The Upaya Chaplaincy Program is designed for Buddhist practitioners who wish to serve as lay chaplains, as well as those who wish to deepen their understanding of service from a Buddhist and systems thinking perspective. The training is intended to prepare students to have the skillful means to transform all forms of suffering, including suffering induced by structural violence.

Over the last 20 years, there has been a huge growth of Buddhism in the West. Upaya’s Chaplaincy Program focuses on altruistic and compassionate applications of Buddhism in settings such as health care, hospices, prisons and jails, and the environment. The program is based on the premise that those doing ministerial work are endeavoring to serve and heal not only individuals, but also environments and social systems. This approach, based on complexity and systems theory and Buddhist philosophy, is radically innovative and is the theoretical and practical basis of the training.

Upaya’s Chaplaincy Program faculty represent some of the leading Buddhist teachers of our time as well as leaders in other professional fields, including Roshi Joan Halifax, Roshi Bernie Glassman, Sensei Fleet Maull, Joanna Macy, Tsoknyi Rinpoche, Sharon Salzberg, Hozan Alan Senauke, Roshi Pat Enkyo O'Hara, Norman Fischer, Stephen Batchelor, Frank Ostaseski, Richard Davidson, Merle Lefkoff, Laurie Leitch, Marty Peale, and many more.

Training paths include End-of-Life Care, Prison Ministry, Peacemaking, Environmental Ministry, Interfaith and Multifaith Ministry, and Women’s Ministry.

About Upaya

The Upaya Zen Center, founded by Roshi Joan Halifax, is one of the most renowned and respected Buddhist centers in the world offering socially relevant programming, making it possible for new and seasoned practitioners to explore how the contemplative life forms a base for social action and service.

WHEN: The next cohort begins March 1, 2012. Applications are now being accepted. (We start a new cohort each year.)
WHERE: The chaplaincy training may be done as a long-distance program, with 26 residential days each year at Upaya Zen Center, 1404 Cerro Gordo Road, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501

MORE INFO: http://www.upaya.org/training/chaplaincy/
email: chaplaincy@upaya.org