NW Dharma News

Rev. Senji Kanaeda leads the monks and nuns in a formal procession called a Gyodo

Winter 2019, Volume 32, #2

NW Dharma News

Trains, Cats, and Dharma; A Great Man Gone

David was a great lover of cats…and they loved him

In September the Northwest Dharma community was saddened to hear of the passing of David Forsythe, the long-time volunteer leader of Northwest Dharma Association. For the past several years NWDA has been re-visioning and planning for the transition to a new generation of Dharma leaders and association volunteers. If it hadn’t been for David’s vision and skill, the organization might not have survived long enough to make those transitions. David came to Seattle from upstate New York, where he’d been managing online library catalog systems. He began volunteering for NWDA in 1996, and was unfailingly enthusiastic about rolling up his…

Dharma Education

Mindfulness Retreat Transforms Teens in Oregon

Teens practice mindfulness while prone, a favorite during the retreat.

This past August more than 50 teens and adult mentors gathered at the Ananda Center at Laurelwood, just outside of Portland, to spend a week together practicing the art of mindful meditation. This was the 6th teen retreat held in the Pacific Northwest sponsored by Inward Bound Mindfulness Education (iBme – “I be me”). Today’s teens report high levels of stress, anxiety and depression. Add to that family conflicts, the prevalence of drugs and alcohol use, and national problems such as overt racism and political adversity, and our teens need more support than ever. Inward Bound Mindfulness Education retreats for…

Dharma in Canada

Retreat Center Offers Canadian Mountain Solitude

The Mahasiddha Retreat Centre provides a tranquil and inspiring environment for retreat and study

Less than a year after opening in the snowy Canadian Rockies, the Mahasiddha Retreat Centre is planning more retreats for 2020. Mahasiddha is the first rural retreat center to be operated by Seattle-based Nalandabodhi. That organization, under the direction of Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche, offers traditional Tibetan Buddhist teachings tailored for contemporary practitioners. Mahasiddha Retreat Centre complements Nalandabodhi’s normal focus on daily practice, study and mindful activity. Since its opening last spring Mahasiddha Retreat Centre has supported several group retreats. We’ve also welcomed retreatants who found there the space and tranquility for individual practice of several days or weeks. We look…

Compassionate Action

Pacific Northwest Peace Pagoda, a dream revived

Nipponzan Myohoji monks and nuns make an offering

In August people traveled from across the U.S. and Japan to Poulsbo, Washington, to celebrate the ground purification ceremony for what will be the first peace pagoda on the West Coast by the Nipponzan Myohoji Order. The 150 attending the ceremony witnessed a living prayer for peace; with a soft breeze moving the many colorful flags, and sunlight illuminating the grass, the trees, and the opened earth for the peace pagoda. The pagoda project is being led by Nipponzan Myohoji Buddhist nuns, monks, and their supporters. The ground purification ceremony or Jichin-sai, is a traditional Buddhist and Shinto ceremony asking…

Dharma Healing, Arts

What’s New and What’s Ancient With Your Mala?

People wearing malas celebrate a "Listening to the Sound of Silence” retreat at the Trappist Abbey in Carlton, Oregon. The retreat was taught by Jerry Braza from the Order of InterBeing.

Around the Northwest, Buddhist practitioners are using the strings of beads called malas in new and sometimes-surprising ways. And maybe not so surprising, here in 2020, some people are adapting digital devices to support their dharma practice as effectively as physical malas have since the time of the Buddha. As I reached out to Buddhist practitioners around the region, I was fascinated by the array of perspectives they bring to their mala use. Malas sold in Seattle empowering refugee Tibetan nuns in India Seattle-based Tibetan Nun Project in 1987 began raising funds to educate and empower nuns in the Tibetan…

Sangha News

Female Leader Takes Over at Seattle Soto Zen

Outgoing teacher Eko Jeff Kelley prepares to bow with Kanshin Allison Tait, incoming teacher, in 2019.

