Kookaburra Sangha is an Insight Meditation group in the Buddhist tradition that meets to practice together on Monday evenings in Glebe, in Sydney’s Inner West. In a secular spirit, we also study the Buddha’s early teachings relevant to our practice, and look for resonances with those teachings in modern thought and our own experience. This means we orient our practice towards developing an ethical path that seeks human flourishing in this life, rather than redemption in some future existence.
We respect other branches of Buddhism, such as the Theravāda, Mahāyāna, and Vajrayāna, but choose to practice outside all established schools. We seek a path of practice independent of beliefs, one aligned with our own modern western culture. This means we follow no orthodoxy, but we do gain inspiration from the development of secular Buddhist thought here and in other countries, such as Stephen Batchelor’s work.
Like all Buddhists, we honour the Buddha as an historical figure and exemplar of the awakening process we aspire to; the dharma understood as his teachings, especially those that illuminate our path of practice in the modern west; and the sangha – the friendship and interaction between those who share this path of practice. We also join with all those who seek to preserve our planet, oppose violence and oppression, and create fair and peaceful societies. We include these causes in our ethical path. Naturally, we promote equality, inclusiveness, and diversity in our own ranks.
In common with other lay insight-meditation sanghas in the Sydney basin, Kookaburra Sangha is a member of the umbrella organisation, Sydney Insight Meditators (SIM). Like our sister sanghas, we are developing along our own self-chosen lines while participating in the wider SIM community that organises residential retreats and workshops, and offers other advantages.
Meetings
Kookaburra Sangha meets weekly on Mondays, alternating between online and face-to-face sessions. The format of our meetings is as follows:
- 7:00 to 7:15 pm, settling and chatting
- 7:15 to 7:45 pm, 30 minute unguided silent meditation
- 7:45 to 7:55 pm, announcements and things to share
- 7:55 to 8:05 pm, tea and biscuits
- 8:05 to 8:55 pm, facilitated dharma topic session and discussion
- 8:55 to 9:00 pm, 1-2 minute unguided silent meditation to close
For more information and the current schedule, please see our Weekly Schedule.
Contact us
If you would like to know more about our sangha, or want to join us on a practice evening, please contact Peter Jones at kookaburrasangha@gmail.com
Note: To cover operational costs, we request a $10 per person attendance fee. Please see our Dana page to make a contribution, or you are welcome to donate in person at the meeting. Our fees are practiced in the spirit of dana, without judgement or enforcement, and no-one should be deterred from coming due to financial circumstances.
