Weekday Morning Meditation and Breakfast Checklist

This process description includes an end-to-end list of how to set up the shrine for the day, how to set-up breakfast before meditation, plus how to facilitate the morning sit, breakfast, and breakfast cleanup.

Responsibilities are not assigned, but rather things get done in an organic manner. If for example there are some empty coffee cups at the breakfast table, someone simply goes and gets the coffee pot, fills the cups, and makes another pot.

Duties include:

  1. Purchasing staples

    Purchase bagels, cream cheeses, hummus, crackers, half-and-half, some sweets, bananas, apples, strawberries, carrots, cherry tomatoes, teas (caffeinated and herbal), coffee, paper towels, dish soap, plastic garbage bags, etc. Save expenditure receipts in side drawer envelope.

  2. Pre-meditation set-up

    Arrive at the Center by around 6:40 to set up shrine room and prepare for breakfast by doing those steps that can be done before the sit to expedite the breakfast sit-down. These include:

    • If it’s Tuesday, open the hallway and Annex and turn on the annex and shrine room heat if necessary.
    • Start the hot water.
    • Make a pot of coffee.
    • Fetch the food from the library needed for breakfast.
    • Put away any food purchased that morning.
    • Pour water into the shrine bowls.
    • Turn on all torcher lights, open blinds, roll-up blind in front of shrine room door.
    • Make the protector’s tea.
    • Straighten cushions, all zippers face away from the shrine.
    • Set up umdze spot for whomever is taking that role.
    • Put out sufficient chant books (more books if we are doing the protector chant).
    • Re-fill the matches and incense holders, and the candles with oil, as necessary. Supplies for these are found in the upper-left community room cabinet above the sink with surplus supplies located in the left-hand large cabinet in the library.
    • Identify the umdze for the morning sit.
    • Identify a contemplation if it has been a while since we’ve done one. These are located in Weekday Morning Group binder located in the chant book cabinet.
    • Greet anyone coming through the door, and if this is their first time, determine their need for meditation instruction, offer them a newsletter and calendar and explain a typical morning and invite them to stay for breakfast.
    • Move the group from the community room to the shrine room for sitting.

  3. Meditation period

    The umdze presides over this portion of the morning and duties include:

    • Lights the protector candle and then the three shrine candles.
    • Offers but no longer lighting the incense, bowing.
    • Take one’s seat and inviting others to do the same.
    • Lead the normal morning liturgy.
    • Provide guided meditation if a Shambhala Guide or MI is the umdze and if not able to provide orientation instruction in the library because there is no other experienced umdze (see further explanation below under “7.  Meditation Instruction”).
    • Hit the gong to end the sitting period; lead the Shambhala Dedication of Merit (and the Shambhala Protector Chant on Fridays or any other day that we know there will be no evening program); lead the bow; rise to snuff the candles and when done indicate it’s time to close the shrine space for breakfast.
    • Supervise the turning off of lights, turning off the A/C or heating, closing blinds, moving chairs to community room or patio, empty, dry and flip over the shrine bowls if formally closing the room for the day.

  4. Breakfast

    Anyone might be tapped to perform any of the following:

    • Set up tables, chairs, table cloth.
    • Cut up fruit, bagels, zucchini bread, toast bagels, etc.
    • Pour coffee and make a second pot when necessary.
    • Keep an eye of the table for empty coffee mugs, creamer, dump the “bone bowl,” etc.

  5. After breakfast

    • Tear down and return tables to their natural habitat, shake out table cloths and determine if they need washing, move chairs back into shrine room.
    • Wash, dry and put away all dishes.
    • Determine if dish towels need washing and take care of that if necessary.
    • Move extra food to either refrigerator or top of microwave or have people take home. Particularly on Friday, make certain perishables are not left at the Center.
    • Dump landfill and recyclable containers and replace plastic liners. Check the can in the library as well.
    • Vacuum the community room making certain the batteries are re-charged via the library’s power strip.
    • Post the attendance statistics for the day sitting in the Weekday Morning Group drawer including the number of folks who participated during any portion of the morning main shrine room sit plus a second statistic for anyone who participated in any of the breakfast portion (Attachment A). After several months of data has been accumulated, Fernando will key in the data and generate a narrative report to those curious about such trivia: Charlie, Bill, Gene, Fernando, Amanda, etc.
    • Inventory left-over food to determine needs for the next day.
    • Inventory lamp oil, matches, incense, paper towels, etc. for future use and let the bursar know we need to buy whatever.
    • Check U.S. Postal Service mailbox and the Center’s phone answering machine and forward mail and messages as necessary.
    • Sign time sheets for Neighborhood Court referrals acknowledging the individual’s attendance and receipt of meditation instruction. Log all meditation instruction, and if applicable, any subsequent sitting periods (Attachment B).
    • Lock up library and community room, and ensure annex and shrine room door to the hallway are locked. Finally turn off heater/air conditioner and all lights.
      Leave no trace.

  6. Monthly accounting

    Morning breakfast is a self-supporting operation, and hence not funded by the Center’s general fund. The breakfast coordinator should:

    • Collect funds during the month to support the breakfast needs for the morning program. Once received, mark down the payer on to that month’s yellow stickie.
    • At month’s end, complete a summary sheet identifying the income for the month and itemizing and totaling the expenditure receipts. Staple the expenditure receipts and the revenue tally yellow stickie to that monthly cost summary (Attachment C) and place with the prior months. Post the summary totals (expenses and income) to the top cover sheet for that year’s maha-summary (Attachment D). All accounting information is located in the Weekday Morning Group drawer to the left of the little refrigerator.

  7. Meditation instruction

    Meditation instruction is always available either in the library or from the umdze position. Ideally, instruction is done in the library, but if the MI or Shambhala Guide is the only one experienced at the umdze position, then a guided meditation will be given. Hopefully, it has been weeks since we had to instruct from the umdze position.

    If it has been a long while since we’ve offered a guided meditation, then an MI or SG gives it as a reminder to the group as to why we are here.