In the Wake of Tara: NDF Sangha Members Respond with Action
By NDF Sangha member Caroline Frank

As our country finds itself in a deepening crisis, even the most optimistic among us have become acutely aware of all we have taken for granted and all we stand to lose.  Blue skies, healthy green forests and nontoxic soil, the freedom to speak our minds and live our values without looking over our shoulders in fear, and at a most basic level, trust in our leaders’ goodwill and respect for basic human rights and life itself. The rug is being pulled out from under us. If ever there was a time for action—some sort of lightning-bolt response—it is now.  More than ever in my life, I want to use my voice, go out and protest loudly, scream. This felt good at the recent Hands Off! protest, but does ranting help?

After thirty years of energy justice work and eight practicing Buddhism, NDF sangha member Elizabeth Chant reflects on the precept of Right Speech, which goes beyond abstaining from lying and using harsh words to include speech that promotes harmony and wellbeing.  “It doesn’t help to rail and scream. For many years as an advocate for low-income folks, I railed and screamed.  But since then my listening has improved.” She says she now uses her position of privilege as a sword, not a shield by truly opening up and listening to others.  Lawyer and NDF sangha member Medora Marisseau agrees. She notes that to just walk by a panhandler creates bad karma. “I’ve had amazing conversations with panhandlers,” she says. “You hear all their suffering.  You listen and look them in the eyes. They are just poor, and they are other human beings.”

Thich Nhat Hanh introduced the term “Engaged Buddhism” in the 1960s when he returned to Vietnam from grad school in the US to support villagers during the war.  He contends all Buddhist practice is by nature socially engaged.  Thich Nhat Hanh emphasized that Buddhist practice is “peace-making at the root.” By virtue of daily making the right decisions, using the right speech in everyday life in our competitive, global capitalist communities, we incrementally make a difference—we live the change we want to see.  Read more

Seva, Sangha, Sacred View: Joyful Volunteering in the Vajrayana Program

At Natural Dharma Fellowship (NDF), opportunities to deepen one’s practice through service to the sangha abound. When we engage in seva—selfless service—through the lens of Sacred View, volunteering becomes more than simply helping out. It becomes a precious opportunity to embody our values, strengthen our community, and bring our Buddhist commitments into lived expression.

Practicing Sacred View through seva is not just a lofty aspiration—it is a living, breathing practice that infuses our community at every level. The Vajrayana Program exemplifies this spirit vividly. It’s no surprise that many volunteers who support this offering speak of joy when reflecting on their roles, and describe their responsibilities as essential aspects of their path.

Sacred View and the Spirit of Seva
As part of the Vajrayana path, we commit to viewing the world as sacred. From the moment we wake, through all the activities and interactions that fill our day, we are invited to see everything we encounter as an expression of primordial purity. Through this practice, we learn to recognize that our nature, the nature of others, and the nature of all phenomena is love and wisdom—inseparable.

This is not a perspective confined to the meditation cushion. Sacred View is a radical orientation we are asked to carry into every gesture of daily life. It transforms how we relate to the world—revealing even mundane tasks and ordinary relationships as opportunities to touch the sacred. Sacred View does not deny suffering or complexity; rather, it opens our hearts to meet all of it with clarity, compassion, and reverence. When we orient toward the sacred, every interaction becomes a fresh opportunity to meet the Buddha.

The Vajrayana tradition offers a wealth of effective and expedient yogic technologies to help us recognize and stabilize this view. Alongside these inner practices is the path of open-hearted seva—offering our time and abilities for the benefit of all beings. In this spirit, acts of service—whether greeting newcomers, managing Zoom logistics, or sending reminder emails—become profound expressions of Dharma. Through the lens of Sacred View, volunteering becomes a joyful participation in the unfolding of awakening, both within ourselves and in our shared sangha life.

Seva, the Sanskrit word for service, emphasizes offering ourselves for the benefit of others. As Lama Willa teaches, “Seva does not just mean offering help without compensation. It means selfless service, and it is one of the most important spiritual practices in the Buddhist tradition. By practicing seva, we loosen the bonds of egotism and strengthen the habit of altruism—the essence of compassion in action.”

Seva calls us to show up with an open heart. When aligned with Sacred View—even when we feel grumpy, tired, or unsure we have anything to offer—we begin to see that this, too, is a precious opportunity worthy of reverence. Service becomes a mirror for our practice. Perhaps we can begin to untangle perfectionism or loosen our attachments to efficiency and productivity. On the path of seva, everything is welcome: procrastination, performance anxiety, the need to prove our worth, impostor syndrome—all of it is infused with Buddha-nature. Every part of us is held sacred and invited into service.

Perhaps we aren’t confident in our own capacity for seva, believing that we can’t serve the sangha until we’ve reached a certain level of realization, or that we shouldn’t volunteer unless we’re already skilled at the needed task. But this misses the point—and forgets the heart of Sacred View. From the mundane perspective, none of us is perfect—and we don’t need to be. If perfection were a requirement for service, NDF wouldn’t exist, nor would any volunteer-based organization. From the sacred perspective, however, we are already perfect—and the very act of showing up helps us remember the truth of the “more that we are.”

This spirit of sacred, wholehearted service lives at the core of the Vajrayana Program. It is embodied not only in individual acts of volunteering, but also in the collaborative leadership that helps shape the container of our practice community. When service is rooted in Sacred View, meetings become mandalas of insight and connection, and shared responsibility becomes a joyful path of awakening.

Guiding the Path: The Vajrayana Steering Committee
Through conversations with members of the Vajrayana Program’s volunteer leadership, recurring themes of connection, community, nonjudgmental dialogue, integration with practice, and joy naturally arise. One member remarked, “We come as we are—and that’s sacred!” This spirit of authenticity and shared purpose is embodied by the Vajrayana Steering Committee—a devoted team that includes the program’s guiding teacher Lama Liz Monson and core volunteers: co-coordinators Alex Marie and Cindy Caros, practice coordinator Maureen McGee, study coordinator Ron Thomas, and Vajrayana teacher Kathe McKenna.

Together, they offer steady guidance, thoughtful stewardship, and a clear vision that supports the flourishing of the Vajrayana Program. Though the committee typically meets once a month for a little over an hour, one member joyfully reported, “The meetings could easily go on for five hours—they’re so energizing!” Far from being a chore, this shared leadership is viewed as a vital space of co-creation, insight, and support—one where the path is walked together, with warmth and intention. Read more

Manifesting Our Mandala Update: Porch Demolition

Thanks to the widespread support of the NDF Sangha, the rebuilding of Wonderwell’s beloved porch has begun. Demolition will be completed this week! Stay tuned for more details. Offering deep gratitude to all who have played a part in manifesting this important piece of our Refuge’s Mandala!

Inspiring Retreat Combines Buddhist Wisdom and Mantra Chants

Last weekend retreatants enjoyed teacher Chris Berlin’s inspiring guitar accompaniment to mantra chanting. Khenpo Kalsang, who studied in Tibet and India from 2005-2014 and taught in India and Nepal from 2015-2019, is continuing his studies at Harvard Divinity School. This was his first time teaching a residential retreat in the United States.