By Hannah McCollum
One Sunday a month, Sravasti Abbey welcomes curious community members to Sharing the Dharma Day, an opportunity for people of any faith or background to explore Buddhist teachings and learn what life is like for monastics at the abbey. The upcoming Sharing the Dharma Day on Dec. 10 coincides with Lama Tsongkhapa day, which is traditionally celebrated with light offerings. This year, members and guests of the abbey will celebrate “with a beautiful offering of prayers, chanting and a candlelight vigil for victims of gun violence.”
The celebration will last from 9:45 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 10. Sravasti Abbey is located at 692 Country Ln, in Newport, Washington. Visit the event page for Sharing the Dharma and Lama Tsongkhapa Day to learn more, call (509) 447-5549 or email office.sravasti@gmail.com.
To learn what to expect at Sharing the Dharma Day, watch the Meet the Neighbors video produced by the Spokane Interfaith Council. The abbey requests that guests bring a vegetarian potluck dish and an open mind. The topics discussed each month are based on the book “An Open-Hearted Life: Transformative Methods for Compassionate Living from a Clinical Psychologist and a Buddhist Nun” by Venerable Thubten Chodron, the founder and abbess of Sravasti Abbey, and Dr. Russell Kolts, a psychology professor at Eastern Washington University. Past lessons from Share the Dharma Days are available online.
Lama Tsongkhapa Day is an annual celebration of the life of one of the greatest scholars and yogis in Tibetan Buddhism. Lama Tsongkhapa lived from 1357 to 1419. Any merit created on this day is multiplied “100,000 times.” Sravasti Abbey has an article with more details about how people observe this day.
