We are

For Reflection What allows, invites, makes room for enough safety in your life? What does refuge mean to you? How do you feel it and embody it? How can refuge support you in your aspirations and actions? What could you do, who could you envision yourself to be, if you fully felt the benefits of refuge? How is your sense of refuge determined by your

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

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

Nelson Mandela writes in Long Walk to Freedom, “For to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.”

heard years ago that Thich Nhat Hanh said, “The next Buddha will be the sangha.”

Monastics are obligated to accept all the gifts because another equally important aspect of this ritual is providing the community the opportunity to be generous. The practice of alms round and almsgiving offers practitioners an invitation to appreciate their faith and spirituality.

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

described by culture. I would define culture as the dynamic, ever-changing way in which a group of people lives together, including their conscious and unconscious behaviors, attitudes, norms, values, institutions, and symbols. This collection of characteristics is communicated verbally and nonverbally, transmitted from generation to generation, an