Leadership changed at Seattle Soto Zen in September, with new spiritual director Kanshin Allison Tait replacing Eko Jeff Kelley as resident teacher. Kelley has retired after serving in the role for nearly 10 years. Shortly after the teacher transition ceremony Seattle Soto Zen conducted its annual September sesshin at Camp Indianola, west of Seattle. Tait and Kelley shared teaching responsibilities for a topic Kelley had chosen, “Impermanence Is Buddha Nature.” The sesshin participants were very aware of the truth of impermanence, as they said farewell to their beloved teacher. “Now things are changing,” said Kelley in his closing remarks. “That’s…

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Featured Events

Water Moon Dojo virtual May mini-sesshin

Join our month of May virtual half-day Zazen meditation retreat on Sunday May 31 from 6:20 am to 11:45 am via Zoom. [Please stay muted, including during the chanting. You are encouraged to leave your video on to help foster a sense of the sangha sitting together. ] Join for any part of the mini sesshin you are able. A copy of the chants can be found at www.watermoondojo.us

Featured Event

Mahasangha Event

Member Group: Seattle One Drop Zendo - Water Moon Dojo

Date: Sunday, May 31
Time: 6:20 am - 11:45 am
Event Type: Featured Event

Tradition: Rinzai
Teacher: Shodo Harada Roshi spiritual leader (note: not present at this mini sesshin)

(ONLINE) Beyond the Cushion: Awakening our highest potential

What’s needed in our modern globalized society are spiritual awakening practices that embrace both who we are and the culture in which we live. Discover five “awakening in action” principles for modern spiritual explorers. Together these help take you ‘beyond the cushion’, to a more alive and free version of yourself. This course is offered by Dharma Teachers Doug Duncan and Catherine Pawasarat, who are based at Clear Sky Meditation Center in Eastern BC.

Featured Event

Mahasangha Event

Member Group: Planet Dharma

Start: Monday, June 1
End: Sunday, June 28

Event Type: Class, Featured Event

Tradition: Namgyal Lineage
Teacher: Doug Duncan and Catherine Pawasarat

72-Hour Non-Stop Global Online Tara Practice

72-Hour Non-Stop Global Tara Practice for World Peace June 5th – June 7th Practice for World Peace Please join H.E. Dzogchen Khenpo Choga Rinpoche and the International Dzogchen Buddha Path Sangha on the day commemorating the 2980th birth anniversary and 2900th parinirvana anniversary of the Buddha! This year in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Holy Vajra Master and international lamas and teachers will broadcast live from around the world, a three-day continuous practice and devotion to the great compassionate victorious Mother Tara, female Buddha revered around the world by all those seeking relief from the suffering…

Featured Event

Mahasangha Event

Member Group: Dzogchen Shri Singha of Portland

Start: Thursday, June 4
End: Sunday, June 7

Event Type: Featured Event

Tradition: Tibetan/Nyingma
Teacher: H.E. Dzogchen Khenpo Choga Rimpoche

Online Weekend Retreat: The Nine Bodies of Consciousness

Awakening is an embodied experience that is supported through moment to moment awareness. The Nine Bodies teachings is an embodying awareness practice that offers a moment to moment tracking and classifying of meditative experiences. As an insight practice, these teachings provide the means to explore ever more subtle levels of consciousness that can strengthen concentration and brighten awareness. The explorations, grounded in the present moment, can lead to a level of stillness that supports greater clarity and understanding into the causes of suffering and the way leading to the end of suffering. The weekend will start by focusing on the…

Featured Event

Mahasangha Event

Member Group: Seattle Insight Meditation Society

Date: Saturday, June 13
Time: 9:00 am - 4:30 pm
Event Type: Featured Event, Meditation, Retreat

Tradition: Vipassana
Teacher: Tuere Sala

Buddhist Essentials – 9 Class Series

This 9-Class Series will meet on the 3rd Wednesday of the month from June 17, 2020 through February 17, 2021 from 7-9:00 PM. Depending on COVID-19 restrictions, the class will be held either at University Friends Meeting House or via Zoom Meetings. For latest information about status of classes and events, check our Status page. Information will be mailed with Registration. Class materials are available here. The Class Schedule is as follows: June 17 The Three Characteristics – with Lyndal Johnson and Anna Ossenfort The Three Characteristics are the three aspects that pervade all of conditioned phenomena: anicca, dukkha, and anatta. When we…

Featured Event

Mahasangha Event

Member Group: Seattle Insight Meditation Society

Date: Wednesday, June 17
Time: 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Event Type: Class, Featured Event

Tradition: Vipassanna
Teacher: Lyndal Johnson and Anna Ossenfort

(Online) Eye of the Storm: Navigating the Modern World

Do you struggle to keep momentum with your spiritual practice? It is easy to feel one’s energy get drained away and get lost in the struggles and distractions of the modern world. It’s like trying to cross a desert, and holding precious water in a leaky cup with no lid. This course will teach you about the art of the spiritual container. By repairing the holes in your metaphorical leaky cup, you can redesign your everyday life to be more like you’re in the protective space of retreat. From years of being a refuge for spiritual explorers, our meditation centre,…

Featured Event

Mahasangha Event

Member Group: Planet Dharma

Start: Monday, October 12
End: Sunday, November 8

Event Type: Class, Featured Event

Tradition: Namgyal Lineage
Teacher: Doug Duncan and Catherine Pawasarat

Living with Grief

This daylong retreat will begin at 10 am, but attendees are encouraged to come early and attend the weekly temple services in the temple, as this is also a Buddhist holiday. We will be celebrating the bodhisattva Quan Yin’s renunciation. The remainder of the day will consist of teachings from the Abbot Thay Kozen regarding death and dying in Buddhism, opportunities for sharing, and rituals for honoring our grief, in whatever form it exists. Please plan to bring a sack lunch.

