Born out of the heartfelt motivation to keep our sangha connected during the COVID pandemic and as an offering to the broader community free of charge, the 20 Minutes a Day started on 12 July 2021. We held two sessions each day and it started as a two-week trial. On the first day, Wallace Lee led the morning session and Paul Duong led the afternoon session, and many others joined the team.
In the five years since then, 20 Minutes a Day has evolved to become our flagship program for the general public and sangha members. It has reached people from all around the world including the USA, South America and Africa at times. And it has been replicated by Rigpa groups in the USA, France, Germany and Italy.
Over these five years almost 2,000 people have tried the program and 1,500 of these have joined our email list. On average, we now have between 30 and 45 participants in our 8:00am shamatha session, and around 10 participants for a Loving Kindness practice on Mondays and Wednesday evenings. We see a small but steady stream of people moving from 20 Minutes a Day into our courses and retreats.
This year, 20 Minutes a Day launched a new initiative: once a month, on the first Friday of each month, we offer a full hour of meditation, teaching and Q&A. This has received an enthusiastic reception.
Over the years, we’ve had extraordinary expressions of gratitude from participants – including people who are housebound due to ill-health or anxiety, those undergoing cancer treatment and those living far distant from a dharma centre.
We give our deepest thanks to the 40+ volunteers who have held this program over the years. Many of these now consider 20 Minutes to be a vital aspect of 'their' Rigpa community. It’s a beautiful, bonded team that works to make sure there’s someone leading the practice and running the tech every day of the year.
Part of the magic of 20 Minutes a Day is that when people log on, they never know who will be leading the practice on any given day, and we’ve received feedback that the variety of voices gives the sessions a special energy. We always welcome sangha members to join the team – so if you’d like to lead a practice, even just once a month, or help out with the Zoom (Anne Alkin offers amazing training in how to do this) please email rigpa.australia@rigpa.org.au.
And if you’ve not already joined this amazing free program, you can sign up here.