This training program is open to those who wish to prepare to serve as chaplains as well as those who wish to deepen their understanding of service from a Buddhist and systems perspective.
PLEASE NOTE: All programming for the 2021 year will be virtual. Any references below to in-person housing will apply once we are physically able to gather again on the Upaya campus.
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Program Description
The Upaya Buddhist Chaplaincy Training Program is a visionary and comprehensive two-year training program for a new kind of chaplaincy intended to serve individuals, communities, the environment, and the world. The training program is open to those who wish to prepare to serve as chaplains as well as those who wish to deepen their understanding of service from a Buddhist and systems perspective.
Founder and Core Faculty: Roshi Joan Halifax
Faculty and Advisor:Sensei Hozan Alan Senauke
Chaplaincy Training Program Director: Mary Remington
Chaplaincy Program Coordinator: Petra Zenryū Hubbeling
Academic Advisor: Brenda Phillips
Chaplaincy Applications Coordinator:Paula Ekai Stephens
Contact: chaplaincy@upaya.org
Dates in 2021:
Cohort 13 (second year students) 2021:
- March 6-10: Core Training
- April 30-May 2: Being with Dying (required intensive)
- July 10-11: Social Justice (required intensive)
- August 15-19, Core Training
- October 31-November 4: Core Training
- December 1-8: Sesshin
Cohort 14 (first year students) 2021:
- March 8-12: Core Training
- March 19 – 21: GRACE (required intensive)
- June 5-6: Planting Life (required intensive)
- August 17-21, Core Training
- November 2-6: Core Training
- December 1-8: Sesshin
Dates in 2022
(Please note: These 2022 dates are not yet confirmed, but do give a sense of timing of the training periods for the year. Exact dates will be confirmed very soon)
Cohort 14 (second year students) 2022:
- March 6-10: Core Training
- TBA: Program on Being with Suffering (required intensive)
- August 10-19 : Core Training + Sesshin
- TBA: Program on Social Justice (required intensive)
- October 29 – November 2: Core Training
Cohort 15 (first year students) 2022:
- March 8-12: Core Training
- March 18-20: GRACE (required intensive)
- August 12-21: Core Training + Sesshin
- TBA: Program on Environment (required intensive)
- October 31 – November 4: Core Training
The Upaya Buddhist Chaplaincy Training Program focuses on altruistic and compassionate service, and on social transformation from a systems perspective. The training program is intended to prepare people to have the skillful means to transform all forms of suffering, including suffering induced by structural violence. The Chaplaincy Training Program is part of the Prajna Mountain Buddhist Order, a leader in integrating spiritual practice with social action.
The training program is based on the premise that those doing ministerial work are endeavoring to serve and heal not only individuals, but environments and social systems as well. Thus, chaplaincy is conceived as compassionate service from the point of view of systems change, a deep healing that takes place in concentric circles, from intrapsychic and interpersonal to environmental and global. This approach, based on complexity and systems theory and Buddhist philosophy, is radically innovative and is the theoretical, practical, and compassionate basis of the Upaya Buddhist Chaplaincy Training Program.
Over the last 40 years, we have seen a huge growth in the presence of Buddhism in the West and what it has to offer as a way of life and a means for transforming suffering in the world. During the two-year training program, faculty and students study suffering, its causes, the end of suffering, and the way that suffering can be transformed (the Four Noble Truths). Our studies, practices, processes, and projects are all based in the profound motivation to end suffering in the world and in our lives. The “how” of this altruistic intention is the heart of our training program.
For those who intend to apply for board certification at the completion of the training program, the Association of Professional Chaplains (APC) and The HealthCare Chaplaincy Network (HCCN) have recognized Upaya’s two-year training as the equivalent of 48 graduate credit units. For more information about the board certification process, please visit this page on the APC website or the website of the HealthCare Chaplaincy Network
Areas of Training:
- Theoretical, Scientific, and Practical Bases of Service
- Introduction to systems and complexity theory.
- A new model of service: Living systems and trans-local perspectives
- Exploration of emergence and robustness
- How to intervene in a system for social change
- Buddhist philosophy and psychology of social and environmental responsibility
- Buddhist perspectives on the relevance of interdependence, causality, and impermanence in terms of social service
- Exploration of neural substrates of attention, compassion, altruism
- Engaged Buddhism
- Introduction to history, ethics, vision of service and social action, and the function of a chaplain in our changing world
- The Five Buddha Family Mandala as a systems model for chaplaincy training
- Essentials of Buddha Dharma and chaplain practice
- Ritual process and rites of passage
- Meditation practices as a base of chaplaincy
- Transforming Suffering
- Exploration of direct and structural violence, social service and social action
- Exploring issues related to moral and spiritual pain
- Training in recognizing empathic distress and working with secondary trauma
- Practices for care of others and self care, including identifying the signs of stress
- Perspectives on care of the environment and the creation of sane environmental policies
- Fostering ecological sustainability as a basis of compassion
- Ethics, Relationship and Communication
- The creation of networks and communities of practice
- Buddhist ethics and pitfalls on the path
- Relationship-centered care
- Exploring communication skills for use in complex situations
- Mediation skills
- Council training
- Cultural humility in a multicultural world
- Defining Ministries
- End-of-Life Care Ministry
- Medical Care Ministry
- Environmental Ministry
- Prison Ministry
- School Ministry
- Peacemaking Ministry
- Women’s Ministry
- Youth Ministry
- Street Ministry
- Theoretical, Scientific, and Practical Bases of Service
Program requirements
In order to fulfill the requirements of the two-year training program, students need to complete all of the following:
Zen Training Online
- Participate in a total of 26 required Upaya learning days each year. This includes three core periods (March, August and October/November), two required intensives (also possible to attend online) and one sesshin. Other program requirements (e.g. written assignments, volunteer hours, etc.) may be completed long-distance.
- Training in and reception of lay vows as a Zen Buddhist (Jukai) during the second year.
- Participate in online peer circles throughout the year
- A final learning project. This is a formal research project that results in both a written document and a formal presentation to the core-faculty, program director, and cohort.
- Eight book reports over the two-year period.
- One hundred (100) hours of volunteer chaplaincy over a two-year period.
- Completion of readings and written assignments
- Four field trips over a two-year period to hospitals, hospices, prisons, other service centers, and places of conflict.
- Completion of a final portfolio, which includes all relevant documentation and the Final Project.
Program cost
The cost for each year of the Chaplaincy Training Program is $5,600. This cost covers all tuition, food, lodging (on a dorm basis), and program costs for the required 26 learning days each year; as well as mentoring and virtual meetings. The cost does not include books.
Yearly payments must be received in full before applicants can begin the training program.
We have made every effort to keep tuition as affordable as possible, given the costs we need to cover to offer this training program. Please note that we are unable to give discounts for students who choose to not use Upaya housing for this program.
You may also want to explore inviting your sangha or community to sponsor you for this training program.
Zen Training Nyc
Upaya Zen Center and Institute
Upaya is a residential Zen Buddhist practice and social service community, serving many people each year through our retreats and social action projects. Our vision focuses on the integration of practice and social action, bringing together wisdom and compassion.
Zen Practices
Upaya provides a context for community practice and education in Buddhism and social service in the areas of death and dying, prison work, the environment, women’s rights, and peace-work. We endeavor to fulfill the vision of the Five Buddha Family Mandala by understanding the integration of all of its functions from a systems theory perspective. We hold a vision of Buddhism that is integrated, interconnected, and process-oriented and is based on the integration of our spirituality, education, livelihood, service, and community.