Like this one, most malas have 108 beads. By joining together, we can guarantee the healthy future of Northwest Dharma Association.

What is the Mahasangha Mala?

The Mahasangha Mala represents the family of individual donors and groups, which are connected in a circle of giving to Northwest Dharma Association.

Each Mahasangha Mala member gives $9 or more every month, which adds up to $108 dollars a year, on a recurring basis. A sacred number, 108 is the number of beads in Buddhist malas, the strings of prayer beads that people in many Buddhist traditions use for reciting and counting mantras.

If 108 people sign up, this monthly Mahasangha Mala donation will ensure the future of the mahasangha, the collective of sanghas in the Pacific Northwest. This generosity will support these activities of the Northwest Dharma Association:

• Northwest Dharma News
• The new and improved  NWDA website
• Annual Buddhist conferences and events
• Buddhist outreach and community volunteer programs, like Buddhist chaplaincy
• NWDA grant money for projects that build the Northwest mahasangha

What is the Mahasangha?

As Koro Kaisan Miles, former president of the Northwest Dharma Association, said in the 2013 summer edition of the Northwest Dharma News, the mahasangha of Buddhism is:

“The family tree from whence each of us has sprouted like a leaf, fundamentally the same yet different in our own way.

“It is because of this realization that the Northwest Dharma Association (NWDA) has come into existence, and lives to serve the greater mahasangha of the Pacific Northwest. The recognition that we are all working toward awakening is fundamental to NWDA’s mission. We strive to be the conduit by which all members of our extended family can be connected, and can extend our individual concepts of sangha so that it becomes greater than just our local congregation or tradition.

“It is through our connection with NWDA that all of us can relate to each other and feel that we are among family, no matter how different or isolated we might feel because of our particular circumstances.”

Click here to be a part of the Mahasangha Mala! Thank you for your support!