NWDA News

Northwest Dharma Association Annual Report

As part of the 2014 Northwest Dharma Association Annual Report, here is a listing of our current 108 member groups. It includes sanghas, temples, and organizations throughout the region which represent the diversity of practice within the Buddhist tradition. All the major traditions, as well as non-sectarian groups, are represented. You can find more information about each and all of them in the Member Group Directory. The Northwest Dharma Association is unique in North America. No other organization encompasses the variety of traditions represented by the member groups. In addition, no other regional organization publishes as professional an online newsletter…

Compassionate Action

Kilung Foundation Brings Education to Nomads

Kilung Monastery, in the snow of the Tibetan Himalayas.

Kilung Foundation, dedicated to bringing humanitarian and spiritual support to a key area of eastern Tibet, has been making significant progress in recent months. The organization, based on Whidbey Island in Washington state, is in particular focused on the region of Dzuchuka, in the region of Tibet traditionally known as Kham. The two key accomplishments are the launch of a second nine-year training program called a Shedra, in renovated facilities, and the start of an improved program at the Kilung Children’s school, in the shedra building. To help provide livelihood for people in the region, Kilung Foundation is also helping…

Dharma Education

Deeply Experiencing Sangha in a Magnificent Place

The MCPS group gathered, at beautiful Camp Indianola.

In January the extended sangha of the Mindfulness Community of Puget Sound gathered for a retreat led by teacher Michael Ciborski, and enlivened by the presence of many children. The mindfulness retreat, over the Martin Luther King weekend, was in the in the tradition of Vietnamese Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh. Our retreat was enriched by the presence of families during the long weekend, with the children ranging in age from 3 to 15. This is a testimonial from one of the parents: “This year the teenagers who have been participating in the retreat for many years, welcomed several new…

Dharma in Canada

New Name, Same Vision: Studying Living Buddhism at UBC

Robert Ho and Jessica Main, at the renaming ceremony for the program last year.

With a new affiliation, Buddhist studies at the University of British Columbia (UBC) are evolving to better understand living Buddhism in the 21st Century. The expanded direction was launched last October, when an existing program studying what is termed “Buddhism today,” was renamed “The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Program in Buddhism and Contemporary Society.” From 2005 until last October, the program had been backed by The Tung Lin Kok Yuen Canada Foundation, a Vancouver-based philanthropic organization that supports the study of Chinese culture and Buddhist philosophy. With its new affiliation, the program joins a Hong Kong-based sister organization…

Sangha News

Drikung Seattle with New Members, Activities

H.E. Garchen Rinpoche and his two attendants, Lama Bunima and Lama Abao at the Sakya Monastery in 2013. This was the first event organized by Drikung Seattle and the year of its founding.

Just two years after opening, Drikung Seattle is bustling with activity, new people and plans. Last September the center, which practices in the Drikung Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism, moved from a private residence to the West Seattle Senior Center. There the group is meeting weekly on Saturdays, from 10 a.m. to noon, for meditation and group practice. Drikung Seattle plans to offer a series of teachings during our regularly scheduled Saturday meetings later this spring, via Skype, by Khenpo Samdup. He is resident lama of our sister group Gar Drolma Buddhist Center, in Dayton, Ohio. Almost immediately after opening…