Buddhist Studies Institute

Letter from Pema Khandro

Dear Dharma Friends,

I remember in my interview with Myokei Caine-Barrett for a LionsRoar panel I was doing, I asked her what advice she would give to her younger self. She said, it would be, to “tell the whole truth of your life to someone.”  
I remembered being really surprised that she gave the same answer that I would give as well – which is fundamentally, above all, to cultivate deep, authentic, honest relationships as the core resource of a spiritual life.

It was one of the things that so many people learned during the pandemic is how much we need relationships and need community. In a Buddhist life it is like this too – we need connections, the feedback that relationships give us, and the opportunities for mutual care… community can take spiritual work to the next level. Whether online or in person, its the whole range of conversations, from small talk to deep sharing that generates a sense of connection and belonging that is such a core human need, so I would say too that if there is one advice I could give others for their spiritual path it is that, to prioritize friendship, community, and sangha.

There is something particularly special about the relationships formed in a Buddhist practice community. Through Buddhist meditation we share the experience of being deeply quiet together in a group, or chanting. That non-verbal experience, and somatic experience of calm and safety in a group is something our bodies and nervous systems need know.

I have noticed also that being in community is a way of resisting the echo-chamber that social media creates. In our community, because of its cross-cultural, multi-generational and international character – people who might not meet otherwise, communicate across timezones, engaging with such a wide array of fascinating people. It can be surprising and healing. We learn from each other and grow together on the deepest levels. Indeed, I have witnessed the sangha support each other through births, deaths, illnesses, disappointments, and triumphs, such friendships are precious resources, it is such a honor to experience how the sangha jewel can be a refuge indeed.

This is why I have trained meditation teachers all these years, to foster communities, communities based on care and contemplation, and this of course has been such a primary mission of the Buddhist Studies Institute, to hold a highly connected environment in which rigorous dharma study and practice can be engaged. I believe this is the best way to change the world, with thousands of meditation teachers in places I might never go, representing the tradition in the way only they can. Watching this come to fruition with the graduates of our program has been one of the great joys of my life, and I want to continue to support the meditation teachers that I have trained over the last two decades.

For this reason I am overjoyed to be beginning our Advanced Meditation Teacher Training course this weekend, an opportunity for the development of new Umdzes, the group practice leaders, and a way to support our ever growing community with new teachers and leaders. May we nurture and foster precious community together.

My best to you always,