Source: Santa Cruz Sentinel
http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/archive/2007/January/14/local/stories/07local.htm
SANTA CRUZ -- Change is fundamental to Buddhism, but a meditation group that has gathered in living rooms, the Santa Cruz Zen Center and even a church is glad to finally have its own space.
Vipassana Santa Cruz started 20 years ago as a group of a half dozen who met weekly to practice Vipassana, or insight meditation, a 2,500-year-old Buddhist tradition. As membership expanded, so did their demand for space. After outgrowing living rooms, the group held weekly classes at the Santa Cruz Zen Center and the Fellows Lodge of the First United Methodist Church. But to offer more flexibility to members, the group set out to find its own home.
In September, the group opened a meditation center in an industrial warehouse on the West Side. On Saturday, they held an open house to give the public a glimpse of the new space, an L-shaped room with bamboo floors, decorated with colorful flags and tapestries. A two-foot bronze Buddha statue sits on a small table at the front and large pillows and mats are scattered throughout the studio.
"It's wonderful to have a place of our own that people can come to anytime," said Isabelle Rosenlund, who's been a member for six years.
More than 300 people are on Vipassana Santa Cruz's e-mail list, and the group's teacher Mary Grace Orr estimated 150 people regularly attend meditation sessions.