At the NWDA-sponsored 2014 “Arts as Buddhist Practice” gathering, at Seattle University, Lynne Marvet, arm raised, let people in striking, and sometimes amusing, songs of realization.
Photos by Steve Wilhelm, Jason Wirth

The Northwest Dharma News began in the 1980s as a packet of flyers announcing upcoming retreats at Cloud Mountain Retreat Center. Since then it has developed into a journal covering the evolution and growth of Buddhist teachings and community across the Pacific Northwest. The News has been created by a succession of editors, currently under the editorship of Steve Wilhelm, a retired journalist and active Dharma teacher.

We thought it would be interesting and enlightening to look back over the past decade of Northwest Dharma News. Here are 15 of the most-read articles from the past decade, hinting at the enormous range of traditional and modern ways of cultivating awareness and compassion. Nowhere else will you find this breadth and depth of coverage, of local Dharma communities.

Northwest Dharma Association, which publishes Northwest Dharma News,  is a non-profit association of dharma groups that actively encourages dharma groups, and individuals, to reach out to each other to create channels of communication. Together these groups can plan activities to increase understanding of each other, and to bring Buddhist awareness and perspective to the wider society, Buddhists and non-Buddhists alike.  The Northwest Dharma Association stands behind you and your sangha, ready to assist with planning and communication.

The Northwest Dharma Association and the Northwest Dharma News are kept alive by a tiny group of aging people. We are looking to turn over the keys to a new generation of Buddhists who are committed, culturally diverse, and social media savvy. Welcome are people of wide compassion, and deep understanding of the societal issues disenfranchising our most vulnerable fellow citizens, and the importance of the Dharma at this time.

NWDA is a streamlined, lean and frugal operation that is well positioned to pass along leadership, to those welcoming a moderate amount of sweat equity. Three positions are central: executive director, president, and Northwest Dharma News editor.

The people currently in those roles are willing to mentor you, as you step toward continuing the association’s mission. If desired, some of us currently  active will be happy to continue serving on the Northwest Dharma Board, along with new people.

We look forward to passing on to a new generation this legacy of supporting Buddhist teachings, practice, and community in the Pacific Northwest, before we fade from this realm.

A new issue of Northwest Dharma News will be back in the summer of 2023. In the meantime, give these articles of the last decade a fresh read, and reflect on the history and significance, and value, of the region’s thriving Dharma community.

The Northwest Dharma Association publishes the twice-yearly Northwest Dharma News and the twice-monthly Sangha Update. We maintain an online directory and calendar of events, and sponsor regional teacher gatherings and other events.

The association is a grassroots organization that relies on the generosity of its individual and group members. The community appreciates your financial support, and your human participation.

Happy practice!