Diversity & Inclusion
Embracing Equality, Equity, and Accessibility Rooted in Our Spiritual Tradition
At Dzokden, we deeply believe that every person has Buddha Nature—the fully enlightened qualities of a Buddha which we have the potential to unveil through the practice of Sacred Dharma. Regardless of race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, gender, sexual orientation, religious background, past experiences, and criminal records, we see limitless potential in all people to walk the path to Buddhahood and engage with the transformative teachings of Kalachakra.
The Kalachakra Tantra guides us in harmonizing our inner feminine and masculine nature, both of which reside within us all. This understanding fosters an environment where a diverse range of gender identities and sexual orientations is accepted, as we recognize that each individual’s balance of these energies is unique and can be used to realize the Kalachakra teachings. We firmly believe that no gender, identity, or orientation ever limits one’s ability to practice Dharma and realize spiritual growth.
Rooted in the timeless wisdom of the Kalachakra Tantra, the teachings have historically united people from all walks of life—from diverse cultural, religious, and spiritual backgrounds—into a powerful, indestructible vajra family.
At Dzokden, we continue this tradition of inclusivity with our global multicultural focus, ensuring that everyone, no matter their background, has a place in the Dharma and can grow towards their highest potential.
Celebrating the Wisdom of Diverse Traditions
A Rimé Approach to Dharma & Spiritual Growth
At Dzokden, we embrace a Rimé approach to spiritual life—honoring the vast spectrum of wisdom traditions from around the world. We understand that different teachings resonate with different people, and that various paths may be more suited to specific dispositions and stages on the journey to awakening. While not every approach may hold all the keys to perfect, unparalleled enlightenment, we believe that each tradition offers valuable insights that can support and guide individuals at different points along their spiritual path.
The teachings of Kalachakra Tantra transcend any one religious framework, embodying universal truths that have inspired practitioners across a multitude of traditions. In the pureland of Shambhala, people from diverse religious backgrounds came together to use Kalachakra as a powerful tool for realizing enlightenment.
Our Multilingual and Multicultural Approach to Dharma
We try to make our teachings available to as many of the 8 billion humans on this planet as possible. We have several spiritual and educational books that—to date–have been translated into 10 languages and we continue to increase the number of translations to spread their teachings broadly. When the Kalachakra Tantra first came to Tibet from India, they first undertook the effort to translate the teachings into Tibetan. We similarly translate our prayers and practice texts into several languages. We also have a team of volunteers to provide live interpretation in other languages during Rinpoche’s online-streamed teachings and often have several live interpreters, increasing our reach to the general public. We also understand that different cultures have different connections with Dharma. We try to offer teachings in a globally accessible format taking into consideration local customs wherever possible.
Find Your Buddha Nature even with Prior Criminal Records
The karma of all crimes has the possibility to be purified. In the Kalachakra Tantra, it states that no matter what crime someone has committed before receiving the Kalachakra Empowerment, they can still receive the empowerment and practice this path to enlightenment. This is because of your Buddha Nature. No matter what you have done in the past, under all your limitation, is the perfectly pure Buddha Nature. You have the power to transform your life and reveal these beautiful qualities that are already there within you but have been hidden. While this does not remove all of our past karmas instantly, everyone with genuine sincere altruistic intent can make use of this precious opportunity to purify as much of their negative karma as possible and continue the process through practicing the Kalachakra Path. Exceptional practitioners from the past have purified all of their negative karma and reached Buddhahood in a single lifetime. Some examples include Angulimala, the thousand-finger killer, who became an arhat and Milarepa who killed dozens of people and achieved enlightenment. At Dzokden we stand behind our aspirations. We have donated hundreds of our books to prisons and do answer prisoner correspondance whenever possible.
Accessibility for the Disabled
We enable closed-captioning in English for the hearing-impaired as well as translated captions in our Zoom events. The majority of the path is offered online for those who can not leave home. We do try our best to help everyone attend the higher events who have limitations. For those with a demonstrated need, we offer financial assistance, including for those who live on disability support. In the future we intend to make our website fully accessibility-compliant. Khentrul Rinpoche encourages us to understand that while we may have karmic limitations in the relative reality, our Buddha Nature we all have and can reveal is beyond limitation. If you are a developer and wish to help us fulfill our accessibility aspiration, please reach out and volunteer.
Effort to Make the Dharma Financially Accessible to People
Recognizing many people have financial limitations, we strive to offer need-based financial aid within the limits of our resources. Generosity comes down to how much people prioritize Dharma. We encourage people to examine their finances and expenditures, acknowledge their spending, and prioritize support of the Dharma to the best of their abilities. Generosity is an important practice for spiritual realization and is necessary for Dzokden to sustain our operations. Karmically individuals benefit more when they make a significant contribution of generosity financially for the Dharma. But we recognize that contribution is different for people of various economic circumstances.
Our commitment to support students of various economic circumstances is shown in our multiple price offerings for teachings including our financial aid options. While we may offer full scholarships to online programs for those in need, it is unlikely we can offer full scholarships to in-person programs with overnight stays. While we strive to make the teachings accessible to all, there is a vital element of the individual’s current qualifications, motivations, sincerity, and effort. At any point in time, an individual may have specific limitations preventing them from benefitting from a specific teaching. It would be unethical for Dzokden, and in fact is forbidden in the Kalachakra Tantra, to give teachings to a student who is not yet ready for or would misunderstand a teaching in a way that would be deeply harmful to them or to others. With that said, virtually everyone has deep karma to clear, so this means the journey will not always be easy and at times can be incredibly challenging. Nothing in this world happens without incurring any cost. Dharma access traditionally has great community support, which enables the Dharma to be more easily given for free at a particular event. We need to cultivate an appreciation for the teachings and make the effort to contribute time, energy, expertise, and money to support them. It is a common belief that Dharma must be given for free, however nothing in the Dharma states that it is required to be free. In fact in Tantra, traditionally students offered everything they had to the Guru for the precious teachings.
A Path for Both Non-Monastic & Monastic Practitioners
Khentrul Rinpoche recognizes that people need to practice in ways suitable to their karma. The Kalachakra Tantra can be realized in both monastic and non-monastic settings. In our lineage’s history, there have been both monastic and non-monastic vajra masters.
Our Organization is Accessible – Individuals May be Limited
While our organization aspires to be accessible, individuals have their karmic limitations. We request everyone in Dzokden to uphold the teachings, but people can only do so to the amount that they understand them. If you see anything that contradicts our aspirations and principles, please reach out to us so we can have the opportunity to address the situation.