VISION:
The vision of the Williamsburg Buddhist Sangha (WBS) is to:

• Enhance the physical and emotional wellbeing of
  the people of Williamsburg and the surrounding areas;
• Increase our individual capacity to meet
  personal, social, national, and global challenges with wisdom and compassion;
  and
• Increase our collective ability to live together
  and solve problems with kindness and mutual respect.

In so doing , we hope to contribute to the evolution of a
community—and ultimately world— in which loving-kindness, generosity, and
selflessness bring about global peace, environmental sustainability, and the
cessation of suffering for all sentient beings.

MISSION:
The mission of the Williamsburg Buddhist Sangha is to provide residents of
Williamsburg and the surrounding areas a community for mindful growth and
practice, based upon the practical, philosophical, and spiritual teachings of
Buddhism in the many iterations of its 2500 year history. The WBS serves the
community by offering a regular schedule of meditation and study groups, dharma
talks, special events, guest teachers, retreats, and other resources.

VALUES:
All WBS activities, operations and governance are rooted in core values
consistent with Buddhist ethical teachings, as articulated in the Three Jewels,
the Four Noble Truths, the Eightfold Path and other widely recognized Buddhist
teachings.

Inclusion
and Outreach

• In keeping with the emerging expression of Buddhism in the
  West, the WBS does not align with any one specific lineage of Buddhism, but
  welcomes diverse points of view among Buddhist traditions, including secular
  applications manifest in Mindfulness meditation and practices.

• Our community is open to anyone interested in Mindfulness
  meditation and/or Buddhist teachings and practices, from the casual meditator
  to the most devoted student of Buddhist practice.

• We value diversity among our participants, teachers, and
  other volunteers, including those who bring complementary practices from other
  spiritual traditions.

• We are committed to broader service and establishing
  working relationships with other community groups and organizations.

• We strive to be creative and experimental in our format,
  so that we may be relevant and accessible to American culture, issues, and
  vernacular.

• We do not require payment for any of our teachings,
  programs, or events. The WBS is primarily supported by voluntary donations from
  the community.

Ethics and Relationships

• We are committed to integrity and ethical conduct in all
  of our activities and strive to operate according to principles laid out in the
  Eightfold Path.

• We are committed to openness and transparency in all
  Sangha activities.  Information on WBS
  operations will regularly be made available in an appropriate manner to sangha
  members and the wider community.

• We value right speech, honest communication, respectful
  listening, healthy expression of disagreement, and openness to divergent views.

• We promote respect and trust by keeping our relationships
  clear, by practicing self-awareness and ownership of our feelings, agendas, and
  judgments and revealing them as much as we are able to further our connectedness.

• We value harmony in our community life. We seek to resolve
  conflicts non-violently and honestly, recognizing harmony can exist amidst
  diversity and disagreements.

• We value consensus decision making and strive to use it in
  all WBS deliberations.  If efforts at
  achieving consensus are not successful, a vote on an issue may be taken
  provided the minority is first given the opportunity to be fully heard, as well
  as the option to revisit the issue in the future, as appropriate.

• We stay present with our own and others suffering. We are
  willing to respond to perceived and articulated needs.

Stewardship

• We make every effort to use resources wisely, respect the
  environment, and practice the principle of moderation.

• We value responsible stewardship of financial, human, and
  natural resources.