When I first attended Tara Brach’s Wednesday night class at River Road in 1998, other than the Buddha sitting next to her, I was the only other person of color in the room. I have often been the “only one” in many spaces in my lifetime.
As an immigrant, non-binary, queer person of color, I grew up assimilating into the dominant culture, following my parents’ guidance to survive in this new country. It was through IMCW’s first Diversity Committee in 2005 that I began leading the People of Color and LGBT Sanghas. And it was through these sanghas that I began to reclaim and accept my identities.
It was not always easy for our wider sangha to embrace the changes needed to become more welcoming and inclusive. I often felt angry, frustrated, and impatient. But through the path of Wise Effort, I learned, as Pema Chödrön would say, to “learn to stay.” That effort has kept me engaged with the sangha these last 28 years.
Wise Effort teaches us to prevent and abandon harmful states of mind, while developing and maintaining wholesome qualities such as lovingkindness, compassion, patience, and generosity.
Through my many years of practice, I have not always been successful at preventing harmful states from arising. I’m only human, after all! But I’ve learned to recognize my suffering, meet it with compassion and acceptance, and plant seeds of lovingkindness, joy, and equanimity. Through this practice, I continue to cultivate forgiveness, patience, and generosity.
My experience as a student, retreat manager, teacher, and board member with IMCW has brought both challenges and tremendous joys. It has deepened my love and commitment to our sangha and fostered personal and collective healing in ways I never could have imagined.
Thich Nhat Hanh once said, “The next Buddha will be the Sangha.” I believe in the power of our community to offer refuge, connection, and a path toward healing and awakening.
But sustaining this community takes our collective effort. IMCW depends on its annual Fall Fundraising Campaign to cover a significant portion of its operating budget. Your generosity sustains our teachers, programs, scholarships, and sanghas, helping ensure that the Dharma remains accessible to all who seek it.
Right Effort is not only about cultivating wholesome qualities within ourselves, but also nurturing the conditions that allow them to flourish in others. Supporting IMCW is one way we can put that practice into action.
That’s why I donate to IMCW’s Fall Fundraising Campaign every year. Please join me in making a gift today. Together, through our generosity and shared effort, we can sustain the sangha that sustains us.
With gratitude,
La Sarmiento
IMCW Teacher
