Fall 2018, Volume 31, #3
Tibetan practitioners from around the world journeyed to Portland to accomplish a spectacular and powerful Drubchen, one of the Nyingma tradition’s most ancient practices.
We’re in a time of transition in Buddhist communities and in society at large. As the dharma takes root across a globalized world, Asian and Western traditions and sciences are coming together with some helpful synergies, and sanghas are integrating their spiritual practices with social service and compassionate action. There are also many painful events and challenges, ranging from continued…
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Seattle’s Recovery Café Network is steadily growing in the Northwest, as it taps Buddhist and other sources to offer help for people with addiction issues. In addition to our flagship program in Seattle, 11 Recovery Cafes have now opened their doors. In 2018 we are opening three more in the Pacific Northwest. Recovery Café Clark County, in a mostly rural…
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In late June, 2018, Shambhala Publications published “The Complete Cold Mountain: Poems of the Legendary Hermit Hanshan,” translated from the Tang dynasty Chinese by Kazuaki Tanahashi and Peter Levitt. Of all the Chinese hermit poets from the late 7th century on, Hanshan (Cold Mountain) may well be the most beloved. Endorsements by Jane Hirschfield, Natalie Goldberg, Jon Kabat-Zinn, and Roshi…
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More than 500 West Coast Tibetans gathered near Seattle July 6-8, to celebrate the Dalai Lama’s 83rd birthday. The Tibetan Association of Washington, which represents Washington state’s Tibetan community, put together the three-day picnic event. The event, at North Creek High School in Bothell, a small city north of Seattle, included Tibetan cultural performances and sports competitions. The sports events…
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Dzogchen Shri Singha Foundation performed its first-ever Portland drupchen in April, and plans to repeat the complex vajrayana practice April 26-28, 2019. Entitled “The Grand Blessing Ceremony of the 10,000 Offerings to the 21 Noble Taras,” the three-day 2018 ceremony was conducted by His Eminence Dzogchen Khenpo Choga Rinpoche. He is a renowned Tibetan meditation master, scholar and author and…
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As Kagyu Sukha Choling’s two lamas move toward semi-retirement, leaders of the Ashland, Oregon, sangha are developing a multi-layered plan to keep the center alive and thriving. The plan includes providing for future teachings, for financial stability, and for the comfortable retirement of the two female lamas leading Kagyu Sukha Choling (KSC): Lama Pema Clark and Lama Yeshe Parke. Developing the plan is stretching and deepening the 150-member Kagyu Sukha Choling sangha. The challenges they face are paralleled by many dharma groups across the United States, as their founding lamas and sanghas begin to age. While Kagyu Sukha Choling leaders…
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