NWDA News

Will 2017 be the End or a Beginning for NWDA?

Hello everyone, I would like to announce: “Celebrating the Sangha” with Northwest Dharma Association at Nalanda West, 3902 Woodland Park Ave N, Seattle November 11, 2017, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Will it be renewal or a wake in the best tradition of New Orleans? Over the last six months you have read entreaties, from myself and from Executive Director George Draffan, asking people to participate in the Northwest Dharma Association. We find no “takers.” Here are the cards on the table: Four people operate NWDA and Northwest Dharma News All are in their late 60s, male and white…

Dharma Education

Five Northwest Dharma Leaders Graduate
From Fifth Community Dharma Leaders Program

Five Northwest people graduated from the fifth Community Dharma Leaders program, ready to support others in the region

Five Northwesterners are offering more dharma teachings in the region, after graduating from the fifth Community Dharma Leaders Program in California. The five were among about 100 people from around the world who completed the two-year program, called CDL5 by participants. The April 29 graduation ceremony was at Spirit Rock meditation center in California. The Northwest contingent included Emily Carpenter, Portland; Chris Charles, Seattle; Mary Haberman, Bellingham, Wash.; Justin Michelson, Eugene, Ore.; and Steve Wilhelm, Kirkland, Wash. The primary intention of the program is to train a highly diverse group of dharma leaders to serve populations marginalized by race, sexual…

Prison Dharma

Writing to Prisoners Can Help Them Transform

Seeking a way to help others? Try writing to Buddhist practitioners behind bars

I first started writing prisoners about 10 years ago, because it seemed a natural extension of practice. Over the years I’ve corresponded with perhaps four or five prisoners. I’ve learned people in prison are no different than you or I, they just want to be happy. They have the same potential to transform their situation and to go on to make the world a better place. And they are largely forgotten by society. “All of the Buddhists I have corresponded with have helped me to have a better understanding of the Dharma,” said an inmate at Monroe Correctional Complex in…

Sangha News

Buddha Jewel Monastery Expanding Zen Offerings
In Larger Facility in Shoreline, North of Seattle

A thriving Taiwan-based nunnery has moved into a bigger space in Shoreline, to serve growing Sangha

For Buddha Jewel Monastery the past year has included change and continuity. The change came with a move last May from the Rainier Valley in south Seattle to Shoreline, a smaller city north of Seattle. The continuity is in the teachings, the group’s main emphasis. The monastery offers a complete curriculum of classes designed to bring a person’s understanding of Buddhist ideas and practices from zero to an advanced level, gradually over time. Buddha Jewel Monastery moved primarily to offer more space, because the Rainier Avenue site only had space for 30 people while the new space can hold 100,…