| Welcome to Dharma Women |

The Buddhist Council of the Midwest promotes the spread of the Dharma by fostering the learning and practice of Buddhism in America, inclusive of all three Buddhist traditions. Its mission is to be a vehicle of mutual aid and fellowship for Buddhist organizations thought the Midwest, to celebrate the diversity of Buddhist philosophy and culture, and to represent and advocate for the Buddhist community in the public realm, confronting misunderstandings or misrepresentations of the Dharma and engaging in inter-religious dialogue.

The BCM is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit religious organization. It was founded in 1984 to represent the Midwest Buddhist community in matters affecting its membership and to coordinate efforts by its members to create an atmosphere of fellowship and co- operation. Meetings are held the third Wednesday of the month in a Chicago area center. Representatives from all Buddhist traditions in Chicago and the Midwest are welcome to attend. Please check our website, www.BuddhistCouncilMidwest.org, for meeting times and locations.

The Buddhist Council of the Midwest is sponsoring the 2008 Conference, Women Being the Dharma to educate and improve the lives and practice of Buddhist women in the Midwest by providing the opportunity for women to dialogue with each other and share at a grassroots and immediate level woman's wisdom and scholarship as expressed within all three Buddhist traditions.

Special Thanks

In keeping with it’s grassroots mission, the Dharma Women, our conference planners, are volunteers from local Sanghas. The following Sanghas have been especially supportive in the lending of vision, resources and talent to this conference ...

Mahayana

The Chicago Zen Center, established in 1974, is a non-sectarian temple, and a growing Zen community in Evanston, IL. They offer daily sittings, dharma talks, meditation retreats, and residential training. Their practice core is Harada-Yasutani Koan Curriculum, resting on a Soto Zen meditation base. The temple includes a variety of sincere practitioners both lay and ordained. LINK

Soka Gakkai International-USA (SGI-USA) is an American Buddhist association that promotes world peace and individual happiness based on the teachings of the Nichiren school of Mahayana Buddhism. Its membership reflects a broad range of ethnic and social diversity. SGI-USA is affiliated with the worldwide SGI organization that has more than 12 million members in more than 190 countries and territories, with its headquarters in Tokyo, Japan. LINK

Varayana

The Shambhala Meditation Center of Chicago was founded by Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, a Tibetan Buddhist Master, artist and poet. Mindfulness-awareness meditation practice and instruction are available several times each week, free of charge, and classes are offered in Buddhist studies, Shambhala Training, and Contemplative Arts. The Shambhala community welcomes people of any spiritual background or way of life. LINK

The Rime Foundation - Rime ("ree-may") is Tibetan for "unbiased" and the Rime Movement began in Tibet in the 19th century to bridge the Foundation promotes the Dharma by sponsoring teachings in Chicago by Vajrayana masters from different traditions. LINK

Theravada

Wat Dhammaram., is the Thai Buddhist Temple of Chicago. Its mission is to maintain and promote Buddhist teaching and Thai culture, and to organize Buddhist followers for religious and charitable activities. “Vipassana Meditation Center” (VMC), serves as a meditation center as well. There is a Sunday School for young students and adults, and a cultural center that is open to the public. LINK

Insight Chicago, part of the Prairie Sangha Network is a community of practitioners of Vipassana meditation, based on methods in the Thai Forest manner as taught by Ven. Ajahn Chaa, in the Theravada tradition.. The sangha was founded in 2000 by Nancy Randleman and Ellen McCammon with the guidance and teaching of Sandra Hammond. The sangha provides a variety of offerings, such as weekly sits, periodic days of mindfulness, as well as longer retreats. Visiting teachers include Sandra Hammond, Andrew Getz, Gloria Taraniya Ambrosia, and Santikaro (Liberation Park).

Liberation Park is a Buddhist community, study and practice center in Oak Park, Illinois. Their practice of early Buddhism emulates the approach of Ajahn Buddhadasa of Suan Mokkh (in Thailand); while endeavoring to be well grounded in tradition and open to the modern world -- ecumenical, socially progressive, non-patriarchal and pragmatic - with creative insight. LINK

Buddhist Peace Fellowship

The mission of the Buddhist Peace Fellowship (BPF), founded in 1978, is to serve as a catalyst for socially engaged Buddhism. Our purpose is to help beings liberate themselves from the suffering that manifests in individuals, relationships, institutions, and social systems. BPF's programs, publications, and practice groups link Buddhist teachings of wisdom and compassion with progressive social change. LINK

The 2008 Buddhist Council of the Midwest Women and Engaged Buddhism Award will be presented at the Women Being the Dharma Conference, to be held at the Lake Street Church, on March 8, 2008.

The recipients of the 2008 Women and Engaged Buddhism Award are Sensei Joan Hoeberichts of the Heart Circle Sangha, Ridgewood, NJ, and Charika Marasinghe, PhD, of Sarvodaya, Sri Lanka, for their initiative in partnering to create the Psycho-Spiritual Healing Project to train Sri Lankan counselors to provide psychological support for tsunami survivors and others needing such aid.

