Spiritual Education: At the heart of Spacious Mind Center is the offering of spiritual education and the cultivation of an investigative community dedicated to the awakening of the mind, the fostering of an integrated life, and the practice of truly creative, spacious living in harmony with all of life.

Spiritual Development: Spiritual development is seen as the natural, innate capacity that each and every person has to bring truth, wisdom, compassion and beauty into being. Each individual is helped to take responsibility for and to nurture this innate capacity within the context of their daily life and thus bring their natural spirituality into a mature, living expression of their being.

Spiritual Direction: The spiritual direction offered at Spacious Mind Center is not according to some pre-ordained method or system of thought but is a living, vital interaction with the teachers and the community itself. Through small group discussion as well as one-on-one times with the teachers, each individual is assisted in such a way that he or she gains both the confidence and the ability to look directly and compassionately at what is actually taking place within their everyday lives and relationships.

Our teaching facility

Spacious Mind meets on Sundays in the office suite of Parallax Education (Suite C), 1750 14th St in the city of Santa Monica.

Our teachers: Madelon Wheeler-Gibb and Gordon Gibb are a married couple who have spent their adult lives teaching spiritual education and development. Both Madelon and Gordon are conversant in the Judeo-Christian tradition and are skilled in building bridges of understanding between Western culture, spirituality and Buddhist philosophy.

     Madelon Wheeler-Gibb is Spacious Mind's Center Executive Director and senior teacher. She was, most recently, the advanced level teacher of Buddhism at Hsi Lai Temple in Hacienda Heights, California for seven years. She has taught Buddhism in both Taiwan and the U.S. and was on the translation staff at Hsi Lai Temple, involved in translating Chinese Buddhist sutras into English. See Spacious Words to read more about Madelon's translation efforts.Madelon holds a B.A. in English Literature from Wellesley College as well as a Masters of Divinity Degree.

Gordon Gibb is Spacious Mind Center's associate teacher. He was, most recently, the introductory level teacher of Buddhism at Hsi Lai Temple in Hacienda Heights, California for seven years. He taught in both Taiwan and the U.S. He has developed programs to help students be engaged in service and community building. He has been an active participant of the Buddhist-Christian Dialogue of the Los Angeles Archdiocese Roman Catholic Church. Gordon holds a B.A. degree from Ashland University with a double major in Psychology and Religion as well as a Masters of Divinity Degree.

Membership in Spacious Mind Learning and Retreat Center

We encourage you to be a member of Spacious Mind. Being a member of Spacious Mind is an opportunity for you to ensure not only that the unique learning opportunities and spiritual environment that the center offers will be available to you but also to the general public as well for years to come. The center's budget cannot be met on class fees alone. However, through becoming a member of Spacious Mind you contribute to the center's financial and spiritual well-being AND you receive:

• Reduced class, workshop and retreat fees
• Members will also receive Spiritual Direction at no additional expense.You can make an appointment for Spiritual Direction during the Sunday lunch break by seeing either Madelon Wheeler-Gibb or Gordon Gibb.

Suggested Membership Donation per month:   $30*

*Important:   Both our Board of Directors and our teachers have made a commitment to ensure the availability of these teachings to any interested student regardless of his or her financial situation. Both our work study program and partial fee waiver are designed to assist anyone (or any family) in meeting their class fees. If you have any financial concerns, please make an appointment with Gordon Gibb, the center's treaurer to talk confidentially over your present situation. Gordon can be reached by e-mail at: information@spaciousmind.org