The Northwest Dharma News Launches Its Summer 2012 Issue With a New Look

This issue of Northwest Dharma News brings a new look, designed to help readers get around the publication more easily, and more easily find what they are interested in.

When planning the redesign, we wanted something closer to a magazine format, something that would engage readers. Some improvements to the format are: featuring a large article photo on the cover, easy access to the current table of contents, contributor credits on every page, and ability to view all photos in a larger lightbox format. With the new look, you’ll notice you no longer have to go back to the table of contents to explore a new section, but can do so more fluidly. We wanted to introduce more flexibility, so…

Volunteers and Monroe Prison Inmates Together Celebrate Buddha’s Birthday

Most of us have been to birthday parties where we were told, “Don’t bring any presents – just bring yourself!” But, have you ever been to a birthday party where you had to go through a metal detector to make sure you had complied with this request?

On May 12, while visiting inmates of the Washington State Reformatory Unit of the Monroe Correctional Complex, eight of us had to be scanned before we could enter, and we had to empty our pockets and leave even our keys behind.

Traveling to the little city of Monroe, approximately 35 miles north and east of Seattle, we visited a small sangha, or practice community, of Buddhist men who were celebrating the Buddha’s birthday…

Earth Day Mindful Walking on the Waterfront

On Earth Day, April 22, I and about 50 others met at the Olympic Sculpture Garden in downtown Seattle to walk mindfully together in honor of our planet. After gathering for a few words of reflection, with the warm afternoon sun upon us, we walked in silence, single file, through the sculpture park and along the water’s edge of Myrtle Edwards Park, each of us offering along the way, to the Earth and to ourselves, many moments of mindful attention.

Weeks earlier, motivated from my deep concern for our world and the extreme ecological challenges it faces, I began to share the idea of organizing this Earth Day mindfulness walk, an idea inspired particularly by the peace walks of Cambodian…

An Artist Explores What Buddha Looks Like

An Artist Explores Perhaps my work as a Buddha-maker began about a decade ago when I was in the market for a Buddha to use for a home altar. I viewed line-ups of concrete Buddhas at garden shops, and plastic or bronze Buddhas at new age gift shops. Looking online, over 16,000 Buddhas vied for my attention.

I had been hoping to find something … more unique, something that might reflect a modern and Western sensibility. Most of the Buddhas I found had a sameness to them, which for me, begged a couple of questions: What does (can, should) a Buddha look like, and why? What does equanimity look like? What does enlightenment look like?

Originally the Buddha instructed his…

Engaged with Suffering: Seattle University Seniors Create a Field Guide to Socially Engaged Buddhism

(Editor’s note: This spring, a group of Seattle University seniors embarked on a high-intensity exploration of engaged Buddhism, culminating in creation of a Buddhist “field guide.” This is their story, told by student Jack Hamrick.)

For college seniors, the final term of the final year typically means nice weather and, should you be so fortunate, an easy course load to match. In other words, plenty of opportunity to coast to the end and enjoy the final weeks of that sweet collegiate freedom before “reality” hits after graduation.

But this wasn’t the case for me and the nine other seniors enrolled in Professor Sharon Suh’s “Engaged Buddhism” course. From the start it was clear: “You will not be coasting to graduation.”…

Samden Ling in Portland Starts Monday Practice

Twelve years after it was founded, Samden Ling is taking a new step by offering weekly Monday night meditations, practices and teachings. The teachings will be offered by Jacqueline Mandell, who founded the center in the year 2000 at the request of Tibetan lama Adzom Rinpoche. She will start offering the new program on July 2, at 8125 SE Pine St. in Portland.

Monday night class will be for those who want to learn meditation, as well as those who want to follow a clear path to liberation for the sake of all.

The intention is to bring the open freedom we all seek via meditation and positive cultivation of mind. The program is intended to facilitate a better understanding…