Tsadra Foundation’s Advanced Contemplative Scholarships
The Advanced Contemplative Scholarship program was launched in 2009 under the direction of Anthony Chapman and the first scholarships were awarded for retreat in 2010. Now in 2011 the second cohort of recipients are in retreat and we can provide some more information about this fascinating and successful scholarship program. The Tsadra Foundation’s Contemplative Program supports the practice of Tibetan Buddhism in the form of long-term retreat, primarily through three-year retreat programs for advanced practitioners. The scholarships discussed here are not for short dharma programs. Instead they are designed to target those people who show a long-term commitment to the development of Tibetan Buddhism in Western culture through the combined study and practice of Tibetan Buddhism, the hallmark of Tsadra Foundation’s activity.
Currently there are 39 people supported in long-term retreat through two programs: the Tsadra Foundation Contemplative Program and the Tsadra Foundation Advanced Contemplative Scholarship (TFACS) Program. The Contemplative Program is at the center of Tsadra Foundation’s mission and was initiated at the very beginning of the Foundation’s existence in the year 2000. The Contemplative Program was not open to unsolicited applications and has been only for the most advanced practitioners who have already completed at least one three-year retreat. The new TFACS program invites applications and is open to those intending to enter retreat in the United States, France, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Spain. One does not need to have completed a three-year retreat previously to apply. There continues to be a rigorous screening process involving assessment of both the individual applicant and the retreat program to which they are committing, but the application is open to those wishing to enter into three-year retreat for the first time in any Tibetan Buddhist tradition. Application information can be found online at www.tsadra.org.
The Tsadra Foundation Contemplative Program currently supports fourteen people in three-year retreat programs and one person in individual retreat. TheĀ TFACS program supports seven people in three-year retreat programs continuing on with their 2010 scholarships and fifteen new people in three-year retreat centers with another two people in special individual retreats. In the first year, the TFACS program had fifteen applications and ten were accepted, eight women and two men from the United States and France. In the second year, 17 applicants were selected from 21 initial applications. This year, the six women and eleven men are from the United States (5), France (1), Spain (4), and the United Kingdom (7).
Tsadra Foundation Contemplative Program Statistics:
Year 11 (2011): 15 retreatants
TFACS: Tsadra Foundation Advanced Contemplative Scholarship Program
Year 2 (2011): 24 retreatants (7 continuing from last year with 17 new recipients)
Total people currently in retreat
2011: 39 retreatants
By Retreat Type
36 in Three-year retreat : 3 in Solitary retreat
By Gender
18 Women : 21 Men
By Region
18 US : 10 FR : 4 Spain : 7 U.K.
For more information please see the scholarship section at www.tsadra.org.
