Audio: BMI 10th Anniversary Celebration: Ven. Priya Rakkhit Sraman
Full transcript:
JANET GYATSO: Our next speaker will be Venerable Priya Rakkhit Sraman.
CHARLES HALLISEY: That's not him.
JANET GYATSO: That's not him? That's Cassella. There he is, who also has a beautiful smile and
[LAUGHTER]
And it's wonderful to see our just absolutely brilliant and wonderful students again. I haven't seen him for a few years since he moved down to Emory University, where he is serving as the Buddhist chaplain at Emory University.
He is originally from Bangladesh and he joined Harvard Divinity School in 2014. At first, he was also a BMI Fellow, and then he went on to get his degree here also as an MDiv student in 2017. So Priya if you would be so kind as to give us some sense of what you learned at the school has helped you in your career and the work that you're doing since you graduated?
PRIYA RAKKHIT SRAMAN: Thank you so much, Professor Gyatso So it's very nice to see you after some years. I am taking Professor Hallisey-- I'm one of the people who is taking Professor Hallisey's Pali class. So I get to see him twice a week. But I have seen you a few years ago last, but it's good to see you.
And I just said at this point that I have enjoyed everyone's sharing so far, and it's just so nice hearing everyone. And also, for me, going back to Cambridge and all those memories that I shared with many of you, with Venerable Casella and also Samita. At one point we shared the apartment while we were classmates. So many interesting experiences.
So you mentioned a little bit about my chaplaincy work. So I joined Tufts University chaplaincy first, and then now I am at Emory University. But my connection to-- first of all, as Venerable Cassella mentioned, CPE chaplaincy, ministry, and all of these words were new to us, to me, as well.
So coming to Harvard Divinity School, it was kind of a new introduction to a new kind of service, that when we heard, or when I heard about all of this, when I started learning about this, immediately I felt like this is similar to the kind of work these monastics do in Asia. Maybe without proper formal education or training, but being a monastic this is the kind of service that they're expected to do at least.
So it was really interesting. I went in the direction of higher-ed chaplaincy, and that is how I connected to Tufts University chaplaincy through my internship for the M.D. field education requirement. And when I graduated, I just continued at Tufts University, that's how much I found value in my work.
And about how my experience at HDS informs my work as a University chaplain. I can say that some of the courses, definitely courses on spiritual care and counseling, courses on meaning-making are especially useful, especially in times of addressing spiritual-emotional needs with students and members in the campus.
So many thanks to all the discussions and teachings by Chris Berlin, Professor Cheryl Giles, William Miller, and all the other professors in these courses. I want to also say that as campus is my workplace, intellectual engagement with the community is a common feature in my work.
So the courses that I took on scriptural engagement have been especially relevant in those moments because oftentimes, my conversations about Buddhism with our students go into Buddhist scriptures, narratives, and ways of understanding the narratives, talking about the Buddha's journey as a prince, and then pursuit of enlightenment.
So referring to the life story of the Buddha or his great disciples or the Jataka's you know, so a lot of the times, I have found that I am reflecting on those methods of engaging with scriptures or stories or narratives as I'm talking to my students. Sometimes selecting parts of the story that I find is interesting not necessarily the entire story itself.
So I found that I would just go back to my classrooms or the discussions that I've had before, and how informative all of that was in my interaction with students. And how that kind of led to the expansion of the understanding of Buddhism in the minds of the students.
A lot of them may have no background in Buddhism, or a lot of them have some background from some books like Siddhartha they may have read before coming and talking to a Buddhist monk on campus. So one thing I say is that when I started my experience at Tufts University, a lot of the time this was the first time that these students have ever met a Buddhist monastic in their life, in person.
So they would come with a lot of basic questions, maybe not so basic, advanced deeper questions about Buddhism. Not saying that I was able to respond to all of them helpfully, but I tried my best. And during those times, I took refuge in the teachings and learnings I had from Harvard Divinity School.
And connected to that is the Pali class that I continue to participate even now, years after my graduation from HDS. I think of that as an important resource for me now because for me, at least, I love that we do this as a kind of a seminar, as a community in which all of us are sharing our experiences and that somehow I feel a sense of nourishment in that.
And a lot of the time, studying Pali is studying Buddhism. So a lot of the time, things I learned maybe, we have the Pali class in the morning, Tuesdays and Thursdays. So things I learn or discuss in the morning class, I would go into my engagement or appointment with students later in the day, and I would find myself using those resources that we have discussed.
Not necessarily the Pali grammatical and linguistic details, but the teaching points and the stories that we discussed. So I want to just say, thank you to Professor Hallisey for allowing me to join even many years after my graduation.
