Illustration by ontsunan
By BGR Staff
This past December, our co-founder and long-term chairperson, Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi (Bhante), celebrated his 80th birthday. While Bhante has been in general good health, he recently witnessed the passing of several of his good friends and colleagues, including Hozan Alan Senauke, whom we commemorate elsewhere in this newsletter.
To ensure that Buddhist Global Relief continues to receive the backing of prominent Buddhist monastics and other Buddhist teachers, Bhante recently created a “Sangha Council” to stand behind BGR and provide its Board members, staff, and supporters with Dharma teachings and spiritual inspiration. The members of this council will be monastics and other clergy (e.g. Zen priests or Pure Land ministers) from younger generations, those below the age of 70.
The tasks of the Sangha Council will be
- To provide a background spiritual presence to BGR, infusing the organization with the spirit of the Dharma.
- To hold events such as online Dharma talks, retreats, and blessing ceremonies to inspire the wider community of people affiliated with BGR—and those not yet associated with us—and convey Buddhist teachings in both traditional ways and in ways that address the major social crises of our time.
- To be available for consultation and mediation if disagreements break out among staff members that cannot be resolved internally.
- To inspire BGR’s donors to help in a volunteer capacity if volunteer help is needed.
Members of the Sangha Council would also be eligible to serve on the Board.
At this point there are six members of the Sangha Council: Dhammadipa, founder of the Dassanāya Buddhist Community; Ven. Jin Chuan and Ven. Jin Wei, of the Berkeley Buddhist Monastery and the Redwood Vihara; Ajahn Kovilo and Ajahn Nisabho, of the Clear Mountain Monastery project; and Ayya Anandabodhi, of Parayana. Dhammadipa, Ven. Jin Chuan, and Ven. Jin Wei will already be known to many of our supporters through their inspiring participation in our annual New Year retreat and other online programs.
A new initiative being launched by members of the Sangha Council is a series of online Dharma talks. The series will begin with half-day programs on the four foundations of mindfulness. The first program in this series will be conducted by Ajahn Nisabho and Ajahn Kovilo on contemplation of the body. We hope to follow this with programs on the other three foundations of mindfulness: contemplation of feelings, contemplation of the mind, and contemplation of dhammas. For more information, please view the event page on our website.
