Donate to the Dharma Training Fund

One of the core principles of Zen Center is that we do not turn away anyone for lack of funds. This is actually a hallmark of the Buddhist tradition, although it comes with its own challenges: while we always wish to remove financial barriers to practice and keep costs as low as possible, we have to balance this against the reality of operational expenses for a campus of seven buildings, plus our staff.

Making a spiritual home here, we see ZCLA as a refuge, while we also see ourselves as a potential resource for anyone looking to explore the path of practice. In establishing the Dharma Training Fund in 2004, the ZCLA Board of Directors came up with a means of addressing these issues and fulfilling our aspiration. The DTF enables those of us with a little more to actualize that core principle of generosity—dana paramita—thereby enriching the sangha as a whole with a wider circle of practitioners than might otherwise be present. The Dharma Training Fund also benefits the programs directly by helping to cover costs. It is through the DTF that we gather the money that actualizes our practice of not turning away anyone for lack of funds.

From 2,500 years of experience, we know that this Dharma has the potential to transform lives and that each life ennobled by freedom of mind has rippling effects beyond the reach of our limited imaginations. The ethos is revolutionary while the process is simple. Anyone who is having difficulty, or would be having difficulty affording a retreat, a class, or even their membership dues, can make their need known to the Programs office through this simple online form. So long as the Dharma Training Fund has the resources to do so, all requests are confidentially honored. And due to the generosity of the sangha at large, we have been able to meet these needs for over twenty years.

And so, each year, we reach out to bodhisattvas everywhere with the humble request that we may renew this fund together. Your donation makes it possible for another generous sharing of the Three Treasures to take place. It expands our sangha, helps to fulfill our vows, and keeps people engaged with ZCLA when they might otherwise back away on account of hard times. There is so much division and disparity in this world, and in this very city. Let us open our hearts and give what we can in order to keep this vision of an equitable, diverse, and generative sangha alive!