IN THE WORLD
One of the benefits of becoming older is being able to share the fruit of what my life has given to me. I am blessed to be “in the world” in several roles that are aligned with my inspiration, gifts, tools and passions: Clinical Pastoral Education supervision (CPE), Spiritual Mentorship, talks and teachings about Dharma, prison ministry, community chaplaincy, and more. I am blessed to see my Buddhist Prison Ministry project spread across the United States, and work to continue sharing the Dharma with the Incarcerated Population.
These roles are supported by my constant grounding in solitude, contemplation, study, and stewardship of the earth. I hope if I can be of benefit to you in any of these roles that you let me know.
Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE)
Clinical Pastoral Education, known as CPE, is the traditional training chaplains and many ministers need to go through in order to become Board Certified, or ordained. CPE provides a crucible for deepening one’s spiritual inquiry of self in order to more fully serve. These days, with all the unprecedented events of our world, people are also participating in CPE because they want to be able to provide professional, good boundaries, appropriate spiritual care to their loved ones, communities, or wherever they are asked, in a sustainable informed way, without burnout. CPE is presented in 12-week units with a cohort of up to 6 people.
Attendees have a placement in their communities where their service will take place during the unit. I completed my four units of required CPE for chaplains in 2012 at San Quentin State Prison. From there I became a Supervisor in Training for 7 years, co-leading two units a year under the mentorship of John Jeffery. In 2019 I completed the work needed to become a CPE Supervisor and currently lead 2 units a year.
For more information about CPE please visit the Pacific Institute website: https://www.pacinstitute.org
The mission of Pacific Institute for Essential Conversations is to encourage people to talk with one another about what matters most.
Learning to deeply listen and serve the spiritual needs of others.
What People Are Saying
The unconditional positive regard that characterized all that she created and manifested with us, and the ways in which that flows from her deep spiritual grounding, was a gift beyond measure.
-JF
It strikes me that Susan has a special talent for speaking right to the heart of the matters at hand, to center herself from that heart-place and share truth, even hard truths. Her style of inquiry served to offer of her experience in ministry and chaplaincy in ways that I know will help me to carry those lessons forward throughout my ministry in whatever contexts it unfolds.
-AF
The learning time was joyful and sweet, offering a place of acceptance in which to learn. This positive energy was set by you, and emulated throughout the class. You are outstanding in your professionalism, diplomacy, kindness, and compassion. You have great skill in seeing the currents beneath the surface and speaking to those unmet or questioning needs.
-SRD
Spiritual Mentorship,
the true meaning of Kalyanamitra
I live by the truth that we are all reflections of each other. Sometimes, our own path gets hard to see; our faith and spiritual lives become flat, habitual, not helpful anymore. At times like this it can be beneficial to have a Spiritual Mentor. The term Spiritual Direction is somewhat outdated in this time of so many people leaving traditional religions and become an “SBNR”, or Spiritual But Not Religious. Spiritual Direction also implies a power dynamic. My belief is we all have the answers, sometimes we need the help of someone else’s perspective to lead us to the right questions, the next stone to get across the river to our place of inner refuge. My nearly 50 years of Buddhist practice and study combined with the School of Hard Knocks, combined with being fluent in Interfaith and multicultural vocabulary and practices, has set me up well to provide Spiritual Mentorship.
I resonate with the meaning of “Kalyanamitra” which means “Spiritual Friend.” It is a gift to provide deep listening and witness to where you are on the path RIGHT NOW, and feeling into spirit for creative ways and practices you can renew your spiritual connection. I work on zoom or on the phone, with a sliding scale. Please contact me through my profile on the Spiritual Directors International website: https://www.sdicompanions.org/sdi-profile/susan-shannon/
What People Are Saying
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"Time and again Susan has utilized her experience and wisdom to meet me where I’m at and to appreciate where I’m at, while also deepening and broadening my perspective on it. I suspect she has spun around the wheel of life a fair number of times, being refined by spiritual teachers, by nature and animals, and by challenges to the point where she has lost much of the resistance and desire by which the rest of us operate. This is to my benefit, and I count myself as very fortunate to have found a spiritual director like her. I believe she is a rarity"
R.N.
