Dharma Seed

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Dharma Seed is non-profit organization "dedicated to preserving and sharing the spoken teachings of Theravada Buddhism in modern languages".[1]

History

"Dharma Seed began in 1983 when Bill Hamilton, a volunteer at

Buddhist practice of generosity. "[2]

Originally, the tapes were "for the benefit of people who were not in the hall at the time of the talk, and the immense value of this material for posterity soon became evident. In 1984 the project incorporated as a non-profit religious organization, became Dharma Seed Tape Library, and moved out into the world. We’ve been doing this for almost sixteen years now. I was one of the original directors, and have been involved since the beginning," said Judy Phillips, Director of the Dharma Seed Archive.[3]

By 1985, Dharma Seed Tape Libraries had started to gain notoriety among Western "Spiritual Pilgrims". Dharma Seed was one of "the growing number of organizations offering high quality cassettes" for the purpose of self-transformation. The May 1985 issue of Yoga Journal encouraged its readers to take advantage of the emerging availability of "'spiritual'

cassette tapes" from the privacy of their home, car or Walkman headphones. From then on, "spiritual pilgrims have never had it so easy!"[4] After a decade, the American vipassana movement was still largely concentrated in three states – California, New York and Massachusetts.[5] Through offering the teachings given at Insight Meditation Society
(IMS) by mail order, Dharma Seed allowed the teachings to become available to those in regions lacking significant vipassana offerings.

"On the last night of [a meditation retreat], the ashes of Bill Hamilton, founder of the Dharma Seed Tape Library, were brought to Cloud Mountain. Bill had lived on Whidbey Island and had many friends in the Seattle sangha. In March of that year, Bill was told he had pancreatic cancer. A woman on the retreat outlined the story of his hospitalization and surgery, amazed at how affable and pleasant he had been through his suffering. Bill had wanted to be buried whole underneath an apple tree, but since such burials weren't allowed in Washington, a small apple tree was bought, a hole dug by the pond here, and his ashes were sent."[6]

Etymology

The organization derives its name from the concept of a Dharma seed. "Seeds like this are the ideal object of reflection in the

Dharma, the more Dharma seeds will emerge for us, and the more genuine topics we shall have for vipassana meditation."[7]

Oral history

Dharma Seed highlights the importance of preserving the

Buddha left off 2,500 years ago: distributing the dharma without charge... The celebs you'll expect – Jack Kornfield, Joseph Goldstein, Sylvia Boorstein, Sharon Salzberg – are all voluminously represented in the catalog."[8]

Dharma centers

Dharma Seed hosts audio recordings of

Dharma Talks given at over 40 centers worldwide.[9]

References

  1. ^ "About Us". Dharma Seed. Retrieved 25 February 2012.
  2. ^ Van Dusen, Caitlin (2002). "Dana Works: The Dharma Seed Archival Center". Tricycle. 12. Buddhist Ray: 117. Archived from the original on 10 March 2013. Retrieved 25 February 2012.
  3. ^ "Dharma as Dana". Insight Journal. 15 (Fall). 2000. Archived from the original on 26 April 2012. Retrieved 26 February 2012.
  4. ^ Roggenbuck, Peggy (May 1985). "Replacing 'Old Tapes' with Timeless Wisdom". Yoga Journal (62): 59–60.
  5. ISBN 978-0-520-21301-2
    .
  6. ISBN 978-0-8165-2576-8
    .
  7. ISBN 978-1-899579-05-1
    .
  8. ^ Reder, Alan (November 2002). "Listen and Learn". Yoga Journal: 140.
  9. ^ "Dharma Center Talks". Dharma Seed. Retrieved 25 February 2012.
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