(From the preamble of our Governance Agreement.)

The governance of Ring of Bone Zendo is premised on a collective aspiration to conduct Sangha business in a manner that is consistent with practice and realization, and challenges its Members to embody them fully. Our means of governance have developed in stages from a standard, board-directed, majority-rule model to a Quaker-influenced experiment with more dispersed responsibility and consensus-based decision-making to the structures and procedures set forth in the following pages. We consider this a third step in the long-term project of fully integrating the implications of the Dharma into our corporate life.

We rely throughout on the principle of acting with one mind. This term denotes not unanimity, which requires the agreement of everyone present, but rather a general satisfaction that Members have aired their concerns fully and that the Sangha has done its best to weigh and incorporate those concerns in arriving at a decision. Thus it may be concluded that the Sangha has reached one mind despite the existence of divergent, even opposing, views on the matter under discussion. A decision to go forward in one mind while a Member remains opposed will be rare, reached only after prolonged attempts at harmonious resolution.

Although organizational structures and procedures are the focus of this document, we hope that Members will understand them not as ends in themselves, but rather as expressions of a goal much subtler and more far-reaching in nature. Our challenges entail learning to listen, speak, think, relate, and solve problems, whether we’re at the Zendo or not, and whether we’re interacting with fellow Zen students or not. Such transformations never occur purely at an institutional level; they will be matters of personal and group spirit, attitude, and effort that no document such as this can adequately prescribe.

The formulation we’ve arrived at is without close precedent, as far as we know, so its use is likely to reveal unforeseen weaknesses and unrealized potentials. We urge Members to view it, accordingly, as a work in progress, not a finished product, and to remain open to its refinement in years to come.

The Membership sits at the apex of the structure, with the officers and committees serving it—acting on its decisions and preparing matters for its consideration. The Teacher has a respected voice in Sangha deliberation, but holds no executive authority in the organization and is formally looked to for leadership exclusively in realms of Sangha life directly under his or her purview—Zen training, texts, rituals, and the like. Of course, service in those realms may reveal Sangha needs and make the Teacher a valuable source of perspective and counsel on Sangha affairs.