Blessed by the Dalai Lama: The Story of a Rural Dharma Center

For 50 years, the Dharma Center has been a sanctuary for awareness, practice, and community in the heart of our rural town.

In this rich and heartfelt conversation, I sit down with Timothy Clark and Ken Berman to explore the remarkable history of the Dharma Center. We follow the threads of many traditions that have touched and shaped this place, from Tibetan Lamas and great Zen teachers, to the connection with Redwoods Monastery and Thomas Merton.

We hear how His Holiness the Dalai Lama blessed and named the Dharma Center, and we reflect on what it means to create a place where people can gather, sit in silence, remember what matters, and return to their own true nature.

Together we explore questions at the heart of practice: What is Buddha nature? What is enlightenment? And how does a place devoted to awareness, compassion, and awakening survive and thrive for 50 years in a small rural community?

This episode is a celebration of lineage, devotion, spiritual friendship, and the quiet power of creating places where practice can take root. It is an invitation to remember how much a sanctuary matters, especially in times when the world feels fragmented and fast.

May this conversation inspire you to pause, listen deeply, and honor the places and people who keep the flame of awareness alive.