Teacher Support

In keeping with the Buddhist tradition, I offer my time and guidance as a meditation teacher and spiritual mentor freely as a gift, whenever possible. In turn, a significant portion of my livelihood comes from the financial support of students. If you have benefited from my teaching and would like to make a donation, you can contribute below. (For retreats and programs with multiple teachers, all donations are shared equally by the team).

When offering a contribution, there is no suggested amount. Dana is a gift. It’s an expression of generosity and gratitude, a way of valuing the teachings, and a means of sustaining the wellbeing of those who have committed their lives to this path. 

The Practice of Dana

The first thing the Buddha often taught to lay followers was the practice of Dana, or generosity. When we give freely from the heart we feel a natural sense of joy, connection and belonging. This experience of wellbeing, when consciously recognized and fostered, creates an essential foundation for the path to Awakening.

The spirit of generosity is woven into the fabric of traditional Buddhist societies, where the lay and monastic communities have lived in dependence upon one another for millennia. Monks and nuns offer spiritual and religious guidance to the lay community, who in turn offer material support in the way of food, medicine, clothing, and shelter.

The teachings of the Dhamma are considered priceless – beyond material value – and thus have been offered for free since the time of the Buddha. For thousands of years, the Dhamma was preserved and taught primarily by monastics. Today in the West, the teachings are also offered by a growing cadre of lay, householder teachers.

Lay Teachers

In many respects, lay teachers and monastics complement each other, providing a range of practices to serve different needs in society. Monastics present an alternative lifestyle of renunciation, model a healthy disengagement from the social arena, and preserve key aspects of Buddhist culture. Lay teachers, on the other hand, are often more in touch with the pressures and trends of society, and therefore can present the Dhamma in ways that address social issues and the unique challenges of modern life.  

All of this has created greater access to powerful practices and teachings. Yet our materialistic culture and the commodification of spirituality can pose a challenge to touching the joyful, freely-offered aspect of dana between student and teacher. With lay teachers, dana can become reduced in our minds to an exchange, or relegated to making financial donations. This is a tragic limitation of a rich practice that is much more about living with a spirit of broad, open-hearted generosity than about giving money.

There are many ways to give: we give time, we give energy, we listen. We give with our care, with our service, or with our finances. The practice of dana invites us into a relationship of mutuality, care, and joyful connection. Making a donation is just one way to express this.

* Preferred methods with no fees

OTHER WAYS TO CONTRIBUTE: 

To offer support in other ways, please e-mail us. Some welcome ways of contributing include: administrative support; on-line research; outreach and marketing; other skilled services.

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