Featured Event

Mahasangha Event

Member Group: Mount Adams Zen Buddhist Temple

Date: Saturday, November 14
Time: 9:00 am - 3:00 pm
Event Type: Featured Event

Tradition: Thien (Chan), Zen
Teacher: Ven. Thay Kozen

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What's Happening

Dharma Relief: Let’s get medical supplies to where they’re needed!

Several Buddhist groups are organizing a charity relief program to help deliver medical supplies to where they are needed. You can help by donating and by coordinating supplies. Visit DharmaRelief.org

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Buddhist Centers Respond to Pandemic

Responses to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic are shifting rapidly. Many centers have suspended public events and are streaming programs via Zoom, YouTube, Facebook, and other video platforms. The following are a few announcements made in recent days. Check with your local center to confirm whether events are being held.

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Finding upsides in digital sangha when we have no choice

Practical tips on leading meditation and discussion using video conferencing.

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Group Members

Puget Sound Zen Center

The Puget Sound Zen Center is located at 15401 Westside Highway SW on Vashon - and on Monday evenings at the Fauntleroy Church in West Seattle. Our services include tea, chanting, sitting periods, walking meditation, and a dharma talk or discussion. We also offer retreats, dharma classes, workshops and day sits. Newcomers welcome--please join us! For more information on upcoming events, see our website at pszc.org.

Tradition: Zen || Location: Vashon, WA

Ewam Sang-ngag Ling

Ewam is a member-supported organization relying on the generosity of our friends and sangha members. The most important benefit of membership is the continuation of the center itself. Membership helps support the mission of the center, the growth of dharma worldwide and the work of Gochen Tulku Rinpoche. Rinpoche's main project is building the Magadha Garden of 1,000 Buddhas in Arlee, Montana.

Tradition: Tibetan || Location: Arlee, MT

EcoSangha Seattle

EcoSangha is a Zen practice group grounded in Zen practice as an inherently ecological perspective. We are open to all people who would like to practice with us.

Tradition: Zen || Location: Seattle, WA

Loving Kindness Qigong

Consciously melding Vajrayana practice with Yi Ren Qigong, we upgrade the quality of our vital energy through visualization and gentle movement. You are invited to meditate on loving kindness, compassion and wisdom as you experience them in the body. Having gained a measure of clarity and experience that very day, we focus on those energies and guide this Qi into energy centers and along meridian pathways.

Tradition: Vajrayana, Yi Ren Qigong || Location: Seattle, WA

Pristine Mind Foundation

Pristine Mind Foundation is a non-profit organization founded by Orgyen Chowang Rinpoche dedicated to helping people live fully, die fearlessly, and transform every area of their lives by offering accessible and experiential Buddhist teachings.

Tradition: Tibetan || Location: , WA

Seattle Wisdom

A Seattle hub for conscious conversations and mindfulness practices in professional spaces. Seattle Wisdom was founded in 2013 to unite the Seattle community. The group encompasses mindfulness teachers, coaches, facilitators, private mediation practitioners as well as those seeking to learn new ways bring authenticity into the workplace. We are a community/volunteer run organization with all members encouraged to take action to fuel the Seattle community.

Tradition: none || Location: , WA

Nitartha Institute

Founded by Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche, Nitartha Institute provides systematic and in-depth study of the central teachings of Buddhism as a method to understand reality and our own mind. It is a unique opportunity where you can take exploring your inner wisdom and awakening your heart to a new level! Nitartha Institute upholds the importance of non-sectarianism and appreciation of the many forms of Buddhism – thus students of any background are welcome to attend. You can choose between regional programs, self-paced online courses, and a month-long summer program. More info on www.nitarthainstitute.org.

Tradition: Tibetan Buddhism || Location: Seattle, WA

Seattle Koyasan Buddhist Temple

Tradition: Koyasan Shingon Buddhism (Japanese Vajrayana) || Location: Seattle , WA

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