Spirit Rock

Community Dharma Leader 4 Program (CDL4)

NOTE: THIS PROGRAM IS NOW FULL AND THE APPLICATION PERIOD HAS ENDED.

Vision

In these extremely demanding times that require the optimum ethical, wise and compassionate responses to deep suffering from spiritual, economic, socio-political and environmental ills, we believe that the teachings and practices of Buddhism help bring forth such responses. Leaders who are ethical, who understand the principles of dharma practice and who can elicit clarity, kindness and patience within their community are urgently needed as the Dharma begins to sink deeper into the Western experience and as opportunities increasingly arise for creating access to practice in diverse communities.

In support of this and in response to growing interest in the Dharma, Spirit Rock is delighted to offer a continuation of its Community Dharma Leadership Program in the form of CDL4. This program is offered as a training and support for those who are committed to and rooted in Dharma practice with the ability to develop leadership skills. This training, while embedded in the ancient lineage of Theravada, also is designed to encourage creative, intuitive and innovative responses enabling these timeless teachings to be applied to our contemporary lives, offering us a Path through the complex difficulties of our World in spiritual, social, political, cultural, interpersonal, and personal contexts.

Over the past 10 years through the vision of James Baraz and more recently Tara Brach, the Community Dharma Leader program has established an invaluable foundation and accumulated experience in preparing and training leadership skills in service of sharing the Buddhadharma in our relationships- interpersonal, local sanghas, organizations, and various communities. Building on this vision of CDL, we invite you to join with us to inspire, motivate, and cultivate the next generation of Dharma Leaders who will support the Teachings in an increasingly diverse, multicultural, and expansive community of practitioners.

Leadership Team

Eugene Cash will be joined by Gina Sharpe, Thanissara and Larry Yang as the co-leaders for the CDL4 training program. Eugene, Gina, Larry and Thanissara bring a depth of practice experience, teaching, group leadership, and a diversity of expression, culture, skills and background.

Beginning in September 2010, the Community Dharma Leaders Program (CDL4) will support Dharma leadership on the community level and in lay practice. Program leaders Eugene Cash, Gina Sharpe, Larry Yang and Thanissara are committed to shaping a program that will include the comprehensive training and competencies needed to:

Lead sitting groups;
Teach beginning classes and daylong retreats;
Develop community-based sanghas and dharma organizations;
Expand access to the teachings beyond previously served populations;
Embody the skills needed for attunement, empathy and sensitivity to the role of teacher, the communities being taught and within the context of team teaching.
Facilitate rites of passage and develop competency with Buddhist ritual; and
Explore community outreach to people and communities heretofore underrepresented.

Training will consist of 5 week-long retreats over 2 years. The program also requires:

Participation in five 7-day residential retreats in various locations in North America over two years.
Dharma study groups and homework between retreats.
Dharma partners or “buddies."
Online groups and connection between retreats.
A practical application of real-time Dharma leadership experience.
Regular contact with mentoring teachers and with program peers.
Participants’ support of all program teaching components through the practice of Dana.

Geographic Reach of Program

CDL4 is intended to be a geographically national program with possible international involvement as well. Retreat sessions will be held at Spirit Rock, on the East Coast, and in mid-America.

Reaching Out to Diverse Communities

Spirit Rock intends to cultivate leadership development in a wide array of multicultural and geographic communities through this program. The training in CDL4 will equip participants with the skills needed to engage and respond to diverse constituents interested in Dharma in their communities. We are very interested in participation of diverse communities and are intent on reaching young adults and communities of color as the Dharma spreads and affects our society by becoming more fully inter-generational and culturally diverse.

Mentoring Commitment

A significant part of the program involves having a mentoring relationship with an experienced dharma teacher or dharma leader. The participant will check in with the mentor by phone, email or in person at least once every two months, but preferably more frequently. It would be helpful for the mentor to listen to tapes of selected Dharma talks, answer questions, and give feedback to help participants develop their skills. The mentor relationship would be on a Dana basis, and participants will be asked and reminded on an ongoing basis to work out an arrangement that works for both the participant and the mentor.

