Daphne Carvella

About six years ago Daphne was going through a tough time in her life and a friend recommended that she come out to Spirit Rock.  So one day she came and started walking around and when she walked into the bookstore she had a transcendent experience, at that moment it became clear to her that this was a place that she needed to come.  She started coming to the Thursday Morning Women’s Class consistently, and soon went on her first retreat.  After about a year she started volunteering, at first at daylong events and then in the kitchen, helping with the Monday Night Dinners.

“Volunteering is a wonderful way to be involved in the community here.  You can learn the ins and outs of the place.  I really love the activity in the kitchen.  I love getting to know the other volunteers, and Chef Denis is great.  Also working in the kitchen has so many lovely symbolic aspects to it; nourishing others, making an offering of the food.  It is funny because I get so much out of the experience myself, it is a pleasure for me, so sometimes I forget that I am helping and practicing Dana!  The kitchen has become a mini-Sangha for me.”

Daphne is not only an integral part of the Spirit Rock Community; she is also a member of many of the sister Sanghas in the Bay Area.  She met the Saranaloka Nuns at Spirit Rock four years ago and has volunteered as a driver for them since.  She attends two sitting groups in Berkeley, one with James Baraz (Thursday evenings) and one with Richard Shankman (Wednesday Evenings); as well as a study group in Novato twice a month. “The Dharma, it is not just part of your life, it becomes your life.  The more I am in these circles, it is just more and more and more…”

If you are interested in joining the Volunteer Sangha at Spirit Rock, please contact the Volunteer Coordinator at volunteering@spiritrock.org or call (415)488-0164 ext. 224.