NWDA News

NWDA Brings Light of Harmony to a Dark Time

Dharma groups of many different traditions and nationalities have long gathered together as one under the umbrella of Northwest Dharma Association, like this 2013 Vesak celebration in Seattle

Another year is coming to a close — a year filled with controversy, political intrigue, and war. The conflicts and striving erupting world-wide, will likely continue in 2024 and beyond. This would be no surprise to the Buddha, who said: “All is burning, burning with the fire of lust, the fire of hate, the fire of delusion, burning with birth, aging and death, with sorrows, with lamentation, with pain, with grief, with despair.”(Samyutta Nikaya 35.28) The hope for the world is the aspiration and capacity for tolerance, for the accommodation of different views, and for goodwill for all beings near…

Compassionate Action

Healing the Climate While Living the Dharma Path

In August, author Iris Antman and Lynn Berry demonstrated against the Blue Angels military air show, at Seattle’s summer Seafair festival

The Climate Action Group, at Seattle Insight Meditation Society, is planning an event for early 2024. As the climate crisis daily intensifies, it’s not clear if we’re slowing global warming much less turning it around, even though people around the globe are trying. Our climate group continues to look for ways to address the challenges. At SIMS (Seattle Insight Meditation Society), we keep in mind that individual actions are only part of what’s needed, and that larger societal changes are imperative. But it still can be empowering to begin addressing the bigger picture, through small changes and actions. For our…

Dharma Arts

Cascadian Zen: Bioregional Writings on Cascadia Here & Now

Jason Wirth led a tour of Kubota Garden south of Seattle, as part of the fall Cascadia Poetry Festival 7. Wirth is a docent at the garden, and co-edited a book about it

Buddhist practitioners may be happy to know that we have released the first volume of a collection of poems, essays, interviews, and artworks, which are inspired by the spirit of Eihei Dōgen, but centered here in our bioregion of Cascadia. The book is called “Cascadian Zen: Bioregional Writings on Cascadia Here and Now,” and it is the inaugural imprint of Watershed Press, located in Seattle. Eihei Dogen, (1200–1253), was the founder of the Soto Zen school in Japan. One of his many famous statements is, “When you find your place where you are, practice occurs, actualizing the fundamental point.” In calling…

Dharma Education

UW’s First Endowed Buddhist Studies Professor

Assistant Professor Joseph Marino, first endowed Buddhist professorship, speaks at the September 29 event at Kane Hall

This fall the University of Washington Buddhist Studies program celebrated a major milestone: the establishment of the Cris and Melissa Upton Cyders Endowed Professorship in Buddhist Studies. This is the university’s first endowed professorship in Buddhist Studies. Funds from the endowed professorship will be held and invested by UW, and will be available to support the research and teaching of the UW Buddhist Studies program for years to come. The inaugural recipient of the professorship is Assistant Professor Joseph Marino. Marino earned a master’s degree in religious studies from Ohio State University in 2007. He then came to UW to…

Sangha News

Three-Year Retreat Center to Rise in Montana

His Holiness Rabjam Rinpoche, and Tulku Sangak Rinpoche, perform ceremonies and rituals in the meditation hall at Bodhi House

In early 2024 construction will begin on the Namchak Retreat Ranch’s three-year retreat center in Hot Springs, Montana. When complete it will be one of just a few such facilities in the U.S. West. During a three-year retreat, participants will practice shamata, vipassana, Ngöndro, deity practice, Dzogchen, and deeper practices, which can lead students to enlightenment. Such retreats are crucial for establishing the Namchak lineage in the West. Slated for completion in 2025, the three-year facility will have six cabins, each with 10 rooms, a patio area, and a ceremony space. Each room will have a deck facing the Mission…