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"As part of my training to become a spiritual director in the Christian tradition, I was required to find a spiritual director to hold space for me. I come from a family in which there are Christians, Buddhists, and agnostics, so when I began searching for a spiritual director, I was specifically looking for someone who would be comfortable in holding space for someone with my complicated lived experience. I'm glad to have found Susan! Our meetings have been a time of beauty. Through Susan's thoughtful questions and comments, I have been relearning who I am and slowly uncovering the bits and pieces of me which have been preventing me from living into the fullness of my God-given gifts. I appreciate how Susan deeply listens, as well as her deep joy and care as my soul companion on my journey, and I'm so glad to have found her!"
M.S.
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"Your field is pure joy, your embrace is healing wisdom. Thank You Susan for accepting me in the group of your students."
Y.D.
Talks, Classes, Trainings
Though I have always considered myself more of a student than a teacher, life has ripened to being asked to teach, train, and mentor. Years ago I realized that regardless of my natural introvert nature, this was fruit presenting in a life of long harvest, what was being asked of me in service. I love to say yes to such opportunities. I love working with groups or individuals.
I’ve given talks and trainings at many venues to Buddhists, to young aspiring lawyers, to inmates, to youth, elders, on and on. For years I have taught various Buddhist, Restorative Justice and Prison Ministry classes at the Chaplaincy Institute, where I am also an advisor, and at Sukhasiddhi Foundation.
I love teaching at both places as the students are so hungry to learn, to practice, and to serve. Some recordings of these classes are listed below. I strongly suggest if anyone is “Buddhist curious” they check out Sukhasiddhi.org. You will be mentored through the basics and the complexity of Tibetan Buddhism with loving, compassionate care through the wonderful teachers of Lama Palden, Lama Dondrup, and now and then, me!
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Restorative Justice as a Spiritual Practice
Susan Shannon explores how Restorative Justice can lead to spiritual transformation by deepening our interconnectedness with each other and our planet.
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Shantideva’s Way of the Bodhisattva
In these five audio sessions, Susan Shannon introduces us to the tools that Shantideva offers in the Buddhist classic The Way of the Bodhisattva.
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The Cornerstones of Awakening
Susan Shannon explores the opportunities for expanding our practice by utilizing the tools offered to us in the main tenets of Buddhist teachings.
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The Four Immeasurables: Key to Cultivating a Kind Heart
Susan Shannon explores how we can experience Loving Kindness, Compassion, Sympathetic Joy, and Equanimity in our daily lives.
Buddhist Prison Ministry:
Bodhicitta Behind Bars
A rapid response to Covid’s deadly spread through California’s prisons, now in prisons across the USA in just two years.
Inmates are hungry for the Dharma!
This program was born from the intention of men on San Quentin’s Death Row. I had been the Buddhist Chaplain there for nearly 10 years. Upon my move out of state in 2019, the 65 men involved in my sangha visioned that we could pay forward what we had studied and practiced together by creating a correspondence course that could be offered to other Death Rows, especially the underserved women’s Death Rows. Eight of those men helped me vet the lessons I wrote literally as Covid ravaged through San Quentin State Prison, killing 28 and causing extreme upset and trauma. It was immediately clear that these lessons needed to be available to the mainline population in SQ as well.
As people began to be transferred out of the prison, this program spread. In just 2 long years, hundreds of men and women’s from every state have completed this course and deepened their embodiment of Buddhist teachings. This workbook is offered free thanks to ongoing grants from the Khyentse Foundation’s Ashoka Grant, and generous donations from individual supporters.
I share the generosity of this endeavor with a skilled and compassionate group of seasoned Dharma practitioners from various traditions of Buddhism, who review and give comments back to the attendees. For more info please visit buddhistprisonministry.com.
