Volunteers: we can't do without them

The Maitreya Instituut can only exist with the help of many volunteers. Some of the administration is done by volunteers on our board and some of the daily jobs are done by paid staff (as in Emst) but most other essential jobs are done by volunteers to keep the centers and study groups running. De amount of work 'behind the scenes' is often underestimated, such as the care of our teachers, building maintenance, planning and distributing course programs, answering telephone calls and emails etc.

Especially at our large events it is easy to see how complex and yet organic our organisation is. Suddenly dozens of volunteers pop up who work together in harmony to prepare and clean up afterwards. But also during our 'standard' courses, nearly all the workers are volunteers.

An essential concept in Tibetan Buddhism is the Mahayana ideal of working for the well-being of all sentient beings by working toward enlightenment. The best type of help we can offer others is to enable people who are interested, to come into contact with the teachings of the Buddha. As a Buddhist organisation, we obviously work as a charity without profit, and it is very important to us that the programs we offer are affordable for everyone. Only through the efforts of many volunteers, we can enable people to enjoy the teachings of our precious teachers without charging excessively high course fees. In this way, every volunteer practices the generosity of giving Dharma.

New volunteers are always very welcome. We do expect from all our staff (volunteer or employed), that they adhere to our ethical policy, and of course our house rules.
To register as volunteer, you can directly contact the center or study group you would like to help:

Maitreya Amsterdam, Brouwersgracht 157, 1015 GG Amsterdam, tel. 020-4280842, .
Opening times: Monday - Wednesday after 16:00, Saturday 11:00 – 16:00.

Maitreya Emst: Heemhoeveweg 2, 8166 HA Emst, tel. 0578-661450, .
Opening hours; Tuesday and Wednesday 11:00 – 16:00 hrs, and Friday 12:00 – 15:00, also during the lunch break of course weekends. Please do give us a call before visiting!

Studiegroep Breda: tel. 076-5200170 or 076-5205110,

Studiegroep Groningen: Kamerlingheplein 15, 9712 TR, tel. 050-3091257, .