Samyutta Nikaya as follows:

all human. We all want to feel safe, to feel we belong, especially in the vulnerabilities at the beginning of our spiritual paths. In the service of this, it is helpful to see ourselves reflected in the teachings, reflected in the teachers who share them, and reflected in the spiritual community surrounding us.

Spiritual explorations require intimacy and tenderness, and it is very hard to relax into what is an open, vulnerable state when our defenses already have to be in place to protect from the injuries and traumas caused by unconsciousness and patterns embedded in the dominant culture. To deny nondominant cultures the same sense of intimacy and safety

The single unity of the Sangha has always been diverse in nature. Diverse folks making the tender entry into spiritual practice necessarily have varied needs. To successfully transmit and receive the Dharma into diverse cultures, we must support the differing processes of each person, so that all can share a feeling of safety and being acknowledged

You may think you are meditating with the purpose of attaining peace in your own mind or tenderness in your own heart. You may think that meditation practice is about creating a deep awareness and mindfulness in your own life so that you can choose what leads to happiness for you rather than what leads to suffering. You may even feel the benefits

Mindfulness can be the practice that connects our individual spiritual path with the path of all beings.

The etymology of the word community is from the Latin terms cum meaning “together” or “among each other” and munus, which indicates giving or a gift or exchange. Integrated into one word, community represents a form of exchanging or giving among and between each other. It suggests the development of relationship and the act of relating with each

meditation does not so much change our lives as it changes our relationship to our lives.

The new teachers of wisdom in the idiom of the people will not be recognizable by their robes but by their hearts. This