Scope of Training

CDL participants will be expected to:

Attend all five retreats;
Actively participate in inter-retreat meetings, activities and homework;
Maintain regular contact (at least bi-monthly) with their CDL mentoring teacher/mentor; and
Complete a yearly evaluation of the impact of the CDL program on the participant's activities and personal development in the Dharma which will be discussed with their teacher/mentor who will then consult with the teaching team.

Exceptions to this policy will be granted only in extenuating circumstances, with prior consent of the Teaching Team.

Participants who successfully complete the CDL program (as above) will be authorized through SRMC to lead Insight Meditation sitting groups, beginning Insight Meditation classes, and non-residential Insight Meditation daylongs and non-residential weekend retreats. Completion of the CDL program does not confer upon the participant/graduate authority to teach residential retreats or to train other students to become Dharma leaders or teachers.

In the future, Spirit Rock intends to create additional ways to support all CDL graduates to continue their growth and deepening after the formal CDL training. Continuing support, which will be developed in collaboration with current and future Community Dharma Leaders, will likely be a mix of community-led and Spirit Rock-led events. Some level of participation will be part of your practice as ongoing Community Dharma Leaders.

Projected Retreat Dates

The tentative dates for the CDL4 training retreats are as follows:

Fall 2010
Sunday, September 19 – Sunday, September 26
Spirit Rock Meditation Center, CA

Spring 2011
Sunday, May 22 – Sunday, May 29 (ends on Sunday of Memorial Day weekend)
Joshua Tree Retreat Center, Yucca Valley, CA

Fall 2011
Sunday, September 4 - Sunday, September 11 (opens on Sunday, the day before Labor Day)
Garrison Institute, NY

Spring 2012
Sunday, May 13 - Sunday, May 20
St Louis, MO

Fall 2012
Dates TBA
Spirit Rock Meditation Center, CA

The prerequisites for application to CDL 4 include (but are not limited to):

A minimum of five years of practice.
A minimum of 30 nights of residential Vipassana or Metta retreat practice.
Depth of practice including but not exclusive to: familiarity and understanding of foundational Buddhist teachings; consistency with a lineage of practice; history of daily and/or regular ongoing practice; an embodied presence resulting from the realization of key Dharma principles and practices.
Personal and interpersonal maturity including, but not exclusive to (1) Personal maturity, regardless of age, that displays emotional and relational intelligence including: compassion, patience, equanimity, wisdom, ethical values, and the capacity to work with personal and interpersonal suffering. (2) Dharma maturity allowing the candidate to navigate difficulties and frustrations in practice, in relationships with peers and teachers, and in the ability to creatively express the Teachings. A history of emotional and psychological self development is helpful.
Strong communication and leadership skills. Leadership skills often manifest in those whom the Dharma has already called, and are teaching with support and acceptance by their communities (which we define in a broad way and may include community groups, churches, corporations and other venues) and guiding teachers. People who are already in leadership roles are encouraged to apply.
Ethical integrity of their personal and practice lives: This includes being aligned and committed to the training and practice of the 5 precepts and recognized as ethical by the communities of which they are part.
The ability to serve the Dharma out of gratitude, humility, and compassion. A conscious engagement with leadership as a development of their own practice, rather than from an ambition for spiritual authority, or expression of ego.
The ability to dedicate time and energy to the program, both attending all modules (excepting an emergency) and a commitment to undertake supportive practices in between modules to ensure consistency of study and application.
This will be a Spirit Rock Theravadan-based training program to develop community leaders. Priority will be given to supporting the leadership within western Theravadan communities; however, qualified applicants from other Buddhist lineages who have compelling reasons to do the training will be considered.

For purposes of diversity, including diversity in Race, Language, Orientation, Gender Identity, Age, and in consideration of other underserved cultural groups candidates are especially invited as they could make a significant contribution to our communities. Other criteria:

The candidate can serve a geographic region or set of communities with no current Dharma leadership or teachers (geographic regions that currently have few or no CDL graduates include, but not exclusive to, Idaho, South Dakota, Nebraska, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, Arkansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Iowa, Texas, Arizona, Maine). Overseas applicants are welcomed. In a few selected cases, applicants from other lineages will be considered.
The candidate needs further training in order to assist an active teacher or to support a growing Dharma community.
The candidate would reach a population not currently served or underserved by the existing teaching community; for example: youth, young adult, communities of color, Spanish speaking communities, seniors, prisons, Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Queer (LGBTQ) communities, etc.

