Beyond being a “good white person”: Disrupting unconscious racist identities: A 2 Part Workshop with Terri Karis
Thursday, September 27th, 7:00 – 9 p.m. and Thursday, October 18th, 7:00 – 9:00 p.m. Register here
In this two session class we will use Buddhist teachings to explore attachment to the habit of thinking of oneself as a “good white person.” Supported by the truth of our basic goodness, we’ll examine our unconscious self-protective strategies and the subtler cultural legacies of entitlement and superiority. At the first class you’ll receive an article to read and an assignment to help you investigate aspects of your racial identity. In the second class, we’ll support each other by sharing our learning and consider how to translate our good intentions into effective action in the world to address racism. Led by Terri Karis.
Over the past 25 years Terri Karis has been studying Buddhism, racial identities and whiteness. She is a white mother of black sons and a professor of couple and family therapy.
Community Conversation on Healthy Masculinity for those who identify as male, as men, or as embodying masculinity
Sunday, November 3rd, 3:30 – 6:00 p.m. No registration Required
Led by Mark Nunberg, Louis Alemayehu, Robb Reed, Omkar Sawardekar, Malik Watkins, and Gabe Keller-Flores. This is the next conversation in our ongoing series of conversations designed for folks who identify as male or men or embodying masculinity to talk about our response to the suffering we are hearing about more these days as part of the #MeToo movement.
The Skillful and Unskillful Use of Identity(ies): How the Buddha’s Teachings on Conceit and Views Support Skillful Engagement and Freedom in our Lives Today
Saturday, November 23rd, 9:30 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. Register Here
Led by Mark Nunberg, Shelly Graf, Wynn Fricke, and Gabe Keller Flores. The Buddha says that any position one takes including being attached to not having any fixed views is “a thicket of views, a wilderness of views, a contortion of views, a writhing of views, a fetter of views. It is accompanied by suffering… and does not lead to disenchantment, dispassion, cessation; to calm, direct knowledge, full Awakening…”
In this daylong workshop we will reflect together how necessary and unavoidable it is to use identity to illuminate the social dynamics of our lives, and at the same time how easy it is to become attached and confused by identity, taking it to be more than what it is. The same is true in terms of how the mind relates to any views. There is no way to function in the world without views about this and that. The relevant question is how one can use views without the suffering that comes with attachment.
The Living the Practice Workshop Series is designed for people who have an ongoing mindfulness practice and want to integrate the practice more thoroughly into all aspects of life. These workshops will include talks about the Buddha’s teachings related to specific topics, time for guided reflection, small and large group sharing and process work, and guided meditation periods. The lunch break will include time for informal discussion and social time.
