Meet the Sangha – Michelle Welch

It seemed high time for me to post my own entry in the Meet the Sangha series. Stay tuned as I hope to collect more of these in the future! – ed.

I first encountered meditation during a long-ago study of paganism. While I left that path for various reasons, I retained an interest in meditation, and when a few events later converged – my doctor recommending that I meditate, and my finding myself in the Buddhism shelves at the public library where I work – I finally decided to get more serious about meditation practice. Pema Chödrön’s book Comfortable with Uncertainty was one of the first titles I checked out, and the “For more information” pages at the back of the book directed me to Shambhala.

I’ve been a member of the Phoenix Shambhala Center since 2012 (a date I can only remember by counting Weekthuns backward!) and I am currently the website and database administrator, blog editor, and publicity coordinator. One of the things I appreciate most about Shambhala is how it encourages me to view my life – particularly a career in libraries working with a large and varied public – as an opportunity to practice openness and equanimity, and to work toward building an enlightened society.

Previous Meet the Sangha posts:
LaDawn Haglund
Stuart Rice
Michael Lipscomb