In addition to the above, it may be helpful for participants to have participated in Spirit Rock’s Dedicated Practitioner Program or another Dharma Study Program such as the BCBS Integrated Study and Practice Program, the Dedicated Practice Course at New York Insight or the Commit2Dharma Program at East Bay Meditation Center. However, participation in any of these programs does not guarantee acceptance into the CDL program nor is it required to be accepted into CDL.

Financial Commitment and Program Costs

Participating in the CDL4 program will require a financial commitment. (Since the group is closed and another participant cannot be substituted, participants will be responsible for the full program cost if there is voluntary withdrawal from the program). Financial assistance will be made available to the fullest extent possible. Participants can also use Spirit Rock Mudita/Karuna or People of Color scholarship money as needed. The Program Costs are inclusive of room and board (the usual “retreat fees”) and the overall administration fee.

Program costs are estimated (as of Sept. ‘09) to be between $6,800 and $2,400, depending on ability to pay. The price range shown above envisions people on the lower end of the price range shown utilizing significant scholarship funds. Transportation to the retreat locations and Dana to the Teaching Team and mentors are additional financial commitments.

If financial considerations might preclude participation in the program, one possible option is for their local community to help collectively support the candidate. That way the group will be invested in the participant’s development and the participant will directly feel their community’s backing. We encourage CDL4 participants to solicit the financial support of their local Dharma communities or sitting groups. We encourage local sitting groups to consider sponsoring someone from their group to participate in the CDL4 program. The training, support and contacts a participant gains in the CDL4 program will enhance a local group’s experience for years to come.

We have some concern for financial accessibility of the program when community support is not available. We want to be able to support people or communities where the program cost is prohibitive. We will be exploring other options for financial support.

Nomination and Application Process and Information

The CDL4 process begins by Vipassana teachers, invited teachers from other lineages, and previous CDL graduates nominating candidates for application to the CDL4 program. In this way, each applicant will be connected to a nominating and/or mentoring dharma teacher or Community Dharma Leader throughout the length of the program. The nomination process begins in October 2009 and will have a deadline for all nominations by November 15, 2009.

Once nominated, nominees will be sent applications for the CDL4 program. The deadline for all completed applications was December 15, 2009. THIS PROGRAM IS NOW FULL AND THE APPLICATION PERIOD HAS ENDED.

If you are interested in the program, it is important to develop a relationship and connection with the person nominating you. While it is ideal that the nominating teacher be your mentoring teacher, please note that there are some teachers who may nominate you but not be able to mentor you for the duration of the program. There is a physical limit to the number of participants that can be mentored by any one teacher or leader. Where a nominating teacher or leader is unable to mentor their candidate, all efforts will be made to assign a different teacher or dharma leader as a mentor.

Timeline

Letter to teachers and dharma leaders announcing
Nomination Process - October 2009
Nominations to CDL4 by teachers and CDL grads - October 2009
Deadline for all nominations to CDL4 - November 15, 2009
Deadline for all applications submitted by nominees - December 15, 2009
Participant selection process - December 2009 – January 2010
Announcement of Participants - February 2010
Start of CDL4 Program - September 19 - 26, 2010

The 204 graduates of previous CDL programs have played a significant role in the spreading of the Dharma over the past decade. They’ve created new dharma opportunities for many different communities; they’ve created new meditation centers; they’ve supported senior teachers in the Dharma; and they’ve helped to bring the Dharma into the broad range of life experiences in the West. We look forward to continuing this legacy and responsibility of supporting the Teachings to continue beyond our generation and our lifetimes.

For More Information

Over the next few months, Spirit Rock will continue designing the program, the application process, and determining program pre-requisites. Please check back to this page for further updates. For questions, you can email cdlfour@gmail.com with further questions.

We respectfully request that the Spirit Rock Front Office not be called for more information.

Please bookmark this page. In the future, new information will be posted here as it’s available.

Thank you.