What is Dana?
Dana is not a payment or a fee. It is a gesture of the heart—a beautiful practice of mutual support and sharing. Those who offer teachings at the Dharma Center rely on your generosity to sustain themselves. It’s how they continue offering their important work in this world. We invite you to participate in this beautiful practice and ensure the teachings are freely offered.
In the Buddhist tradition, the teachings are considered so valuable you can’t put a price on them. For more than 2,600 years, teachers and communities have sustained one another through the practice of dana, a Pali word that translates as “generosity.” Just as students depend upon teachers, teachers depend upon students. Through a practice of mutual generosity, teachers share the Dharma, and practitioners support the teachings through gifts of money, food, clothing, and service.
The practice of dana has allowed the teachings of the Buddha to be heard by all people, regardless of socioeconomic background, and has supported the teachings’ transmission through countless generations.
The Durango Dharma Center only exists through the generosity of those who value what is offered. That’s you.
Ways to Give
We all need the Dharma more than ever. Offerings of any amount are received with a full heart and deep bows of gratitude.
In a time when many of us in the sangha, the Board, and the Dharma Council are facing loss of income, increasing responsibility for our elderly, immunocompromised, and disabled loved ones, and uncertainty about how we’ll make ends meet, we understand that giving may not be possible. We are here for you. And through the generosity of those of us able to make personally meaningful gifts,we’ll make sure that no one is turned away.
- Sustaining Sangha: become a monthly supporter
The surety of heart that our sustaining sangha provides is priceless. As a member, you help to build a bedrock upon which the Center and our sangha, can rest. Thank you for the ease that comes from knowing that a portion of our operating costs are covered each month. And thank you for your dedication to our sangha and the liberation of the heart/mind for all beings. Give Monthly >>
- One-Time Gift: our sangha runs on your generous gifts
- Legacy Circle: Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha for the generations
In this precious human birth, there is an arising and a ceasing. There will come a day when you will not be here, but what you offer lives on. As practitioners, many of us prepare for the time of our death. We contemplate the body as the Buddha did, we train our mind/heart in compassion, and we aspire to wise speech, wise action, and generosity.
Death is a portal thick with mystery. But we can still make choices that benefit our families, friends, and communities beyond our lifetime. As you plan for where your assets will go, consider leaving a legacy gift to your sangha. Join a circle of practitioners who together, are ensuring access to the Dharma for generations to come.
To explore joining the Legacy Circle, please reach out to Board President, Vic Lopez at Victor Lopez ().
- In-kind gifts: If you are interested in in-kind giving, please email our operations team at .
- Volunteering
GENEROSITY
The sangha makes the center.
Your generosity makes a real difference.