Support the Kechara Pastors

[Prepared by the Kechara Pastors]

 

A Brief History

The pastorship role was conceptualized by His Eminence Tsem Rinpoche to preserve the Dharma and to give laypeople an opportunity to commit to benefiting others. The first Buddhist Pastors were ordained on 24th October 2011 and every year since then, more have made this commitment to bring the Buddha’s teachings to people in our modern era.

Kechara’s Buddhist Pastors received their ordination from His Eminence, whose vows stem from an unbroken lineage of Tibetan Buddhist masters, tracing all the way back to Lord Shakyamuni, the historical Buddha. In addition to holding their Refuge and Pastors vows, serving others with sincerity and without a selfish motivation, they also undergo various levels of training in their spiritual advancement before they become one of Kechara’s Buddhist Pastors. The selection and training is a rigorous process, and the appointment of the Pastors must be approved by Kechara’s Board of Directors and blessed by His Eminence.

 

After Ordination

There are two types of Pastors within Kechara:

• Lay Pastors: people who are committed to their spiritual practice but have pre-existing obligations to family and other commitments.
• Sangha-to-be: people that are aspiring to become fully ordained members of the Sangha (monastic community) in the near future.

Pastors bridge the gap between the ordained Sangha and the everyday practitioner. By holding their Pastor’s vow, they make the Dharma more accessible to people, giving guidance and sharing their knowledge. Pastors are ordinary people who have taken an extraordinary step in dedicating their lives towards sharing the Dharma. They have made a commitment towards their spirituality and the spirituality of others.

Four years have passed as the Pastors continue to serve the community, in a spiritual capacity, assisting His Eminence in his compassionate and visionary works. His Eminence envisioned Pastors to create waves of merit for limitless sentient beings through their body, speech and mind.

The Pastors have the privilege of touching many people’s lives, by serving the public; Kechara members, their friends and family; as well as people all over the world through social media and a dedicated Pastor’s corner on His Eminence’s blog (http://www.tsemrinpoche.com/ask-the-pastors).

 

Selflessly Serving Others

Pastors dedicate their time fully to assist His Eminence by nurturing fellow practitioners along their spiritual path. Pastors share the Dharma with others, help them with their practice and inspire them with their good example. Pastors will also prepare fellow practitioners to receive higher teachings and initiations in the future.

Besides duties and works that support the operation of Kechara’s 12 departments including Kechara Forest Retreat, Pastors duties also include, but are not limited to:

• Performing Buddhist prayers and rituals at Kechara Puja House or offsite.
• Performing last rites and bereavement ritual services.
• Performing blessing ceremonies.
• Performing marriage registration.
• Conducting public talks and other outreach programmes.
• Conducting various educational programmes.
• Providing counseling in person and online.
• Providing Dharma support and guidance to the Kechara study groups in Peninsular Malaysia.

Pastors maintain good conduct and ethical behaviour, wear his/her Pastor’s uniform with integrity and a strong sense of selfless servitude to others. Pastors are ever ready to make house calls for bereavement prayers and are here to educate the public on various aspects of Buddhist practice.

 

Support the Kechara Pastors

Working on 24/7 basis throughout the year, Pastors play an important role to in the lives they touch through their generous service. The “Support the Kechara Pastors” programme seeks to raise funds for the Pastors to continue to carry out their sacred duties to benefit the general public and for their daily expenses.

The pastors need your support, by providing donations for the following:

• Food.
• Lodging.
• Transportation.
• Items necessary for their work, such as ritual items or spiritual gifts for those in need.

Supporting those who spend their lives benefiting others is a worthwhile action. By supporting the Pastors:

• You allow the Pastors to bring spiritual solace and guidance to those who are in pain.
• You allow the Pastors to guide others along their spiritual journeys.
• You give Pastors the means to spend even more of their time and effort to serve others.
• You provide the Pastors the means to make a real difference in people’s lives.
• You ensure that the Buddhist teachings can be shared with others.

Donations will be received by the Tsem Rinpoche Foundation, Inc. via PayPal. The Foundation is tax-deductible for US citizens as granted by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) of the United States government. All donations are recorded in an organized and structural manner.

It is through your generous donations to this programme that the current and future Pastors will be able to spread the Dharma to lessen the suffering of fellow sentient beings, while providing guidance on their spiritual path. Donate now, make a difference!

An introduction to Kechara Pastors and their roles in providing spiritual assistance to many, in person and all over the world via the internet.

Pastors also engage in public talks and other outreach programmes, sharing their knowledge with others. In this video Pastor Adeline presents an introductory talk with a Q&A session in Chinese.

Kecharians