For two and half years, G.R. Lewis formally studied under the Venerable Thich Tri Hoang of the Vietnamese Thien Lam Te School, in which he studied modern books and Buddhist sutras and shastras from the Theravada, Mahayana and Tantrayana traditions. In addition, he attended many retreats and mindfulness days in order to cultivate the practical aspects of the Buddha Dharma. Eventually, G.R. Lewis would specialize in Shin Buddhism, a branch of the Pure Land school of the Mahayana tradition, by formally taking an additional three and half year lay teacher’s program under the wise mentorship of Dr. Taitetsu Unno.

Below is a photograph of G.R. Lewis'  Dharma Teacher Ordination Ceremony. He graduated with the first Dharma training class of the Venerable Thich Tri Hoang. On that warm day, a few hundred people attended this ordination event, which included the taking of the Four Bodhisattva Vows by the graduates. This transmission occurred at the Hai An Temple on the Buddha birthday celebration, Vesak, on May 21, 2000.