RENEWAL AT THE DCC
Dear Dharma friends,
I am writing to you from my home in Toronto in the first weeks of spring. While the sun and flowers are doing their usual seasonal dance, this is no ordinary spring. For the third time in just over a year, we are another stay-at-home order here in Ontario. It is within this strange context of welcoming warmth and struggling with more isolation that I find myself reaching out to connect with you all on a number of things.
First, an introduction (though I’ve been serving on the DCC Board of Directors for four years now). Second, I would like to update you all on some exciting decisions that the Board has recently undertaken. We could all use some good news in this ongoing pandemic!
My story with the DCC began when I first arrived in Toronto from Boston in the summer of 2000. New to the city with my (now ex-) wife and small child, and seeking a community of practice, I was blessed to find the DCC in the final years of Namgyal Rinpoche’s life. A seed was planted in my heart that has gently unfolded with profound and compassionate guidance from those he taught, who are now my teachers. Little did I imagine, after years of attending teachings and retreats on our beautiful (and challenging!) property, that I would eventually be asked, years later, to step forward to contribute in service, to support the leadership and decision-making about the future direction of this organization, property, and community.
My contributions come from my lived experience as a performing artist, a corporate educator, a leader, a consultant, and a father of a 20-year-old son. I am also informed by my identity and privilege as a white, European, heterosexual, 58-year-old male, who turned to the Dharma in his mid-adulthood to make sense of the often-bewildering circumstances and conditions of being alive in these complex times. Most importantly, it is my heart-felt experience as a practitioner and fellow student that guides my intent as a board member every day.
As a member of the DC Board I feel strongly that my voice is one of many within our eclectic and diverse community. I am deeply appreciative of the cohesiveness of our current Board, and our ongoing effort to work in tandem with the broader team, which includes our spiritual directors, resident teachers, staff, practitioners, and community members.
As a Board, we are currently collaborating on some big decisions. The most significant at the moment are about taking the next steps in our Renewal project. Having recently returned from several months of retreat and study on the property this last winter, I have had the opportunity, like many of us, to see and feel first-hand what it means to live, eat, sleep and practice in our buildings for extended periods of time. My personal experiences have left me with deep appreciation as well as significant concern about the long-term viability of our current physical structures.
It is with this recent experience on property that I continue to contribute my perspective to the ongoing Renewal project. Looking back, it is worth noting that our current process has emerged from a strategic planning initiative that began over 3 years ago, that involved many voices from our community. Specifically, in the last several months, the Board has been unanimous in making exciting decisions around ensuring we continue to have healthy and accessible places to gather, practice, retreat and learn together on the property.
The main features of these unanimous Board decisions are:
To maintain and support the existing Temple building and to investigate and address long-standing moisture and air-quality issues, such as lack of a vapour barrier and rodent invasion.
To go forward with the creation of a new building Site for a teaching/meditation space that includes bedrooms, addressing the accessibility issues identified in the needs assessment.
To create a teaching/retreat cabin by the Hermitage for long-term retreatants, thanks to the generous donation from one of our members.
The process of coming to these decisions has been dynamic, inclusive, and not without challenges. That said, on the scale of what we all know is going on in the world today, our work on this Renewal project is relatively simple and straightforward. We are fortunate to be in an excellent place financially, we function extremely well as a board, and, most importantly, we share a common lineage and practice grounded in 2,500+ years of unbroken transmission of the wisdom of non-clinging compassionate awareness.
Thank you, dear friends, one and all, for your place in this community, however small or large. I feel blessed to be a part of this journey and continue to show up each day with curiosity and humility, ready to learn, grow and unfold with each of you.
Chris von Baeyer