Where do we find home? How do we become free together? How do we find a place of refuge and belonging in a world often intent on exclusion? These have been enduring questions for American Buddhists of Asian ancestry since the 1850s when the first Buddhist temples were built in the U.S. by immigrants and their descendants. Today, people of Asian heritage make up more than two-thirds of American Buddhists. Yet the histories and perspectives of Asian American Buddhists remain marginalized in many sanghas. What can we learn from Buddhist Asian American insights about navigating the complexities of identity and building an American Sangha that values multiplicity over singularity, hybridity over purity, and inclusivity over exclusivity? How does centering Asian American voices expand our understandings of race, identity, and belonging in American Buddhism? What can Buddhists of all backgrounds learn from Asian American Buddhists when it comes to building multiracial coalitions and inclusive communities? In dialogue with each other and with participants, Duncan Ryūken Williams and Chenxing Han will draw from their respective books, American Sutra: A Story of Faith and Freedom in the Second World War (Harvard University Press, 2019) and Be the Refuge: Raising the Voices of Asian American Buddhists (North Atlantic Books, 2021). These groundbreaking works form the basis for a timely conversation on buried histories, trailblazing contributions, race and identity, belonging and refuge.

This talk is a meditation, reading, and conversation between Zenju Sensei and Kaishin Unique Holland, Zen practitioner and educator, on Sensei’s latest publication, The Deepest Peace: Contemplations From a Season of Stillness (Parallax Press). Deep peace is possible. Do we resist peace for fear of passivity? Please join us as Zenju Sensei shares her reflections on the possibility of inner peace despite the chaos that surrounds us. “There is a peace that appears without effort. Like the desert filling up your eyes. It appears like snow, wind or rain. The simple willingness to be close to the earth will open ground for the deepest peace. It arrives on its own if we let it.”- from The Deepest Peace

Laurie Anderson has been practicing Buddhist meditation and investigating the nature of sound for more than forty-five years. Please join Laurie for a freely offered sound meditation in support of BCBS and IMS exploring some of what we might be learning about sound, communication, and empathy in the covid era. We are happy to present this program in collaboration with the Insight Meditation Society (IMS).

In a time of painful political and racial division, polarization, and the slow drift toward dystopia, what do Buddhist thought and practice offer us in our efforts to deepen wellbeing, understanding, engagement, and ethical action? In this practice and inquiry session, freely offered in support of BCBS, Bhikkhu Anālayo and Rhonda Myozen Magee explore how mindfulness can increase our capacity to address racism and other socially-constructed oppressions and vulnerabilities in our times.

How are we called to transmit and receive Buddhist wisdom and practice today? This is an especially important question for contemporary students and those who themselves are training to become dharma teachers and their mentors. What is the significance of the mentor-mentee relationship? In what ways might American-convert Buddhism be transformed as the community of students and dharma teachers becomes more diverse? From its beginning, Buddhism has emphasized that impermanence is a mark of all existence; it is not surprising that as it has been transmitted to different cultures, across vast geographical regions over more than two millennia, Buddhism itself has been constantly changing. As Buddhadharma is transmitted and transformed by a new generation, how do we remain grounded in the liberating wisdom and practices of the traditions we have inherited even as we directly address the turbulence and urgency of our times, and share these teachings with an ever-growing and changing community of practitioners? An evening of meditation and conversation as we explore these questions with BCBS co-founder Joseph Goldstein, BCBS teacher Dawn Scott, and BCBS Director of Studies William Edelglass.

How practices of awakening and compassion converge with conscientiously choosing to disobey the law, in responding to the climate and ecological emergency we face. What does dharma practice look like in the face of a Climate and Ecological emergency? How do the Buddha’s wisdom teachings and compassionate practices empower us to meet this crisis? How do we keep our heart open while engaging with our inner responses and the outer situation?