Rev. Patti Nakai created the Upaya Group in fall of 2013 to fill a growing volunteer shortage.  Upaya hosts the tea/luncheon after service once a month, cleans and sets up the altar and temple for special temple holidays, and provides other services as called upon. The group is looking into adding more social events and volunteer activities in the future.

To join, feel free to ask any temple member for more information or send an e-mail to Upaya@BuddhistTempleChicago.org to get on the e-mail list.  You are not obligated to volunteer every time, of course–the goal is to have a large pool of volunteers who can step up as needed.  The more people Upaya has, the stronger the temple’s base becomes.

The Upaya Group is a toban (Japanese for “it’s your turn”) group.  Upaya is Sanskrit for “skillful means.”  By engaging the people who’ve been regular  members  for  several years  with  those  just  starting  to get  involved,  we  hope  the  new group  will  be  the  means  to  lead to a deeper  sense  of  fellowship and a way to serve the temple as an expression  of  gratitude for receiving the Dharma.  Please join us.