Looking Back on 2024 Events and Plans for 2025
Happy New Year! I hope this letter finds you in good health and happiness. As we wrap up 2024, I reflect on the past year’s events and share our plans for 2025.
The Level 1 course, a foundational program in our curriculum taught by Nancy over the first six months in 2024, was completed, and 50% of the 31 participants entered the Level 2 course, a more advanced and intensive program.
We are happy that three participants from the Level 2 course have achieved Noble status, a testament to their dedication and the effectiveness of our courses.
Two new Dhamma teachers will conduct the Level 1 course starting in January 2025, with 14 participants.
Our NBEF Aria Sangha is growing stronger, with six Nobles (one in 2022, two in 2023, and three in 2024), a clear sign of our collective progress and commitment to the Dhamma.
Our three-month meditation retreat at Jeju Dhamma Arama, which took place from August to October 2024, was a resounding success. Many participants achieved good results, which is also a testament to the power of our community and the effectiveness of our programs.
Nineteen people participated in the five-day meditation retreat in Gyeongju from late September to early October 2024 and achieved good results.
Nancy continues to conduct weekly interviews for Level 2, TAs, and Dhamma Teachers.
Nancy will continue interviewing potential Level 1 (July 2025 admission) participants and, when appropriate, provide text-based practice guidance.
In the future, NBEF Dhamma Teachers will play central roles in the foundation’s operation. Thus, we invite Dhamma Teachers to join the board of NBEF.
In addition to the Zoom sessions, NBEF plans in-person meetings in the US and Korea starting in January 2025. Everyone who has registered for the NBEF course is invited. In Korea, the sessions begin at 2:00 pm on the third Saturday of every month and end around 6:00 pm. The Los Angeles meeting in the US will continue to be held twice a month. In Kansas, we meet every Saturday. These in-person sessions include Dhamma talks, meditation, and fellowship.
Nancy’s book I Experienced Liberation and Nibbana, 2nd Edition, English version, was published in April 2024 in the US.
“In the spring of 2023, I published the 1st Edition of this book, I Experienced Liberation·Nibbāna, in English in the United States. It recounted my meditation journey through my final awakening.
In 2024, I translated this book into Korean. In doing so, I rewrote Chapter 3 and titled it ‘Nancy’s Noble Eightfold Path Practice.’ Chapter 3 in this second Edition reflects my teaching experience from 2022~2023.
I also included my students’ meditation journals in this Edition. The two students featured in this book reached the Sotapanna stage, the first stage of Nobles, in 2023. As of the end of 2024, these two students have reached the Non-Returner stage and will begin teaching the NBEF Level 1 course.”
The Korean version of Nancy’s book, I Experienced Liberation and Nibbana, 2nd Edition, was published in the US in 2024. In Korea, we printed and disseminated it for free to those who wanted it in 2024.
In 2024, there were opportunities to promote this course to Mexico and Japan.
Nancy started posting on social media X. The ID is https://x.com/n_acord for the nonmember of the app, NBEF Band, who is interested in our program.