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Principles of the Dharma Teacher Order

  1. Respect the teachings of all Buddhist traditions as your own.
  2. As a manifestation of Compassion, make efforts to become vegetarian.
  3. Live the Precepts and the Bodhisattva Vows.
  4. Knowledge should support practice, just as the left foot supports the right. Without practice, knowledge is hollow.
  5. Make efforts to bring Dharma to those who are in need. Contribute time, energy and material means to the Sangha.
  6.  Have gratitude and loyalty to the many generations of the teachers who have passed the Dharma to us.
  7. Treat all people equally.  A person’s sex, sexual orientation, race, social status, political view, and faith do not affect their Buddha Nature.
  8. Live a simple life; be a monk (male or female) at heart.
  9. Do not waste time arguing about either politics or religion.
  10. Meet anger with patience and a calm mind.  Do not return anger for anger.
  11. Always remember to set an example as a Dharma Teacher.
  12. To realize wisdom and compassion look deeply into suffering and happiness; one should consider the happiness of others as our own happiness and vice versa, and the suffering of others as our own suffering and vice versa.
  13. Contemplate impermanence in order to value and enjoy the present.