NWDA News

NWDA 2018 Annual Report

Accomplishments in 2018 For years we at Northwest Dharma Association have reflected on whether and how the dharma will become truly rooted in the West. The roots are strong, and spreading! The joy and challenge now, more than ever, is supporting so many diverse teachings and manifestations of the dharma communities. The Northwest Dharma Association co-sponsored a range of events in 2018, including: January: Contemplative care skill-building retreat with Jonathan Prescott, hosted by Choboji Zen Temple. April: Gathering of Buddhist teachers from different traditions, hosted by the Seattle Koyasan Temple. September: Day-long immersion with people of color and allies exploring…

Dharma in Canada

Graduate-level Mindfulness for Professionals Started
at Fraser Valley University in British Columbia

Participants attending the first MBSR facilitator training in Western Canada at the University of Fraser Valley in 2018, in the Indigenous Gathering Place.

This fall the University of the Fraser Valley in Canada launched one of the first graduate mindfulness programs in North America. Our team in the Department of Adult Education has developed a program to support evidence-based approaches to teaching and learning mindfulness. People earning the Mindfulness-Based Teaching and Learning (MBTL) graduate certificate will use their skills in health care, education,…

Compassionate Action

How to Take In the World’s News – Mindfully

Seattle Mindfulness Center therapists Teresa Williams, John Guy, Neha Chawla and Mary Roy, have advice to offer on taking in the news.

If the news feels a deluge – Trump, politics, starving orca whales, shootings — the people at the Seattle Mindfulness Center have a few suggestions for you. Therapists at the center, who employ mindfulness techniques to help people overcome anxiety, depression and substance abuse, during a May evening meeting offered insights to a Northwest Dharma News reporter seeking relief from the tsunami of bad news. The following are highlights from that conversation, along with the reporter’s thoughts, presented as a list of tips for dealing with news that is “not so nice.” 1. Moderate your intake of the news. Don’t…

Dharma Healing, Arts

Journeying from the Pacific Northwest to Bhutan!

Seven dharma practitioners from Portland and Seattle made a pilgrimage to Bhutan in March, and returned inspired. We gathered in Bodha, Nepal, then flew on a clear day along the glorious Himalayas from Kathmandu to Paro, for the first of many glimpses of wonder. When we landed at the sole Bhutanese international airport in Paro, tour guides approached with traditional Tibetan greeting scarves called khatas, bowing to each pilgrim and welcoming each with the white scarf of honor. The Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan is a lush, rugged Buddhist country nestled between Tibet and Sikkim. Many have heard of Bhutan’s goal…

Dharma Education

Finding Myself and How to Give and Heal in Asia

Cate Legate sitting and smiling at Shey Monastery in Ladakh, India, after being fed small bowls filled with Thenthuk, Tibetan noodle soup, by loving monks

(Editor’s note: Cate Legate here shares the story of the 18 months she spent recently in pilgrimage and retreat in Asia, and how that led her to return to Seattle to share what she learned and saw.) I left society, and the stress that comes with it. I lived as a monk or a nun, I walked with my bag, and I lived in the truth of my being. It never felt right here, something was always off. I look around Seattle when I am driving to see people in their cars, foreheads resting against their steering wheel, tired. I…

Sangha News

Re-Centering: Where Will We Be In A Year?

David Cook opens the shrine for the weekly get together of the Young Meditators group. Cory Paulo observes so he can open the following week

With less than a year to go on our lease, the Shambhala Center of Portland is looking for a new home for practice. But this seems to get harder by the minute. Options for something affordable are decreasing in Portland and throughout the Pacific Northwest, as costs per square foot increase. We’re trying everything. In addition to renting another and less-costly space, we’re exploring interfaith space sharing, perhaps with a faith group faced with a shrinking congregation and excess space. Another option we’re pursuing is to rent a good-sized space and sublet part of to a compatible group, or to…