Early memories of The Buddhist Center
Isa: Would you like to start off talking about your early memories of the Buddhist Center?
Gen Don: I wasn’t there quite as early as some folks, obviously, because I was in the master’s program in Italy until the end of 2004. I did have a couple of occasions to come to the center to teach. Geshe Sherab, was teaching at the time, coming down from Taos. The FPMT had their office up in Taos, and so he was there to help with translations and things. He would come down to Santa Fe to teach folks here. I think he started coming down in 2001.
Anyway, he asked me to teach on one subject in particular because he felt maybe there was a little more technical language involved. So I taught that, though I can’t even remember the location, frankly. I didn’t know Santa Fe so well then—I hadn’t spent much time in New Mexico. The center moved around to a number of locations in those early years. I also did another small course for them somewhere in there.
Then in 2004, when the master’s program finished, I came to New Mexico. Initially, I wasn’t doing much teaching. I think I started around September of 2005. When I arrived, there was a need for a spiritual program coordinator, and I was asked if I’d be willing to do that. Venerable Connie Miller was the resident teacher at the time, and she asked if I could help out with some of those duties. I was happy to do that for about a year.
After that, I think it was Charmaine Hughes who came in and started handling some of those duties. At the time, the center was on Monte Rey—or something like that. I can’t quite remember the name of the street. It wasn’t too far from where they were later, on Second Street. It was a small second-level space in a building. Not a huge center, but we had a good number of people.
A lot of the folks who were involved then have since moved on or, sadly, passed away. We had a small board of directors and a few people in management roles, most of whom are no longer involved.
When I came in as SPC, the director at the time stepped out of the position, and we were without a center director for a while. But it was a lovely little community with really good energy starting to build. That was around the center’s fifth year.
Thanks to the kindness of the Serets, we moved into a building on Alameda Street, where we stayed for a number of years. The previous space was being reclaimed by its owners, and we had to vacate within 30 days. Ajna’s parents offered us a new space, which was smaller but very nice. We filled it up quite a few times, especially when visiting teachers came through.
At that time, Geshe Sherab had gone into retreat and later became the principal at Kopan Monastery, so he wasn’t visiting as much. But we had Venerable Robina frequently.
After the original director left, the board collectively managed things until Rowena Mayer arrived in early 2006. She agreed to take on the role of director and stayed for 12 years. Rowena really put her mark on the center—she was, as Venerable Robina would say, a good mommy. She spent many hours at the center, inviting in passersby and involving others in various roles.
We were on Alameda Street for quite a few years until we moved to Second Street, which marked a middle period of growth for the community. That location was outside the downtown area but had a lot of foot traffic—it was right across from a pizza place, so people would wander by.
Charmaine was SPC for a few years and then stepped out. Rowena and I kind of shared responsibility for the spiritual program after that. I became the resident teacher in 2006 when Venerable Connie moved on. It was a busy and sometimes challenging time, especially when we had visiting teachers, but many people stepped up.
A strong sense of community started forming then—people really felt it was something special. Many of those who joined during that time are still around today. Charlene Wunderlich and Nancy Savoia are on our current board. Judith Bailey, who was involved early on, still comes to classes regularly.
Ajna, the founder of the center in 2000, was very much part of the community. He lives in Albuquerque now but still comes when he can. I don’t have very specific early memories, but one of the richest ones came much later—when Lama Zopa Rinpoche visited in 2017. That was largely due to Rowena’s hard work. Many people contributed to making that visit very special.
He was here for just under a week, and we managed to hold four or five public events. We also had a special session at the Second Street Center where he gave a talk and an oral transmission—a lung in Tibetan—of a text we’re now reciting regularly for his reincarnation. It’s called Chanting the Names of Manjushri.
There’s a wonderful photo from that day of Rowena, myself, Rinpoche, and Geshe Sherab in the lobby, with the Maitreya Buddha statue behind us. That was a really meaningful time.
Isa: What was your most memorable part of that visit?
Gen Don: While the public events were wonderful, I think the most memorable moment was the time we spent with Rinpoche at the center. Hosting him in our own space and receiving that transmission was incredibly special. The public events were held at a school with a large theater room—maybe it was Santa Fe High, though I can’t recall exactly. But having him at the center was something I’ll always treasure.
Nonviolence workshops with Gen Don
Isa: Let’s jump to talking about nonviolence. If you could talk about that and the workshops you’ll be doing at the Buddhist Center?
Gen Don: Sure. Nonviolence is very close to the heart of Buddhist practice. Although, of course, Buddhists aren’t exempt from violence. There are places where Buddhists have engaged in violent action. But fundamentally, our teachings are rooted in the principle of Ahimsa, non-harmfulness. It’s the same principle Gandhi used in his nonviolent protests.
Exploring nonviolence goes far beyond just physical harm. This all came to my attention through my work with the Interfaith Leadership Alliance here in Santa Fe, which I’ve been involved with since late 2011. In 2022, one of our members mentioned a project from an organization called Pace e Bene. It began as a Catholic initiative but is now secular. They started a movement called Nonviolent Cities, similar to Karen Armstrong’s Compassionate Cities.
Santa Fe became a charter member of Nonviolent Santa Fe. The idea is to encourage education and patterns of nonviolence, but each city determines its own approach. We developed a two-hour workshop called Exploring Nonviolence, using their materials. We ran the first one at Thubten Norbu Ling back in April with around 14 or 15 participants, which is ideal for this type of session.
The workshop begins by asking participants to reflect on what violence and nonviolence mean to them. We introduce Galtung’s Triangle of Violence: direct violence at the tip, with cultural and structural violence forming the base. Cultural violence includes racism, sexism—ideologies embedded in our society. Structural violence is about the societal systems that create inequality. These underlying forms often lead to direct violence.
People often assume we’ll focus only on direct violence, physical harm. But we also want them to become aware of the broader systems they’re part of and how they can begin shifting toward nonviolent practices in all aspects of life.
The first level workshop also encourages awareness of our thought processes during conflict, how we respond when someone disagrees with us or behaves in a way we find difficult. We explore how to shift our responses toward nonviolence.
Now we’re developing a level two workshop that goes deeper. It draws from the work of Marshall Rosenberg on nonviolent communication. His work helps people become more aware of their communication: how to express needs, listen deeply, and reduce reactive tendencies in conflict.
We’ll begin piloting level two in early 2026 and hope to offer it at Thubten Norbu Ling. We’ll also run level one again for newcomers or those who want a refresher.
We have a great facilitation team—a retired EMS worker from Santa Fe who brings real-world experience, a chaplain from an Adventist church, a retired physicist who’s recently taken interest in this work, and myself. We usually have at least two or three of us leading each session.
If anyone is interested, they can email us at nonviolencesantafe@yahoo.com. I monitor the email, so I’ll respond. We’ve held the workshop at churches and nonprofits—organizations supporting survivors of abuse, the homeless, and others in distress. It’s been well received across the board.
Isa: That’s amazing. Hopefully it comes to Santa Fe.
Gen Don: Yeah, I’m sure the center will be happy to host. We just need to find the right time. As with level one, we’ll pilot level two to make sure it really meets people’s needs.
I really enjoy this work. In our society today, especially in the U.S., we’ve lost a lot of our ability for civil discourse. There’s so much polarization and othering. These workshops help people reconnect, find common ground, and develop a sense of belonging and shared humanity.
Isa: Beautiful. Anything else you’d like to add?
Gen Don: No, I think that covers the main things. Even people who’ve practiced Buddhism for years found new insights in the workshop we offered in April. It was really useful.
Isa: Great, well, thank you!
Gen Don: Thank you.
