SINI’s newest initiative, the Applied Studies Program, empowers monastics to create or direct their own project in areas of interest to them. Select students are invited to submit a project proposal in order to receive mentorship, collaboration, and modest seed funding. Current proposals that we have received include initiatives to document important artwork at a student’s home monastery, help research and preserve an endangered language, and record a tale rooted in an oral tradition for future generations. We are delighted to continue this program so that we are able to help guide and support our students in developing their original projects and meeting their aims to preserve and transmit the Dharma.
We are also embarking on a new Monastic Teacher Training program. To address the widening gap between the training and education of monastics and the social issues of today, SINI is in the process of designing and hosting a series of teacher-training programs. While still in the early stages, we look forward to planting the seeds of this idea for the benefit of future Dharma teachers and practitioners. Our goal is to provide traditionally trained Buddhist monastics with the necessary teaching skills to allow them to effectively sustain and support the transmission and practice of the Dharma within their own monastic communities, as well as to support secular global audiences.
If you are interested in getting involved in this program and have expertise in teacher-training, please reach out.