Teacher: Jerry Webster
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Jerry Webster
Jerry Webster has taught a variety of programs over many years for the Shambhala Buddhist Meditation Center in Washington, D.C. He began teaching as the Education Director of the D.C. Center from 1981-1990 and has continued to serve in an educational leadership capacity up until 2020. As part of his work, he has taught both ongoing weekend and weekly programs, and then later weekthuns (week long retreats) for the Center. In terms of extended programs, his work includes leading four week-long mindfulness/awareness programs involving whole day mindfulness/awareness trainings. He has taught a wide variety of Buddhist courses on all levels - Hinayana, Mahayana, and Vajrayana - and all levels of Shambhala Training multiple times through to Golden Key. In 2010, Jerry Webster was appointed as the Shastri, or Head Teacher, for the Washington, D.C. Shambhala Center and appointed shortly thereafter to serve on the first international shastri council. He served in the Shastri position for ten years until he retired. At present in Shambhala, Webster mainly takes and teaches Buddhist classes through activities sponsored locally through the Baltimore Center. In addition to his work at spiritual centers, over the past decade, Webster also has taught ongoing spiritually inspired secular programs outside of the Shambhala umbrella, in such varied institutions such as Johns Hopkins University, the U.S. Peace Corps in D.C. (he being a former Peace Corps member - Afghanistan), Politics & Prose Bookstore in D.C., Frederick County (MD) Community College, Frederick Meditation Center, and Washington College (MD). Common themes he has revisited for his classes include mindfulness/awareness practices, spiritual journeys, comparisons of spiritual traditions, working with koans, working with fear, Buddhist/spiritual literary authors, spiritual arts, journaling, creative writing, creative nonfiction, multiculturalism, cultural studies, and modern nature study. These ongoing classes feature both Buddhist and Shambhala themes and always include Buddhist meditation practice as the ground.