As members of the Insight Dialogue Community Anti-Racism Education and Action Team (AREA), we are committed to support our community to become an antiracist, multicultural organization. As an evolving global community dedicated to spiritual freedom and ethical action, we see that our freedom is linked to the freedom of all beings. With this intention, we commit to evolving antiracist practices across our community, including all sangha gatherings, Insight Dialogue retreats, and in our organizational structures.
We invite you to engage in reading, reflection, and contemplation about issues of white supremacy that may be alive and thriving internally and externally in our biases, our privileges, and our conditioning.
For our first reading, please read this article (see link below) by Ruth King, “Being Mindful of Race.”
Before you read, PAUSE. Find a quiet moment or two and invite the body and mind to take your seat, connect with your breath, and settle back into the familiarity and ground of your practice. RELAX.
As you read, notice thoughts, feelings, sensations, urges, and insights. OPEN.
[“Being Mindful of Race” – here you can read]
In the article Ruth King says:
“We must be clear in our intentions regarding what we want to wake up to (racial biases), and then attend to them mindfully. We all need an intention beyond righteousness. Ask yourself, what is your vision of racial healing? Why is this important to you personally? What do you need to face up to and own in order to stay awake to racial suffering? How would this benefit all beings?”
As you read, notice if there is any resistance, however large or small. Perhaps you think this inquiry may not apply to you? We invite another PAUSE if this arises. Take a few moments to RELAX with this belief, and as Ruth King suggests, how might you attend to any resistance mindfully?
After reading, as you reflect on your intentions, we invite you to contact a spiritual friend and engage the following contemplation: LISTEN DEEPLY. What did you notice arising in the body and the mind as you read? SPEAK the TRUTH. Discomfort, unease, resistance, shame, anger, numbness, and disinterest are human responses to societal conditioning.
How might the voice and presence of another help us find ways to hold our experience in compassion, kindness, and resolve?
With care,
Anita Bermont, Beth Faria, Holly Nelson-Johnson, Judy Bernstein, Mary Burns, Patricia Fontaine, Ruby Phillips, Susie Clarion, Nancy Zegarchuk
The AREA Team is a group of Insight Dialogue Community members currently located in the United States, Canada, Europe, and the Global South. The team has a culture of consensus and spiritual friendship, and we incorporate Insight Dialogue practice into our meetings. We are actively engaged in this important work and welcome new voices and perspectives. If you are interested in joining us, please email info@3.wilder.one.