Great Western Vehicle Scholarship Program

and Community Service

By the contemplative recluse monk Arahatta Jhanananda (Jeffrey S, Brooks)

The GWV is seeking donors to fund native speakers of the English language, who are accomplished contemplatives, and who manifest the ethical standards of Buddhism to go through advanced scholarship in Buddhist studies, Religion and Psychology.  That project is expected to be the product of the publication of an article by Arahatta Jhanananda (Jeffrey S. Brooks) on exposing translator bias in the translation of the Pali Canon and other Buddhist literature. 

The issue is the GWV is interested in improving the level of translated Buddhist literature, as well as the level of Buddhist instruction in meditation, ethics and philosophy that is available at this time in this culture.  We are interested in supporting the academic training of a community of native speakers of the English language, who have demonstrated skillfulness in meditation and ethics by having given rise to and sustained the meditative absorptions (jhana), and who can negotiate the rigors of a graduate level scholarship program, while maintaining jhana. 

It is understood if we Native speakers of English are going to build an institution of Western Buddhism that institution needs accomplished meditation teachers, who are also scholars who are also living examples of Buddhist ethics.  Such a program will necessitate graduate level scholarship in Divinity, Comparative Religions, or even better Asian or Buddhist Studies.

Regrettably there is little financial support for Western Buddhist contemplatives and scholars, thus the next leg in the scholarship program is to provide funded for chaired positions at major universities of Buddhist studies for Buddhist contemplatives who are also scholars.  This program is for the people who have distinguished themselves in Buddhist scholarship, ethics and contemplation, so that they can be supported further as they influence future generations of contemplatives.

The final leg in this three-part program is the funding of coed Buddhist fraternities near college campuses where Buddhist scholars, contemplatives and students can live and study and practice and model the contemplative life.  The GWV teachers would offer through these fraternities leadership for daily meditation sits, give weekly dharma talks, lead discussion groups and lead classes in suttic studies both in the public sector, as well as the University.  These teachers would also lead short nonresidential one-day and weekend retreats at these Buddhist fraternities that would function as urban dharma centers in addition to being centers of Buddhist learning. 

In addition to providing a home for Buddhist scholars and students, these Buddhist fraternities would also be places were visiting Buddhist teachers would find a place to stay and teach for short visits.  The benefit to the community would be in finding a regular series of points of view that would keep the study of Buddhism ever fresh and interesting. This service would be provided by a community of teachers who have negotiated the GWV ordination program, which is a rigorous training program based upon ethics, contemplation and scholarship.

May you become enlightened in this very lifetime,

Jhanananda (Jeffrey S. Brooks)

This article may be retrieved at this URL

http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/scholarshipprogram.htm