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DHAMMA SERVICE
Dhamma Service Overview
Why Give Dhamma Service?
While serving you are learning how to apply Dhamma in day-to-day life. After all, Dhamma is not an escape from daily responsibilities. By learning to act according to the Dhamma in dealing with the students and situations here in the little world of a meditation course or center, you train yourself to act in the same way in the world outside. Despite the unwanted behavior of another person, you practice trying to keep the balance of your mind, and to generate love and compassion in response. This is the lesson you are trying to master here. You are a student as much as those who are sitting in the course.
Keep on learning while serving others humbly. Keep thinking, “I am here in training, to practice serving without expecting anything in return. I am working so that others may benefit from the Dhamma. Let me help them by setting a good example, and in doing so help myself as well.
Ways to Serve
Whether during courses, during work periods, or on their own time, the most common feedback given by servers is their appreciation of how serving helps them integrate the practice of Dhamma into their busy lives. The center has a multitude of needs which students generously give their time to fulfill. Opportunities to serve include:
Serve a course full- or part-time. To serve a ten-day course is a very special kind of service. We all find this an invaluable tool for strengthening our own practice as well as helping others get the Dhamma. Servers get the opportunity to meditate 3 times a day and have access to the AT for questions.
If your available time to serve is limited, there are also opportunities to serve 1-day courses which are offered 5-6 times a year.
To give Dhamma service during any course, please familiarize yourself with the Server Code of Conduct. Then visit the Schedule Page. Click on the “Apply” link then “Serve the course” after indicating that you are an old student.
In the spring and fall every year Dhamma Sela holds work periods. Dhamma servers work together on projects all around the center. The jobs vary from grounds and garden work, maintenance, cleaning, and putting up tents. Meals are provided, and cooks are needed to keep the workers well nourished. The schedule includes three group sittings daily and evening discourses. To give Dhamma service during a course visit the Schedule Page and apply for a listed service period.
Welcome Sundays are a service opportunity at Dhamma Sela which occur on the 4th Sunday of each month, from May through September. The schedule is as follows:
9am - 10am: Group Sit
10am - 12pm: Service opportunity
12pm - 1pm: Lunch
Welcome Sundays are meant to be a way for Old Students to give service at the center on a weekend that aligns with their schedule while also connecting with other meditators. For 2026, the Welcome Sundays are planned for the following dates: May 24, June 28 (Day 11), July 26 (Day 11), August 23, September 27 (Day 11).
No formal registration is necessary; simply show up! If you have any questions please reach out to dhamma-service@sela.dhamma.org.
Old students work together on different committees that do the work necessary to run the center. You may have a skill or expertise that you can offer a committee, or you may want to attend a meeting to learn more. The committees are: Center Service, Outreach, Finance, Registration, and Center Development.
Such as helping with Day 0 registration, Metta Day setup, clean or do laundry on Day 11, and trail maintenance.
Old students are appointed to the Board of Trustees. This group works together to oversee the operation of the center and guide the committees. To learn more, visit the Trust information page.
Get in Touch
The Dhamma Service Committee is here to help old students get more involved at the meditation center. If you would like to learn more about opportunities to serve or if you have special skills you would like to offer, you can e-mail the committee at dhamma-service@sela.dhamma.org or call the center 719-747-9347 and ask for a Dhamma Service committee member.
A couple ways have been setup to help communicate with students.
Email announcements about service opportunities at Dhamma Sela.
To sign up, send a blank email to: service-announce-subscribe@sela.dhamma.org.Join the WhatsApp Group, used to share occasional announcements about opportunities to serve and reminders about local group sits. Choose any of the options to join the Dhamma Sela WhatsApp Group. You must first have a WhatsApp account.
Option 1: Click this link to join: https://chat.whatsapp.com/Hwf535XgPnQ0GHEDF1Lhvo
Option 2: Use the QR below:
Rocky Mountain Vipassana
Whatsapp community