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@Bunks @Jeroen

Life is practice! [Lobster faints] I am sure I read that somewhere … eh … everywhere. We may have a plan … 🤭👋😉😶

I think in the western world, the phrase "you get what you pay" is unfortunately embedded in people's minds. New Buddhists who know no better sometimes get taken by flashy fanfair and corporate practice jargon and they are impressed. They shell over thousands and come away feeling a sense of reward. But this reward is hollow much like going to Disneyland or a blockbuster movie, the hype is there but fades because the "thing" they paid for isn't always present; when actually all they needed was a Sangha close to house and a grounded practice based on their own findings and experience. Sharing with others and learning by doing. As it is said "rely on no one for your salvation, for only YOU can save yourself".

I thought that Throssel Hole Buddhist Abbey in Scotland where I once stayed for two weeks had a very nice system. Donation based but with a clear "suggested donation".

That way (I assume) most people can just pay the suggested donation and those on either extreme of the affluence ladder can either support others or be supported themselves.

Now that others have said that some monks complain that donations do not come often enough, I wonder what proportion of people donated to the Abbey and how much. It might make for very interesting economics research - whether it might be possible to implement such a system elsewhere in the wider economy.

In an affluent society, a teacher should pay a student for learning. Obviously most teaching and students are not ready for such a radical approach.

Teachers and students are often under the delusion, that they can transmit or receive. If that were true we would have a more enlightened society.

Some of us learn from our mistakes. We learn our and others real motivations and capacity. We have to be exposed to the nature of this situation in a variety of ways …
https://www.lionsroar.com/the-life-of-milarepa/

The publishing houses not only offer lectures and courses by people who have been certified by a Master or Lama and validated by him to go out and make a living out of it, but now they also open the door for their relatives to do the same.
They all have something supreme to say or comment on, and they will charge you for telling you.
These people are overwhelmingly from the Chosen People (above all other peoples of the world) of the one God.

@marcitko said:
I thought that Throssel Hole Buddhist Abbey in Scotland where I once stayed for two weeks had a very nice system. Donation-based but with a clear "suggested donation".

That way (I assume) most people can just pay the suggested donation and those on either extreme of the affluence ladder can either support others or be supported themselves.

Now that others have said that some monks complain that donations do not come often enough, I wonder what proportion of people donated to the Abbey and how much. It might make for very interesting economics research - whether it might be possible to implement such a system elsewhere in the wider economy.

I was the treasurer for a few decades for another one of Jiyu Kennetts' sister priories to Throssel Hole Abbey but in Canada and can attest to their donation-based economics. Although this made for a less than certain economic security, there was an attitude that the real basis of the priory was best represented by the practices of its members, and not by the bank account.
In those days, about roughly 20 of the regularly participating laity on average donated between $10.00 and $150.00 a month to the priory that had a none profit tax status. Yearly totaled tax receipts were offered to all donors. Most of the regular laity eventually committed to monthly donations to provide some consistency to the chances of the priory's day-to-day financial obligations being met. Organized public retreats where a larger public building would be rented might have a suggested donation of $10 to $25:00 but no one batted an eye at the few who paid nothing.
All of the monies collected went to the rent of a house for a temple, food, utilities, travel fees, and general upkeep as well as a small stipend for the prior. Although the monk/s had a pretty humble financial existence, no monk that I met ever complained about any lack thereof.

As long as the finances are truly related to as one would relate to anything offered in an alms bowl, money is unlikely to become a limiting factor in the Dharma it affords.

What do others do to maintain mindfulness throughout the day?

For me, with regular meditation "practice"...

Then on autopilot check in every now and again throughout the day, no set times no set places... random inspections so to speak...

It would seem meditation is like an exercise/work-out for the mind and the more the workout, the stronger the mindfulness muscle becomes...Where gradually "awareness develops' ie, becoming aware of what is going on with the senses especially the thinking process...and can then gently tweak/change thought patterns, especially unwholesome ones...

This is not to say that those unwholesome thought patterns don't occur, they occur but for the most part are nipped in the bud before they have a chance to take root/solidify into actions ie, verbally or physically expressed...

However, at times the odd one or two might slip though...but they don't tend to last long...due to the ongoing random inspections....

Even "I" don't know when these random inspections will occur...

I’m a bit torn on this one. When I first encountered buddhism and meditation you had to pay and that was normal to me. In the culture I’ve grown up in, there’s no such thing as a free ride! In fact it almost creates suspicion when someone offers something for free.
On the other hand, now that I stay at a donation based monastery, I’ve had the monastics lament the fact that Western people come and stay there and offer nothing because they’re told it’s free.
It’s just a misunderstanding in Western culture. We’d almost prefer it if someone just tells us you need to pay $x for this class or $x for staying three nights.