Rev. Danny Fisher

The Third Annual Buddhist Spiritual Care Symposium will be held Saturday, October 20th, 2007, from 9:30 am to 4:30 pm at the Insight Meditation Center, Redwood City, CA.

The conference will include sessions on (1) “Buddhist tensions in Christian environment”; (2) “Buddhist pastoral authority in interfaith community”; and (3) “rituals around end-of-life.”

Speakers will include Dr. Dhammaratna Rina Sircar and Chaplain Tom Kilts. The announcement of the conference on the Buddhist Chaplains Network’s webpage offers biographies of both:

Dhammaratna Rina Sircar, Ph.D., was born in Pyanpon, Burma ( Myanmar ) and finished her studies in Burma, India, and the United States. She received her training from Ven. Taungpulu Kaba-Aye Saydaw in Burma. She is Co-founder and resident meditation teacher of Taungpulu Kaba-Aye Monastery, Boulder Creek, CA, and Taungpulu Kaba-Aye Meditation Center, San Francisco. Rina also is a member of the core faculty at the California Institute of Integral Studies, San Francisco, CA. She has been teaching since 1974 and has published several books and articles. Her contributions made to the Buddhist world have been widely recognized by the World Buddhist Council.

Chaplain Tom Kilts has been involved in the professional field of chaplaincy for over 11 years. He is an endorsed and commissioned Interfaith Chaplain and Pastoral Educator from the Nyingmapa lineage of Tibetan Buddhism. He has been a practicing Buddhist for most to all his life and spent time in active discernment to become a Buddhist monk when he was a teenager. Tom has received empowerments and blessings for his work from numerous teachers, including, H.H. the Dalai Lama, Tulku Thondup Rinpoche, Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche, Lama Surya Das and is a member of the International Dzogchen Community under the leadership of his main guru, the great Chogyal Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche. Tom is an ACPE certified supervisor and serves as Director of Spiritual Care at John Muir Medical Center-Concord Campus. He has articles published on Buddhism and Chaplaincy in “Plainviews,” “The Mirror,” and in a forthcoming Journal of Pastoral Care and Counseling. He lives with his partner, Sarah and daughter Indra in the SF Bay Area.

The Buddhist Chaplains Network’s website has links to photographs from the 2006 conference, directions to the Insight Meditation Center, the conference agenda, and the registration form. At present, though, only the links for the photographs and the directions seem to work. If you would like to register, I would suggest calling Bill Hart at the number provided: 415-567-9823.

The Washington Post is currently running a remarkable investigation series about the experiences of soldiers and sailors back home from Iraq, Afghanistan and other locations. The venerated D.C. paper has compiled a truly striking collection of stories, articles, photographs, and other media. The series website describes its particular focus:

[The "Walter Reed and Beyond" series] follows the care and treatment of the men and women who came home from battle in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere. It examines the promises made, and the reality lived, in the aftermath of war.

The most recent additions to the series pertain to the prevalence of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in returning servicemen and servicewomen.

As many as one-quarter of all soldiers and Marines returning from Iraq are psychologically wounded, according to a recent American Psychological Association report. Twenty percent of the soldiers in Iraq screened positive for anxiety, depression and acute stress, an Army study found.

The Post is also soliciting relevant stories, photographs and videos from readers. Stories of experiences with the military and Veterans Administration (VA) health care systems can be shared by phone at (202) 334-4480, or via email at militarycare@washpost.com. Photos and videos chronicling readers’ experiences can be sent to walterreed@washingtonpost.com.