The other thing I want to add is diversity, as some of my friends have mentioned already. Diversity in the community at HDS enriched my experience and left me with an impression that it is possible to have meaningful engagement together in a diverse group of people, even if everyone in the group is not sharing the same tradition or background.
And I feel that has somehow influenced my work in cultivating an intentional community on campus, where members from various religious or spiritual backgrounds have meaningful interactions to learn with and from each other. Care to listen to each other, and to sit with their questions, reflections, and experiences.
In an intentional community like this, we try to focus not just on what meaning we get out of the interaction, but also at the same time on how we make it meaningful. So how we engage with each other in this space? What kind of experiences we are sharing or how does it make us feel when we are listening to someone else?
And I try my best to cultivate this approach in the regular group discussions that we might have every weekly or bi-weekly, and definitely in the off-campus retreats that I have tried to kind of do with our students every semester.
And I want to also add that another important takeaway for me from HDS is the understanding that there is a plurality, a multiplicity of approaches, engagements, and experiences within and beyond any specific spiritual and religious tradition or practice.
And that has helped me to remain open to possibilities, open to opportunities. And I feel that this has helped me to understand and to connect with the community, with our students. In that, I am accepting of the people, of the students as they come, as they are.
And at the same time, it also helps me to be a companion to them as they are voicing their realities, as they are discovering the path. Not necessarily that I am the one always showing them or giving them things, but maybe I'm just there listening to the realities that they bring and just being a companion.
Sort of creating a space where they are heard and acknowledged. It can also make them feel empowered. So again, going back to the idea that there are multiple realities and multiple ways of engaging with that and creating a kind of community where they all feel like they are heard and acknowledged.
All of this to say that I'm still learning and expanding in my work, in my ministry. One thing I want to say is that before my chaplaincy engagement, I actually did not lead any groups in terms of Dharma discussions or meditations, or even retreats.
And so when I joined Tufts University, everything I did there were the first time I was doing them in my life. So to say that all of that experience was very much formative for me, and I feel like I was struggling a lot. But I also learned a lot through those struggles.
And because of those struggles and difficulties, one of my hope is to see a kind of proper network of Buddhist chaplains in higher-Ed, where we can not only inform ourselves and share our experiences, but also upcoming people who are interested in chaplaincy in higher-Ed so they can learn and prepare themselves better.
Knowing fully well that there is no way to prepare ourselves for the work. It's learning in the experience itself. Also indicating the fact that it doesn't matter how good the program at HDS is, it's never going to prepare anyone fully for the work they are going to experience in the field.
So in terms of some words or suggestions that I might give to the current cohort or future students. When I was thinking about that, what came to my mind is the fact that from the little that I see happening around me nowadays, it looks like the awareness regarding mental health, mental well-being, spirituality, justice, and practices of care is expanding institutionally.
And more and more people are realizing the importance of mental, spiritual, and emotional well-being. So there may be opportunities for HDS students to help cultivate care and justice in institutions, such as in higher-Ed, hospitals, and even in other companies in the corporate world.
So my understanding is that the experience at HDS is so relevant because it addresses the various issues of being human and the issues of our becoming through all the various texts, practices, histories, imaginations. And all that, HDS cultivates the students are curiously looking at what has been done, as well as what can be done about adding meaning and value to life.
So my sense is that there are all kinds of opportunities for students to be relevant, whether in higher-Ed, hospital, army, or prison chaplaincy. The list goes on, as long as they are looking for a way to cultivate meaning and care for communities that are suffering and under pressure because at least so far, so long as life goes on, there is always pressure and oppression and injustice and pain and suffering.
So the relevance of the work that is being cultivated at HDS always has a place. And there is never an end to that. So I want to stop here and thank you again for inviting me to this gathering, to this celebration. And I'm just glad that this successful continuation of BMI has come so far and will continue far beyond. Thank you all so much.
[CLAPPING]
SPEAKER 1: Thank you so much, Priya Rakkhit. That was such an eloquently and beautifully delivered statement. I definitely think that we can talk about the learned ministry and what being a learned minister has meant and is continuing to mean for you.
And it's especially great to hear your particular experiences as a chaplain, which of course, is one of the main foci of the program in Buddhist Ministry. So thanks very much.
SPEAKER 2: I also want to make sure that no one gets the impression that the international Fellows are admitted to the Buddhist Ministry Initiative on the basis of whether or not they're smiling in the photographs that they submit. It's only true 99% of the time.
[CHUCKLING]