and supports the development of our website, which will allow others to find us and share in the Dhamma.
In our Sangha we practice Mindful Dialogue
Bow in to speak and bow out to end sharing
Listen deeply to yourself when speaking, being mindful of what motivates you to speak and your intention
Speak only from your heart, felt experience and understanding. Practice minimizing intellectual or philosophical sharing, long story telling, and judging and criticizing yourself or others
Listen deeply to the sharing of others
Allow silence between shares and leave time for others to share
Please do not offer advice unless requested
ASBS meets weekly, on Tuesday evenings, from 6:30 to 8pm ET.
6:30-7:00 Silent Meditation
7:00-8:00 Dhamma talk & discussion
If you have questions regarding our Sangha, please send an email to info@atlsangha.org. We will do our best to respond to your emails as quickly as possible.