By Jack Lawlor
The Plum Village Lineage North American Dharma Teachers Council (the “Dharma Teacher Sangha” or “DTS”), comprised of approximately seventy lay and monastic Dharma teachers in the US and Canada, has been mindfully applying attention to the following:
1. WAKE UP SCHOOL TEACHER SUPPORT
Brother Phap Dung, Brother Phap Luu, and other lay and monastic Dharma teachers have been nourishing the introduction of mindfulness practices into Canadian and United States schools through a growing Wake Up Schools program.
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By Jack Lawlor
The Plum Village Lineage North American Dharma Teachers Council (the “Dharma Teacher Sangha” or “DTS”), comprised of approximately seventy lay and monastic Dharma teachers in the US and Canada, has been mindfully applying attention to the following:
1. WAKE UP SCHOOL TEACHER SUPPORT
Brother Phap Dung, Brother Phap Luu, and other lay and monastic Dharma teachers have been nourishing the introduction of mindfulness practices into Canadian and United States schools through a growing Wake Up Schools program. The focus is now turning to how best to train additional professional schoolteachers in mindfulness practice by placing them in a relationship with an ordained Dharma teacher in Thay’s tradition. Schoolteachers would be offered mentoring similar to that offered to Order of Interbeing aspirants.
The Transformation and Healing Committee of the Dharma Teacher Sangha—comprised of John Bell, Richard Brady, Lyn Fine, Jack Lawlor, Kenley Neufeld, and Leslie Rawls—is matching Wake Up schoolteachers with Dharma teachers who will listen deeply and offer whatever assistance they can. The ensuing insights will be included in an upcoming educators’ guidebook.
2. RURAL AND SMALL TOWN SUPPORT OUTREACH
From time to time, the Dharma Teacher Sangha receives requests for assistance from Sanghas in rural areas and small towns that are not proximate to larger communities and have not been visited by a Dharma teacher. In response, the Care-Taking Council of the DTS has initiated an effort to match these requests with DTS members who will volunteer to facilitate a Day of Mindfulness or retreat each year in a remote area. The Local Sanghas Committee of the DTS, comprised of Jack Lawlor, Dennis Bohn, Anthony Silvestre, and John Bell, will facilitate this effort. This initiative is not intended to interfere with existing relationships between local Sanghas and Dharma teachers. The Local Sanghas Committee will provide Sanghas in need of assistance with names of one or more Dharma teachers on its volunteer registry. The local Sanghas then can think through details regarding selection, availability, themes for the Day of Mindfulness or retreat, travel expenses, and dana with the volunteer Dharma teacher. If your Sangha is interested in this program, please write to: communications@orderofinterbeing.com.
3. TRANSFORMATION AND HEALING COMMITTEE COMMUNICATIONS PROTOCOL
The Dharma Teacher Sangha sometimes receives invitations to add a voice, either as individuals or as an organization, to the voices of others regarding issues of war and peace, the environment, race relations, and social justice, often with little available time to respond. Similarly, members of the DTS have needed a mechanism for enlisting the support of the DTS and its members on issues of concern to them and to their local Sanghas.
The Transformation and Healing Committee and the Care-Taking Council have recently developed a protocol to work jointly on the more important and challenging communications. The Dharma Teacher Sangha will comply with applicable limitations on participation in partisan politics, as set forth in the Fourteen Mindfulness Trainings, as well as with laws and regulations that pertain to tax-exempt organizations. If the DTS members have insufficient direct experience to act, they may withhold support. This new protocol should enhance our denomination’s ability to join hands with other spiritual communities in a timely manner.
4. RETREAT FOR SANGHA FACILITATORS
The Local Sanghas Committee will offer its first retreat for lay Sangha facilitators in the Plum Village tradition, February 18-21, 2016, at Blue Cliff Monastery. We bow deeply in gratitude to the Blue Cliff community for hosting this event, a first of its kind offered by the Dharma Teacher Sangha. Sangha facilitation is vital for Thay’s continuation; this retreat provides an opportunity to share skills and experiences. The DTS aspires to host Sangha facilitator retreats in other parts of North America, as well.
Feel free to consult with the committee members referenced above, or with Jack Lawlor at 312-876-7459, regarding any of these initiatives.
Jack Lawlor, True Direction, was ordained as a Dharma teacher by Thich Nhat Hanh in 1992.
He has served as president of the Buddhist Council of the Midwest, and on the national Board of Directors of the Buddhist Peace Fellowship.
