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Important Upcoming Offerings from our guiding teacher Brian Lesage
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:
-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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January 2023
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Salida Insight Meditation Community 248 D Street Salida, CO |