Definition: The support group consists of committed people who care about the Ekayana vision and offers the opportunity to work for a Dharma that is open to tradition. The members discuss the organization of the Institute’s activities, options for Dharma training, accompanying group activities, the medium and long-term financing of the Institute and meaningful forms of organization. They support the Ekayana Institute concretely with their knowledge, commitment and ideas, in addition to the donations that everyone gives. The members of the Sponsors’ Association promote the realization of the Institute’s vision and also implement it themselves. They are the permanent core of those interested in Ekayana in the long term.

 

Concrete tasks: The members of the support group collect topics for teaching, encourage exchanges in topic-oriented groups, prepare formats for various group meetings and thus enable structured group work with corresponding guidelines. In the support group, we think together – young and old – about how practitioners can be meaningfully supported in the long term on their path to a free, meaningful existence. In other words, we think beyond Lhündrup and the currently active Dharma teachers. It is about building a cascade system in further education. We are committed to this in the support group:

• to promote Dharma training in every form,
• to provide competent Dharma teachers and assistants and
• to cooperate with all who work reliably in the same direction

The fruits could look like this: Assistants are prepared for specific subject areas and the learning processes that take place are documented in a comprehensible manner. A shared platform provides access to all the valuable learning material and connects like-minded Dharma practitioners. In this way, new, different Sangha circles and peer groups can be formed on an ongoing basis, which come together through a specific interest in certain topics or through personal acquaintance, age-related interests and regional proximity. The members of the support group are committed to the Ekayana vision of a profound Dharma that is open to tradition. With the necessary pedagogical know-how, they create inspiring training courses and provide support for interested groups through assistants.

The basic framework for the activities of the support group consists of the 10-year Dharma cycle and the opportunity to use the Green Tree as a common place for in-depth practice. It is not only about teaching and learning the traditional Dharma content, but also about:

the transfer into the small details of everyday life, which transforms us

Examples of exactly how to work with emotions

continuously combining theory and practice

the clarification of key terms

discovering Dharma teachings as healing medicine

networking teachings: how all aspects of the Dharma work together

building bridges of understanding to other approaches

promoting a serious as well as playful Dharma practice

Establishing the essential points of each teaching

to clarify the anchoring in the proven, traditional Dharma

We are concerned with the following background questions:

• What does the Buddhist teaching serve us in the West?
• How can we pass on this gift?