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Griffin Cunningham shares how volunteers came together to create the CCR's newest educational offering.
Dear CCR community,
Last month we launched Seeds of Wisdom—the CCR’s new monthly giving option that gives back to you. The growing Seeds of Wisdom Library includes archival courses (see an excerpt here), as well as new, in-depth guidance from Drs. B. Alan Wallace and Eva Natanya. The Library, whose resources are designed to help people take meaningful steps toward a new era of human flourishing, is an educational offering that we are delighted to share with all who are interested in deepening their learning in contemplative science and practice.
Today, I want to pull the curtain back and share a little more with you about how Seeds of Wisdom came together, as well as some of our favorite parts of this membership. And keep reading for a special preview of a recent addition to the library!
Without the work of many generous volunteers, Seeds of Wisdom truly would not have become a reality. One of those volunteers is Daniel, whose professional background is in music recording and mix engineering. In addition to revamping our in-house audio system at Miyo Samten Ling, Daniel also restored the audio for over fifty hours of lectures from the late 1990s and early 2000s. Anything you listen to through Seeds of Wisdom has passed through his skilled hands.
Daniel says he was happy to lend his expertise: “Seeds of Wisdom is a wonderful project because Lama Alan has many facets, and this is presenting them to people who might not have been exposed to him in the past.”
Daniel continued, “He was dressed as a professor back at my first retreat with him, and that was exactly what I needed at the time. Some of these older lectures and retreats have a very special nuance, allowing us to approach the Dharma from several angles, all of which are appropriate for different people. I think it’s wonderful that all this material is being made available, both because of the different audiences for which it was intended, and because it provides another way to connect more deeply with Dr. Wallace, the Dharma, and modern science.”
CCR volunteer Andrei—a software engineer by trade—also played an essential role in developing our backend user management system. He said he enjoyed thinking through the system architecture, and the best way to leverage the CCR’s existing digital tools. At the end of our conversation, Andrei remarked: “I’m very excited to continue helping the CCR and keep making awesome things, and I’m grateful to Dr. Wallace for making all of these resources public.”
Daniel and Andrei certainly weren’t our only volunteers, so we’d like to take this moment to give another heartfelt thank-you to all the contributors who helped make Seeds of Wisdom a reality. We could not have done this without you!
Along with another volunteer, I had the daunting but joyful duty of auditing some of Dr. Wallace’s archival courses, including two that he taught at the University of California, Santa Barbara in 1999/2000. As I listened through Science, Religion, and the Problem of Consciousness and Sleeping, Dreaming, and Dying in Tibetan Buddhism, I was at many times overwhelmed with gratitude—for Dr. Wallace, for the Dharma, for science, and for technology. Despite my being only three or four years old when these courses were originally taught, so many factors came together that enabled me to listen to these truly life-changing lectures (and during the work day, no less!). I hope you experience that same sense of wonder when you get the chance to explore these courses.
If you’ve made it onto the CCR email list, you’ve likely encountered some of Dr. Wallace’s free lectures on YouTube and elsewhere. But if you made it to the end of this article, you also probably get the sense that there’s something different about the offerings we’re sharing on Seeds of Wisdom.
So in that vein, I wanted to share another preview from the library with you—one that really captures that special essence of what we’re offering. Please accept it as a token of gratitude for being with us on this mission to Fathom the Mind. Heal the World.(R) We sincerely hope you enjoy and benefit from it.
Wishing you well,
Griffin Cunningham
Development & Operations Manager
Center for Contemplative Research
P.S. Don’t forget that Seeds of Wisdom is free for all monastics and those in long-term retreat! We also have discounted rates available for those whose financial circumstances make it difficult to give the suggested donation. Click here to apply for discounted or free access.
