Policies
Electronic devices
Phones and computers belong in your room and the rooms set aside for them; some common rooms are kept free of devices. Here is where, and why.
Devices can draw us, and the people around us, away from mindful living. Keeping them within bounds supports our connection with ourselves, with one another and with the land.
| Use | Where |
|---|---|
| Reading and writing: email, texts, a laptop | Anywhere in the house, except the shrine room during a practice session |
| Sound: calls, Zoom, films, even with headphones | Private rooms, offices, the Household Commons when it is free, and the third-floor meditation instruction rooms when no program is using them |
If this is a hardship, talk with your program's coordinator or Guest Services.
Teachings and films
Devices may play teachings or a film for a group in the lower living room, the dining room or the Main Shrine Room, in sessions the center's leadership arranges.
Reminding one another
These guidelines are kept by all of us. Each of us has the authority and the responsibility to keep the practice space free of needless distraction, and we can remind one another with a light touch. Many people carry a phone everywhere out of habit, and a visitor may not know how we do things here. If you would rather not say something yourself, talk with your program's coordinator, a department head or Guest Services.