June 8, 2015

International Western Dharma Teachers Gathering 2015

I just got back from the International Western Dharma Teachers Gathering. The whole conference totally rocked. I got to reconnect with a bunch of old friends and make a lot of new ones. Also came away with a much better idea of trending issues within the Buddhist community.

Here are a couple of pics taken of me with some totally awesome people.

(From Left to Right) Johann Robbins, James Maskalyk, Har-Prakash Khalsa, Stephanie Nash, Shinzen Young, Nina La Rosa, Blake Ashley, Jeff Warren, Danny Morris, Polly Young-Eisendrath

(From Left to Right) Har-Prakash Khalsa, Loch Kelly, Santiago Jimenez, Culadasa, Shinzen Young, Daniel Ingram, Stephanie Nash. 

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4 comments:

  1. Joseph RoweJune 9, 2015 at 4:24 PM

    Thanks for posting this, Shinzen. I for one would like to hear more about trending issues within the Buddhist community. I'm especially interested in your own comment in other places, to the effect that it would be good if there were much more frank and open dialogue between spiritual teachers, where they are not playing the usual role they do with students, and share with peers the difficulties and challenges of this role in the unprecedented times of evolutionary crisis in which we live.

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    1. ShinzenJune 13, 2015 at 2:35 PM

      Many, if not all, of the people portrayed in these pictures are interested in exploring such frank and open dialogue. I look upon it as a very long term endeavor that may take several generations of teachers and students to complete.

      It's true that these are challenging times but they're also exciting times. Perhaps the buddhas and the maras will run neck and neck 'til the end--but my gut tells me the buddhas will win the race. : )

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  2. Frater MagicJune 14, 2015 at 9:24 PM

    Lovely to see these photos, and I whole-heartedly agree with Joseph. The internet has far too much of a culture of one person pontificating to the camera.. and as valuable as that can be, there's nothing quite like seeing great minds bounce off each other.

    For me, you (Shinzen) and Culadasa both articulate the path with more rigor and clarity than anyone else I've encountered. Even a public dialogue between the two of you would be some kind of historical landmark for Western Dharma in my mind (throw in Dan Ingram too!).

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  3. AnonymousJuly 6, 2015 at 3:21 AM

    I agree with Rob. I'd love to see some collabs between Western dharma teachers.

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