Read Race Reclamation and the Resilience Revolution by Larry Ward – 6/1/202/

The Founders of Lotus Institute

The Lotus Institute was founded by Dr. Peggy Rowe Ward and Dr. Larry Ward,  senior dharma teachers ordained by peace activist and Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh. Deeply inspired by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Thich Nhat Hanh, they have committed their lives to non-violent social change, healing, and transformation at all levels, from individuals & communities to the global scale. Peggy and Larry transmit a rare combination of academic, lived, and embodied wisdom that helps actualize healing for self and community. Their background in Buddhist practice, justice/service work, psychology, corporate coaching, education, trauma/resiliency training and somatics creates a powerful dynamic for healing and change. Peggy and Larry are co-authors of the book, Love’s Garden: A Guide to Mindful Relationships.

 

Dr. Larry Ward

(HE/HIM)

The assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. changed Larry’s life. He was searching for direction when this event called him into community service, spiritual growth and planetary peacemaking.

He joined the staff of the Ecumenical Institute / Institute of Cultural Affairs in 1969. Over the next twenty-five years, he lived and worked in over twenty countries. He became an ordained minister in 1972. Larry has taught clergy and lay theological wisdom, organizational change and community development. Larry has lived in inner-cities and villages of the world serving efforts toward local community renewal. He served in India for two years training village leaders in human development skills.

For five years he lived in Hong Kong where he consulted with leaders throughout Southeast Asia on human development and strategic planning. During the last ten years drawing upon his life experience and degree in psychology and organizational behavior he had a management consulting firm that provided Fortune 500 firms services in diversity education, organizational change and executive coaching.

Larry’s introduction to Buddhist practice began in Calcutta, India in 1977 but it was not until 1991 when Larry met Thich That Hanh that this practice became the center of his life and service. He was ordained as a lay minister in Thay’s Plum Village Tradition in 1994 and a Dharma teacher in 2000. He has lived in spiritual community and has assisted Thich Nhat Hanh throughout the world. He has accompanied Thich Nhat Hanh on peace-making missions in China, France, Korea and Vietnam, as well as staffing many retreats through the USA.

He currently serves as Advisor to the Executive Mind Leadership Institute at the Peter F. Drucker School of Management, and is a Board member of The American School of Bangkok.

Larry is a knowledgeable, charismatic and inspirational teacher, expressing his insights with personal stories and resounding clarity, expressing his dharma name, “True Great Sound.”

Dr. Peggy Rowe Ward

(SHE/HER)

Peggy’s joyful spirit enables her students to discover and embody their most creative and authentic selves. She offers a path of deep insight through methods such as movement, writing, art and ritual.

Peggy grew up in the lake country of Wisconsin and has a strong connection with woods, lakes and the natural world. She experienced the world through the eyes of a mystic and had active friendships with rocks, trees and animals. At five, she wrote an autobiography expressing her desire to be a teacher, following the vocation of her maternal ancestors.

Peggy has her doctorate in Adult Education and a master’s degree in Counseling Psychology. She serves on the faculty of a graduate program in Mindful Leadership at Atlantic University. She has also studied and practiced with many wise Native American elders.

She has worked in corporate training with international Fortune 500 firms, was a Director of Education at a medical center, and has taught courses in psychology, counseling psychology, and education at universities in the United States, Thailand and Canada.

Peggy met Thich Nhat Hanh in 1991, became a lay minister in 1994 and an ordained Dharma teacher in 2000. She and Larry joined Thich Nhat Hanh in international exchanges throughout the world and served as staff for 20 years.