Celebrating the Continuation of
Reverend Dr. Larry Ward
One-Year Memorial Gathering
Dear friends,
We invite you to join us on Wednesday, August 19, as we commemorate the one-year anniversary of the passing of Reverend Dr. Larry Ward, True Great Sound.
Gathering in beloved community, we will remember, celebrate, and honor the continuing presence of our beloved ancestor, elder, friend, and teacher. There will be ceremony and ritual, as well as chanting, poetry, and storytelling.
Lotus’ guiding teacher, Dr. Peggy Rowe Ward, will be joined by Kaira Jewel Lingo, spiritual teacher and author; Sister Peace, a senior monastic from the Plum Village tradition; Joe Reilly, Dharma teacher and musician; and Dr. Kamilah Majied, author and educator. As we approach the event, we may have more special guests to share with you too.
This program is offered by donation. Through your generous practice of dana, the Lotus Institute can continue to thrive and carry forward Larry's unique and profound Dharma for generations to come.
Click the Register Now button below to sign up through our donation platform, Givebutter. After registering and making an optional donation, you will receive the Zoom link by email.
Wednesday, August 19
7:00–8:30 pm ET / 4:00–5:30 pm PT
Online & Recorded
By Donation
Dr. Peggy Rowe Ward
Peggy is the guiding teacher, co-founder, and co-executive director of The Lotus Institute. She is a world-renowned spiritual teacher, ordained in the Plum Village tradition of Thich Nhat Hanh, an educator, and the author of Love's Garden: A Guide to Mindful Relationships.
For over 40 years, she has been dedicated to supporting the healing and transformation of people through retreats, spiritual direction, university courses, Dharma talks, and other offerings. Peggy offers a path of deep insight that enables her students to discover and embody their most creative and authentic selves.
Kaira Jewel Lingo
Kaira Jewel Lingo is a Dharma teacher with a lifelong interest in blending spirituality and meditation with social justice. She received Lamp Transmission from Thich Nhat Hanh, and is also a teacher in the Vipassana Insight lineage. Kaira is the author of We Were Made for These Times and co-author of Healing Our Way Home: Black Buddhist Teachings on Ancestors, Joy, and Liberation.
Today, she sees her work as a continuation of the Engaged Buddhism developed by Thich Nhat Hanh as well as the work of her parents, inspired by their stories and her dad’s work with Martin Luther King Jr.
Sister Peace
Sister Peace is an ordained nun in Thich Nhat Hanh’s Order of Interbeing. She appears in the 2017 film "Walk With Me" under her monastic name—Sister An Nghiem.
Practicing with the Washington Mindfulness Community, she met Thich Nhat Hanh when she assisted with a meditation retreat he led for the U.S. Congress. In 2006, she went to Plum Village to deepen her understanding of what a nun’s life entailed, and her ordination took place in 2008.
She has had many roles in the Plum Village community including organizing retreats in Europe, Asia, Liberia, South Africa, and the US, as well as press and PR for the community.
Joe Reilly
Joe Reilly is a singer, songwriter, social worker, and Dharma teacher in the tradition of Thich Nhat Hanh. Joe was ordained into the Order of Interbeing by Thich Nhat Hanh and the Plum Village Community in 2011, receiving the Dharma name True Ocean of Grace. In 2021, Joe received transmission of the Lamp at the Deer Park Monastery in Escondido, California, becoming an ordained Dharma teacher.
Joe was raised Catholic and currently studies and practices progressive Catholicism, Native American spirituality, and engaged Buddhism. Joe has been a student of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh since 2004 and is often found singing and writing songs on spiritual retreats. He currently lives in Waawiyatanong/Detroit, where he co-leads the Building Beloved Community Sangha. He is of Cherokee, Choctaw, Italian, and Irish descent and identifies as Native American.
Dr. Kamilah Majied
Kamilah Majied, MSW, PhD, is a mental health therapist, clinical educator, researcher, author, and internationally engaged contemplative inclusivity and equity consultant. She works with individuals, organizations, institutions and communities to transform oppressive patterns and deepen relationships towards ever-improving wellness.
Dr. Majied is Professor of Social Work at California State University, Monterey Bay. Before CSUMB, she taught for 15 years at Howard University. She is the author of Joyfully Just: Black Wisdom and Buddhist Insights for Liberated Living.