NWDA News

Dharma Teachers From Multiple Traditions Meet

Teachers Zen Master Jeong Ji, also known as Anita Feng; Rev. Kosho Finch, and Irene Goto traded views during the afternoon panel discussion

Buddhist teachers from around the Northwest gathered on Saturday, April 9, for the first Northwest Dharma Association Meeting teachers’ meeting since the beginning of the pandemic. The discussion was lively and heartfelt, conducted simultaneously online and in person. The day was divided into two sections, with a morning meeting among 20 teachers, who were free to exchange ideas without being recorded. This was followed by a public panel discussion among three teachers, which was joined by about 16 people online. During the first section, some of the questions discussed were challenges of maintaining community during the pandemic, incorporating traumas into practice,…

Dharma in Canada

B.C. Vihara Opening to Fulfill 20-Year Vision

Venerable Yin Kit Sik has for 20 years held the vision of creating this center for dharma study and practice

This fall a substantial redevelopment of the Po Lam Meditation Vihara, a meditation center for monastics and laypeople in Chilliwack, British Columbia, is to open. The project vision has been cultivated over 20 years by Abbot Venerable Yin Kit Sik, the Po Lam sangha, and by devoted regional layperson Kwok (KS) Tse. The Po Lam Buddhist Association project has been supported by donors from around the world. Over these many long years, the Po Lam monastics have worked tirelessly to create a new vihara facility as a place for monastics and laypeople to cultivate happy mind, according to the ancient…

Prison Dharma

Corresponding with Prisoner Pen Pals
Opens New Freedom for Housebound Buddhist

Shawne Mulloy roots herself in gardening and dharma practice, to deeply exchange letters with prisoners

She was “living the good life” – a rewarding career, a handsome, devoted husband, and a home on the Hawaiian island of Maui. Then multiple sclerosis (MS) appeared. That was the beginning of Shawne Mulloy’s Buddhist practice. Mulloy was in her early 50s when she received the diagnosis of MS – a disease of the central nervous system that can be highly debilitating and has no known cause or cure. Living with MS was profoundly difficult for her to accept. “I was just this raging mind,” Shawne said. Mulloy had always been a “seeker,” exploring various forms of meditation since…

Compassionate Action

The Legacy of Venerable Thich Nhat Hanh
In the Pacific Northwest, Alaska, Canada

Jeanie Seward-Magee of British Columbia, on 2012 receiving the Lamp of Wisdom from Thich Naht Hahn in Plum Village, France.

Thich Nhat Hanh, the pivotal Vietnamese Buddhist master who died earlier this year, greatly influenced Buddhist practitioners throughout the Pacific Northwest, Alaska, and Western Canada. By the time Thich Nhat Hanh died in Vietnam, on Jan. 22, 2022, he and his teachings had led to the formation of more than 40 Plum Village Sanghas in this region of North America. Known by his students as Thay (“teacher” in Vietnamese), Thich Nhat Hanh remains one of the most deeply loved Zen masters by Buddhists and non-Buddhists around the world. His teachings continue very much alive today, and I spoke with 11…

Dharma Healing, Arts

Celebrating the Dharma Life of Sanje Elliott
Portland Tibetan Calligrapher, Thangka Painter

Frank Sanje Elliott, a master painter of Tibetan thangkas and a master Tibetan calligrapher, has died. He was 89. Sanje Elliott leaves behind an enormous body of work that will support the dharma far into the future. He died peacefully in his Portland home on March 4, 2022. Sanje is perhaps best known as a master painter of Tibetan thangkas. These are the precise and colorful renderings of Buddhist meditational deities, on cloth, which Tibetans use to support visualization in vajrayana practice. He was also accomplished as a Tibetan calligrapher, and in 2014 his book “Tibetan Calligraphy” was published. This…

Dharma Education

The Dana Dilemma: Are Paid Teachings Buddhist?

Pacific Hermitage monks, here led by Ajahn Sudanto, sometimes walk through heavy snow

Around the Northwest, dharma teachers and students are working to develop ethical and effective models for how to compensate teachers, and how to cover expenses of facilities that support those teachers. Much of this effort pivots around 2022 interpretations of the word dana, the ancient Pali word for generosity. Institutions and teachers in the region are responding to the challenge along a spectrum, from more secular vantage points to faith-based ones, all with a goal of making dhamma teachings widely available “Dana can be a bit of a sore point all around. I’ve heard monastics, lay teachers, and administrators of…

Sangha News

Cambodian Temple Rising in South Seattle
Healing Cambodian Traumas from a Difficult Past

A view of the Preah Vihear from the south end of the property. It is under construction and not yet in use, with siding and roof installed

After years of planning and effort, the roofline of a traditional Cambodian Buddhist temple is rising in Seattle’s South Park neighborhood, overlooking the gritty industrial landscape around it. The new temple will be the most prominent structure on the two-acre grounds of Wat Khemerak Pothiram, one of only two Cambodian Buddhist temples in the Seattle area. The other is Wat Dhammacakkaram on Seattle’s Beacon Hill. The new structure at Wat Khemerak will be a formal Preah Vihear, a Cambodian term used to describe a place of religious worship and practice. The two-level structure when completed will be over 70 feet…