Black Lives Matter: A Call to Awareness for Non-Colored Practitioners of Mindfulness Like a child grabbing for a treat, white people and white institutions reach out to black people they barely know or have forgotten about over time. I am a crone, and was around the last time black people were feared and thus brought into white awareness. As a crone, a Buddhist, and a practitioner of mindfulness, I choose to understand this as reaching out rather than reaching in. Reaching in is the first obligation of practice. It is by this practice that I have found space and freedom. I have found a space -- not afforded to me as a black, female body in this world -- to discover my body, my breath, and for the purpose of this writing, the contours of my life.... August 12, 2020By Ayesha Ali SocialJustice, teachings
The Untold: What White People Can Do with Privilege! Dear White People: You must teach your children about racism, not from a distance, but from your own wise heart. Imagine telling your children (regardless of age) some version of the following story with such regularity that they remember and tell their children. And don’t just tell them this story, notice how such truth telling impacts you and your actions, then talk about that too: My child, I’d like to tell you, from my lips, the truth about our racial history — about whiteness and about being a member of the white tribe.... June 5, 2020By Ruth King SocialJustice, teachings
Calling Into The Circle: IMCW POC Sangha This Monday, June 1st, from 7:00 - 8:30 pm EST, our beloved Ayesha Ali will be holding space for People of Color only, for the expression of rage, grief, fear, and resilience that will support the heartbreaking losses that so many of us feel. There will be no guided meditation, and instead we will offer space to hold and honor the tears and cries and words that arise.... May 31, 2020By La Sarmiento event, SocialJustice
Building Bridges in Underserved Communities Since July 2019, IMCW’s Family Program has been building bridges and connections with a number of non-profits in Washington, DC that work in underserved communities. We are honored... April 21, 2020By Jennifer Jordan EngagedBuddhism, family, SocialJustice
Mindful Engagement 2020: Bringing Our Practice into the World ... I helped organize demonstrations, civil disobedience campaigns, and legislative pressure to change U.S. policies in Latin America, which were funding economic elites and propping up military dictatorships.... I wasn’t looking for Buddhism but it found me at the end of the 1980s and gradually transformed the way I looked at and engaged in politics.... October 22, 2019By Hugh Byrne event, SocialJustice