Tracey (Sciarra) Duff is a 2008 graduate of Noah Levine's Dharma Facilitator & Meditation Teacher Training, and a 2009 graduate of Jill Satterfield's 200 hour Yoga & Meditation Teacher Training, as well as being a graduate of the School for Compassionate Action (SCA), which certifies Tracey to teach yoga and meditation to certain populations in need - most specifically at risk youth and adults, people in recovery programs and living with addictions, individuals living with chronic pain, depression, anxiety and PTSD.
Tracey believes that each moment and situation of our life is a moment that we can use to 'wake up'. She is committed to sharing ways in which we can use every day life as practice, to teach others to meditate both on and off the cushion. Her background in Buddhism first began with Tibetan Dzogchen practice, and then becoming enamored by the emerging Western Buddhist movement she then began to study Theravada and Vipassana. Tracey has attended various Buddhist and Vipassana retreats, as well as assisted both Noah and Jill on retreat. She is the founder of the Elm City Dharma Collective (formerly known as the New Haven Dharma Punx) which began back in June of 2007, and has continued to dedicate herself to teaching others how to use different meditation techniques to personally empower each of us to wake up a bit more each day. Tracey feels it very beneficial to also implement these techniques into the physical practice of asana (yoga postures and practice), while you are sitting in the doctors office, washing the dishes, waiting in line at the pharmacy, dealing with those whom we find to be difficult, sitting in traffic.....
The Elm City Dharma Collectivecame together in June 2007 to help bring a sense of community and sangha to Connecticut, to bring together like minded individuals for a peer meditation/dharma study group, and to support and encourage alternatives to the mainstream meditation scene that has taken root here in the West. This group is inspired by the teachings of Noah Levine and all those who 'go Against the Stream'. Although we do study buddhist philosophy and the fundamental teachings of the buddha ('the dharma'), it is not necessary to be a buddhist, or consider yourself buddhist in any way, to attend.
All that is needed is a willingness to cultivate a practice that enables each of us individually to be inspired to "serve the truth of generosity, kindness, and appreciation and to defy the lies of selfishness, ill will and jealousy".
Buddhism is a belief built on practice and we strive to take the principles of buddhism and integrate them into our lives to use them everyday, and are committed to bringing these ideas and the Dharma to more people in the West. We want to help put a different package on Buddhism and show people this stuff actually works! We are not about religious dogma, we don't think the Buddha was a god, and we are not a cult - although we may have Kool-Aid occasionally...
"The path of the spiritual revolutionary is a long-term
and gradual journey toward awakening...
This is a path for rebels, malcontents and truth seekers."
- Noah Levine, Against the Stream
This group is open to anyone interested in facing the truth of their own minds and finding their way out of delusion; people who have a desire for spiritual and/or personal growth, and anyone interested in meditation, the many teachings of the Buddha and those involved or interested in the Western Buddhist Movement.
