Celebrating 2026 - Thank You for your Support & Participation

As we approach the end of 2026, we at Mountain Stream are reflecting on the profundity, expansion, and growth we have experienced over the past year. Our practice has deepened, our programs have expanded and our team, sangha and center are blossoming. There is always more do and more to learn, but we have come a long way this year.

As Mountain Stream continues to evolve, we want to honor those who have made it what it is today. Alison Sweetser, our beloved board president and dear sangha member, has given more than words can express. Thank you, Alison, for your many years of service and practice, and for kicking off this year’s Year End Campaign.

Dear Sangha,

We’re approaching the end of the year, a season that brings with it the desire to gather together. It’s also a time of quiet reflection, one in which we release the past to witness this moment, this changing light, the birth of this new year.

For me, it’s a time of transition. At year’s end, I’ll be stepping down as Mountain Stream’s board president and taking on other roles at our beloved Village Temple. The six and a half years I’ve been on the board, and the four during which I’ve been president, have been years of immense challenge and change and growth at Mountain Stream, ones we’ve navigated together as Sangha.

Those years brought us an enthusiastic and skillful guiding teacher in Adam Stonebraker, an experienced admin team, burgeoning programs and a growing Sangha. Multiple groups and programs that inhabited my early wish list emerged organically from within the Sangha: our recovery dharma group, Room to Breathe; Queer Sangha; the Eco-Dharma Council; and a revitalized service relationship with Hospitality House. Some items on my wish list remain aspirational, such as meditation classes for the incarcerated.

Your support is invaluable to the continued existence and growth of Mountain Stream. Not only does it pay the utilities but it provides scholarships to programs and retreats, upkeep to our Nevada City Insight Center and a place for every group that finds in the Center a true home. As one of my fellow board members once wrote, ‘We exist in a circle of giving.’ Below, please find the best way for you to give.

Finally, thank you for granting me this opportunity to serve Mountain Stream. Being on the board has deepened my practice and enriched my life - Dharma on the cushion, Dharma off the cushion. Because I’ve benefited so much from serving the Sangha, my wish is that you, too, will find ways to deepen your practice through service. It truly takes a village to foster this precious gift we have at Mountain Stream. We are that village. 

Metta and mudita,
Alison Sweetser
Board President

We need your support to bring forth another successful year of dharma, community and friendship in 2027.

We will be celebrating Alison, and honoring her transition, at our annual Winter Solstice Gathering. We hope to see you there!