There were scant mental health resources available in Sri Lanka to help survivors deal with the unseen psychological wounds caused by the sudden disappearance and death of loved ones and the wide spread destruction that was left in the wake of the

December 26, 2004, tsunami. In response to news reports of the devastation, Sensei Joan Hoeberichts contacted the Sri Lankan NGO, Sarvodaya, and proposed a program to provide teams of psychologists and social workers from the United States to train local counselors to work with the survivors.

There were scant mental health resources available in Sri Lanka to help survivors deal with the unseen psychological wounds caused by the sudden disappearance and death of loved ones and the wide spread destruction that was left in the wake of December 26, 2004, tsunami. In response to news reports of the devastation, Sensei Joan Hoeberichts contacted the Sri Lankan NGO, Sarvodaya, and proposed a program to provide teams of psychologists and social workers from the United States to train local counselors to work with the survivors.

Rev. Hoeberichts together with Charika Marasinghe, developed and implemented a plan to provide specialized training in grief and trauma therapy to non-therapists to reach the largest numbers of people affected by the tsunami as possible. Rev. Hoeberichts put together the training program and teams of therapy teachers from the United States while Charika Marasinghe used thr Sarvodaya grassroots village network to recruit prospective Sri Lankan counselors and provide the infrastructure necessary for their training and work. Members of Heart Circle Sangha, Ridgewood, NJ, joined in to raise funds and administer the U.S. side of the Psycho-Spiritual Healing Project undertaken by Sarvodaya.
The work they began in January of 2005 continues and grows. Now there are Sarvodaya sponsored therapists serving villagers in all the departments (provinces) of Sri Lanka addressing the psychological wounds of the ongoing civil war, alcoholism and the needs of families.

The grant money will go specifically to the children's program to provide books and training materials for the counselors as well as tools such as puppets and art supplies to help children to express their grief.
Donations are especially important at this time as Imago Relationship International has pledged to match every dollar collected for the Psycho-Spiritual Healing Project so that the project may train counselors to expand the project’s family and marriage counseling services. Donations are being accepted via Pay Pal - CLICK HERE TO DONATE

The 2007 Buddhist Council of the Midwest Women and Engaged Buddhism Award was presented at the Women Voicing the Dharma Conference, held at DePaul University, in Chicago, Il, on February 24, 2007 to Maekhao Chanthasomphone, Maekhao Keo, and Venerable Karma Lekshe Tsomo for their work fostering the intellectual and spiritual development of girls and women in some of the most disadvantaged regions of Asia.
The monetary grant presented with the award was based on the success and attendance of the conference and dana given by the participants.
Maekhao Chanthasomphone and Maekhao Keo are specifically cited for their initiative in founding the
Wat Sila Salalam Pokam school for girls. Unesco reports the entire educational system in the Lao PDR to be in crisis. Many children complete no more that two years formal education, and girls and women are at a higher risk of dropping out of school or never attending school.

Wat Sila Salalam Pokam was originally established as a place of refuge for Laotian women seeking to practice and live as Buddhist as nuns. Full ordination is not open to women in Laos . Likewise girls are barred from access to the free education offered only to boys by the numerous temples throughout Laos . The Maekhaos of Wat Sila Salalam Pokam seek to address this discrepancy by offering a school in which girls and young women can receive a general and Buddhist education that will prepare them to serve as teachers and community development leaders.

The Buddhist Women’s Conference dana is granted to the Wat Sila Salalam Pokam school for girls, to furnish desks, chairs, and books.

General Recognition is also given to Venerable Karma Lekshe Tsomo and the Jamyang Foundation for their long term commitment to address the issues of poverty, literacy, and gender discrimination in some of the neediest and most remote parts of the world: the Indian Himalayas. Laos , and the tribal areas of Bangladesh . Their innovative education projects for girls and women foster women’s learning potential in ways that are harmonious with their unique Buddhist cultural backgrounds. By providing education and vocational training to girls and young women, Jamyang Foundation projects promote gender equality and also helps prevent sex trafficking and other forms of exploitation of women.

The 2006 Women Living the Dharma Conference’s Women and Engaged Buddhism Award was made to the Dhamma Moli Project founded by Venerables Molini Rai and Dhamma Vijaya of Nepal.

The Dhamma Moli Project provides a place of refuge and education for young Nepalese girls at risk of falling victim to human traffickers who sell them into brothels and circuses in India. In addition to building a school for the girls, the sisters run an educational program, traveling to mountain villages of war-torn Nepal finding girls at risk and educating the rural populace about the deceptions and ploys used by traffickers to trick families into selling or sending their daughters away in the hope of a better life.

To further the efforts of Venerables Molini Rai and Dhamma Vijaya the 2006 Buddhist Women's Conference donated $1,500 to the Dhamma Moli Project.

The 2007 Conference Brochure is still available for viewing, downloading and printing in Adobe PDF Here! The Brochure will be displayed in a new window. Close the new window to return to this page.

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