SALIDA INSIGHT MEDITATION COMMUNITY
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Important Offerings Available Now from Brian Lesage and Other Buddhist Teachers

6/21/2020

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Important Upcoming Offerings from our guiding teacher Brian Lesage

  1. Dharma Talk - Our Spiritual Practice and Addressing Racism: Monday, June 22nd 7pm AZ time/8pm CO time.  
    1. Join Zoom Meeting: https://zoom.us/j/246725464
      Meeting ID#: 246 725 464
      Password: 306049
Monday's virtual meeting will open up at 6:30pm AZ time. Need to dial in? Learn How.
  1. Clarifying the Dynamics of Whiteness - 5 week Study Group
    1. Click Here are the details for it.
  2. Listening Circles about Race - Tuesday June 23rd - 5pm AZ time/6pm CO time
    1. Click Here are the details for it.

During This Time of Social Change We Would Like To Share Some Thoughts and Resources For You To Explore
Confronting Racism
We continue to be confronted with the historical legacy of racism that is interwoven into the very fabric of our society. Names such as George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery have now been added to the seemingly endless list of unarmed black people murdered by police. Our hearts are heavy with a mixture of feelings such as grief and outrage and compassion.
At the heart of our practice is a desire to see clearly. At this time, we are being called to face the realities of discrimination that black, indigenous, and other people of color face daily in our country and around the world. We acknowledge that as an organization, Salida Sangha has failed to adequately address issues of diversity, inclusion, and equity. We are at the beginning of our journey to investigate how we can be present with these issues, and be of better service to both our sangha family, and to people of color in our wider community. This work will not be easy, but we are committed to it as an essential part of opening the pathway to freedom.
“It is said the Buddha’s teachings turn upright what has been overturned. In light of this, we commit to this principle of righting wrongs by learning to decenter whiteness and to deepen our listening.”
-Brian Lesage, Salida Sangha Guiding Teacher
We encourage white members of our community to explore how their hearts and minds have been overturned by habitual tendencies rooted in racism and bias.
In that light, we invite you to read two essays written by Buddhist practitioners of color, which offer two perspectives on the intersection between racial justice and our practice: 
  • Being Mindful of Race by Ruth King 
    • https://ruthking.net/being-mindful-of-race/
  • Your Liberation is on the Line by Rev. angel Kyodo williams 
    • https://www.lionsroar.com/your-liberation-is-on-the-line/
“A central principle of Buddhist ethics is that we practice not for ourselves but for the benefit of all; therefore, the conditioning that perpetuates racial suffering and separation is to be known and uprooted through our practice and our actions. We all have a part to play in the symphony of racial healing."
-Ruth King, African American psychologist & meditation teacher
One way Salida Sangha plans to move forward is by making diversity, inclusion, and equity a top priority. We will educate ourselves on how we can do this skillfully, commit to concrete actions as soon as possible, and announce these actions to our community. If you would like to join us and get involved with these first steps, please contact us at sangha@salidasangha.org
May our work together bring freedom and happiness to all beings everywhere without exception.
May all of us turn upright what has been overturned to dispel the tyranny of racism. 


The Insight Meditation Community of Colorado (Boulder/Dener group) offers access to Vipassana teachers, teachings and daily sits via Zoom.  If interested you may get the links from:

 peter williams email ptrwllms98@gmail.com

 or david chernikoff email davidchernikoff@icloud.com.
 


Other Ways To Connect Our Hearts, Our Practice, and Our Actions are Available By Exploring These Links:
75 Things White People Can Do for Racial Justice: https://jackkornfield.com/75-things-white-people-can-do-for-racial-justice-by-corinne-shutack/
Spirit Rock Meditation Center  https://www.spiritrock.org/
Jack Kornfield:  https://jackkornfield.com/
Upaya Zen Center:  https://www.upaya.org/


 

Salida Sangha Group Meditations are still meeting on Zoom
Please join us!

Salida Sangha Sunday Sit 5:00 pm
Time: 5:00-6:00 pm MDT
Join Zoom Meeting
https://zoom.us/j/633571804
Meeting ID: 633 571 804
 


Salida Sangha Tuesday Noon Sit

Time: Apr 7, 2020 12:00 PM Mountain Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting

https://zoom.us/j/6113473781?pwd=YW5ETzFkbGxrOXpsVDRxeFY0WW1LQT09

Meeting ID: 611 347 3781

Password: 562420 
And finally, a poem for all beings everywhere.
Kindness
By Naomi Shihab Nye 
  
Before you know what kindness really is
you must lose things,

feel the future dissolve in a moment
like salt in a weakened broth.
What you held in your hand,
what you counted and carefully saved,
all this must go so you know
how desolate the landscape can be
between the regions of kindness.
How you ride and ride
thinking the bus will never stop,
the passengers eating maize and chicken
will stare out the window forever.

Before you learn the tender gravity of kindness
you must travel where the Indian in a white poncho
lies dead by the side of the road.
You must see how this could be you,
how he too was someone
who journeyed through the night with plans
and the simple breath that kept him alive.

Before you know kindness as the deepest thing inside,
you must know sorrow as the other deepest thing.
You must wake up with sorrow.
You must speak to it till your voice
catches the thread of all sorrows
and you see the size of the cloth.
Then it is only kindness that makes sense anymore,
only kindness that ties your shoes
and sends you out into the day to gaze at bread,
only kindness that raises its head
from the crowd of the world to say
It is I you have been looking for,
and then goes with you everywhere
like a shadow or a friend.

Wishing you peace, blessings, health, courage and kindness,
Your Salida Sangha Board of Directors:


 Denise Ackert
Denny Radabaugh
Elizabeth Ritchie
Phil Sasso
Roberta Smith
Deb Tannenbaum
Paul Vosburgh
 
sangha@salidasangha.org
www.salidasangha.org
 
 

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Salida Insight Meditation Community
248 D Street 
Salida, CO
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