Dharma Rain - Eligibility for Dharma School

Dharma School

Staff

Gyokuko Carlson founded and oversees this program. She is the director and co-abbot of Dharma Rain Zen Center and has been teaching Zen for over 20 years. Class teachers are active members of the Dharma Rain Sangha who bring their personal experience of practice and appreciation of children’s development to their lessons and classes.

When new teachers join the school, they serve a short apprenticeship under a more experienced staff person, and then work as assistants, usually for at least one school year. Gyokuko, co-abbot at Dharma Rain, recruits and screens new teachers from Dharma Rain’s senior members. On average, Dharma School teachers have done about ten years of Zen practice.

Although Dharma School is a program of Dharma Rain Zen Center, and the teachers are all involved in Zen practice, we strive for a non-sectarian atmosphere and curriculum, as children from numerous other Buddhist traditions regularly attend. Parents are an important part of the program, but act in supportive roles rather than through direct contact with children. This provides alternative role models for the children, and fosters parental involvement with the adult sangha.

We have been running this program since the mid-1980s. Our best measure of success is the school’s continuing growth and the number of children and young people who keep returning and asking for more. For more information about Dharma School see the manual, Sharing the Dharma with Children. You can also find out more by contacting the Zen Center.

 

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