The insight meditation community in Portland welcomed the news that Alexis Santos, a dharma teacher in the Insight/Vipassana tradition, had recently moved to Portland, Maine, and was planning to establish a Sangha. The first Sangha meetings were small and intimate, held in a house that Alexis and his partner Susa Talan, a distinguished dharma leader as well, were renting. A small committee within the growing Sangha began to gather regularly to consider how to nurture and develop as a community, gathering information from Insight teachers in other sanghas in both the United States and Canada. After a short time they came up with a name for the Sangha: Open Door Meditation Community (ODMC). The Sangha quickly outgrew where they were meeting and, fortunately, a benefactor stepped up, offering to pay the rent for a larger venue as the Sangha became established. The location was a former restaurant on the West End that was being converted into a holistic health cooperative with a meeting space ideal for a meditation group.

The holistic health cooperative, newly named Good Medicine, became a temporary home for the Sangha from January - April 2018. Everyone enjoyed the high ceilings and big windows with a view of the water and the Casco Bay bridge. It was a warm and welcoming place to gather as a growing Sangha.

Good Medicine underwent a renovation period starting in August 2018. While waiting for the completion of the building updates, a sangha member generously offered their home on the West End, and the Sangha moved there temporarily. It was a lovely space that the sangha enjoyed and again quickly outgrew. At the end of the summer, Alexis and Susa experienced an unexpected death in the family and took an extended leave of absence. At the same time, Good Medicine’s reopening was pushed back from January to March.

By mid-March, Good Medicine was completed and the Sangha moved back in and again began Monday night weekly sittings. People loved being there and it became a thriving, multi-aged community, quick to develop connections between members. As the Sangha grew, Alexis and Susa brought in guest teachers including Phoenix Soleil, who moved to Portland in July 2019, and started teaching at Open Door that summer. The community continued to  thrive, meeting weekly through the fall and winter of 2019.

In March of 2020, just before the pandemic and lockdown arrived, the teachers facilitated the formation of Racial Affinity Groups (RAGs), using Ruth King’s book, “Mindful of Race” to guide the groups’ explorations. A benefactor generously donated copies for all Sangha members to share. The formation of these groups was timely and allowed sangha members to meet online just as in-person meetings came to a close. More than 60 members joined these groups and many met online monthly for the first year of the pandemic. At the same time, Monday night meditation moved online and met weekly on Zoom through the spring, summer and early fall. 

In November of 2020, Alexis and Susa went into an extended retreat, stepping back from their central role of holding space for the Monday night guided meditations and dharma teachings. 

Open Door stopped meeting during this time, but eventually there was a desire among many previous members to reconvene. As a result, a small group came together to re-establish the Sangha and for a short while gave it the name Open Heart. Over the next six months, with the help of several volunteers and guest teachers, the beginnings of the current Sangha structure were developed. The Sangha created a guest teacher schedule for its Monday night sits.

In 2021, Alexis and Susa made the decision not to return to Open Door as Guiding Teachers. They graciously facilitated the transfer of the name Open Door Community Meditation, along with the website and extensive mailing list, to the newly re-formed Sangha. 

The “new” Open Door Sangha was guided initially by visiting teachers. Sangha leaders asked one of these teachers, Chas DiCapua, Resident Teacher at IMS, if he might consider being the Guiding Teacher for an extended period of time. He agreed and has held online weekly sits since then.

Initially, Sangha members created a Caring Circle that was eventually renamed a Steering Circle, along with a smaller Executive Board, which was tasked with the oversight of the organization’s operations and finances. This was followed by the development of three committees (Programming, Communications, and Finance) to manage different aspects of the Sangha. By-laws and Guiding Principles were created; and Open Door applied for 501(c)(3) (non-profit) status with the IRS. (Approved April, 2023)

Valuing the input and feedback of all its members to guide programming and other decisions, Open Door created and administered its first survey. The findings from the survey were summarized and shared in a community meeting and potluck that fall, providing members with opportunities to ask further questions and offer suggestions.

The first multi-day residential retreat took place at the AMC Medawisla Lodge and Cabins in Northern Maine with Alexis Santos and Susa Talan as guiding teachers for the retreat.

Once it became safe to gather again in person (post Covid), in the Fall of 2022, Open Door started meeting on Wednesday nights at Good Medicine. The Program Committee searched for a more long term home for the Sangha and found a beautiful space dedicated to the teaching of mindfulness and self care at SerenityMe at 449 Forest Avenue in Portland. Weekly sits are offered by Community Volunteers, Dharma Leaders, and Teachers.

Open Door began offering new programming–all but the first group meet monthly.

• Midcoast meditation group, calling themselves “Soup and Sit” (bi-monthly)

• Parenting group “Parenting with the Dharma”

• “Introduction to Meditation” course

• “Sutta Study” course

Open Door also continues to offer bimonthly in-person day-long retreats in Portland with Guiding Teacher, Chas DiCapua. In September, the sangha sponsored its second multi-day residential retreat at the AMC Medawisla Lodge and Cabins in Northern Maine. In October, Open Door hosted a day-long Monastic Retreat with Ajahn Anando from the Temple Forest Monastery in NH.

Open Door engaged in a facilitated process to review the governance structures of the sangha and how well they are working for both the sangha and the members of the leadership teams. Committees are implementing recommended actions.  

Offerings

• New in-person and online book groups

• “Foundations of Early Buddhist Meditation” course 

• Teaching Team forms and holds first meeting 

• Third Residential Retreat at AMC Medawisla Lodge

• Weekend Residential Retreats with Chas DiCapua

• “Fun Friday” events

  • Movie Night 

  • Author Reading