The mission of Won Dharma Meditation Center is to create a world free from suffering. To realize that goal, in this era when human minds are enslaved by material civilization, the Won Dharma Center is creating a sangha where people from all walks of life study dharma, practice and work together, regardless of their faiths, in order to enlighten their minds and to develop their spirituality. The Won Dharma Center is a refuge where people can restore their true self through faith in the universal truth and practical spiritual training, based on the teachings of Sotaesan, the founding master of Won Buddhism.
Won Dharma Center is a spiritual community, where people from diverse backgrounds live and work together while studying and practicing the dharma.
Set on 426 rural acres off State Route 23 in Claverack NY, the Won Dharma Center exists as a haven where people may come to empower their minds and enhance their spirituality by leaving the materialistic world behind for a time.
Staying at the Won Dharma Center will help you to deepen your practice and invigorate and energize your mind so that you can reflect, redirect and better your life and practice.
You may join either the weekly regular service/class or various retreat programs.
Our vision is :
- To provide a communal life where all people, whether lay or ordained, young or old, whether belonging to a faith or not, live together to enlighten their minds and the world through dharma study, practice and work.
- To provide a meditation retreat and dharma study programs so that people can practice meditation and learn buddhadharma to strengthen their minds and find their true self.
- To provide a nurturing and educational environment for people who want to become dharma or meditation teachers, or Won Buddhist (lay) ministers.
- To promote interfaith understanding and cooperation by helping people realize the ultimate truth that all religions are essentially the same and all human beings are of one family, sharing the same goal of making the world better.