16 Guidelines in Dharamsala: A Healing Balm in Troubled Times

Since 2009 Venerable Drolma has been leading courses and retreats with Buddhist groups as well as introducing mind and the system of emotions, mind’s potential and ways to nurture it, to wider circles in the community. She is an accredited 16 Guidelines Level 1 facilitator and delivers workshops in India and the UK. Here she shares her experience leading 16 Guidelines introductory weekends at Tushita Meditation Centre in Dharamsala, India:-

“We had 133 people register for the course. As you could see from the photos posted on Facebook the gompa was full and it was cosy!

I was very happy to bring the 16 Guidelines to Tushita and facilitate for the first time and it was a good experience. We had people from many countries all over the world come together to discuss and reflect on common human values that we all share.

Due to my involvement in a full study program I needed to attend a lecture on the Saturday morning, so we offered the course from 1 pm Saturday afternoon until 5 pm Sunday afternoon and had three main sessions with stretch breaks and tea breaks in between (as well as lunch on the Sunday of course).

And whilst we could not offer a full 16 Guidelines Level 1 course on this first time, we covered the four wisdom themes one in the second half of the Saturday afternoon session, two on Sunday morning and the fourth in the beginning of the Sunday afternoon session, book-ended by an introduction to them all during the first half of the first session and at the end concluded with informing them of 16 Guidelines resources and the upcoming online Big Love Summit. 

There were many Israeli students on the course and it coincided with the New Year’s Eve of their religious festival with the tradition of cultivating forgiveness, so we meditated on forgiveness during the last session before our final dedication.

We incorporated many of the FDCW methodologies throughout the course and adapted according to the huge size of the group, managing to pair up for Re-framing and Pre-framing exercises as well as Enquiry practices. I led the Heart and Mind reflections as a whole group. We broke into small groups of 5 or 6 people for discussions and shared feedback for the whole group using the whiteboard. 

All in all, the group remained open, willing to participate and share. We had some rich dialogue and laughter. People seemed very impressed with this marvellous program and many commented on the excellent, thoughtful definitions for the guidelines and the suitability of this course for all kinds of groups and communities. It was a real pleasure to introduce FDCW and 16 Guidelines for these people to take back to their communities.

One particular young woman had been a primary school teacher in a hostile place and had become dejected about her ability to help young people, but upon finding the 16 Guidelines and FDCW her enthusiasm and inspiration were restored. She has found a way to engage in a meaningful way to help youth find peace and heal. So, if even for that, this weekend course has been incredibly worthwhile and it was an honour to be part of it and contribute in a small way to fulfilling Lama Yeshe’s vision for Universal Education.

So on behalf of Tushita, all present in the course and myself, I offer a heartfelt thank you for enabling us to share something so enriching and a healing balm in these times of disunity and discord to come together in harmony and unity focusing on all that is positive about humankind.“

FDCW extends their thanks to Venerable Drolma and the Tushita Meditation Centre for their dedication to bringing the 16 Guidelines to Dharamsala. Thank you for inspiring and uplifting communities worldwide.

Foundation for Developing Compassion and Wisdom (FDCW)

At FDCW we are committed to a more compassionate, wiser world. We provide resources, courses and training to develop qualities such as kindness, patience and honesty – qualities which are essential for meeting the challenges of the world we all share.

The Foundation for Developing Compassion and Wisdom (FDCW) was established as a global charity based in London in 2005. Since then we have provided secular training, programmes and resources across many sectors of society – schools, universities, hospices, workplaces, healthcare, youth groups and community centres. Our courses have reached thousands of people across the world through our dedicated and growing network of facilitators in more than 20 countries.

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