Watch video invitations from Holly and Michele or from Michele and Nancy
This nine-week series for white-bodied people integrates the transformative Buddhist practice of Insight Dialogue (relational mindfulness) with anti-racism education. We will explore and co-create white anti-racist culture within a dedicated, compassionate community of study and practice. Through present-moment awareness we may better understand the impact of racism and our own cultural conditioning without judgment. In addition to being conditioned by culture, history, and power relations, from a Buddhist perspective racism is also rooted in greed, hatred, and delusion. Racism is both historical, as well as contemporary. Unless examined, it will continue to cause harm. This program arises out of our fervent wish to lessen that suffering.
How might our uninvestigated cultural conditioning as white-bodied people contribute to harm for ourselves and others? We will inquire into what it means to be white with curiosity and kind awareness. We will explore how the Brahmaviharas of lovingkindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity may serve as antidotes to racialized perception and suffering. They support us in meeting and transforming our conditioning as white-bodied people. These qualities expand and connect our individual awareness to collective awakening.
Content: Each two-hour session will include an introduction, dharma talk, guided meditation, introduction of an Insight Dialogue guideline, and breakout/large-group practice to harvest insights. Between sessions participants will engage with weekly home study materials which may include articles, audio recordings, and/or videos, and meet with an assigned practice partner at a mutually agreeable time.
For Whom: All levels of practice and racial awareness are welcome, whether new or experienced in anti-racism study or the practice of Insight Dialogue. Awakening White Awareness is a way to begin again, to step into something bigger than oneself: into collective transformation.
Together let us hold an intention for cultivating respect and kindness towards all beings in order to live connected, wakeful lives. Let’s invest in becoming a community rooted in peace, resting in wisdom, and opening wide our hearts towards freedom. We look forward to learning together.
Application Deadline: Please apply by noon ET on Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025. An interview is required.
