DIVISION
WITHIN
back together, but it seems to have
been a naive thought early on,”
says Jack Kornfield, who is considered to be one of the first western
Buddhist teachers to bring meditation techniques to the U.S. He has
supported retreats and teaching
groups for what he calls “marginalized or historically traumatized”
communities for more than a decade, and at his Spirit Rock retreat
center in the San Francisco area, a
scholarship has been established
for minorities who want to become
Buddhist teachers.
“Some of that combining has
started to happen. But there are
other ways in which retreats for
particular communities will be
important for a long time,” Kornfield continues.
A similar view is taken by some
members of Salzberg’s Insight
Meditation Society, which has
been at the forefront of funding
and supporting diversity initiatives and exclusive people of color
courses and retreats.
“Ultimately, I don’t think it’s
anyone’s vision to have lots of
specialized retreats for all these
groups of people, but to provide
a genuine resource for everyone,”
said Salzberg, who co-founded
the organization with Kornfield
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and Joseph Goldstein, and another well-known Buddhist teacher.
“But I don’t know when that will
be the case.”
‘MEDITATE. BE PROUD’
In Seattle, a big city for Buddhism
but nowhere near as popular or diverse as Los Angeles or New York
when it comes to Buddhist practice, efforts to combine Buddhist
communities are slowly beginning,
though attempts at racial diversity
are generally new.
In addition to their beginner’s
course, Sala and many of her students attend a group called POCAS
each week. It stands for “People
“I ONCE THOUGHT THERE WAS
SOMETHING DEVILISH AND
‘WOO-WOO’ ABOUT THIS.”
of Color and Allies,” and is made
up black, Latino, Native American, Asian and white practitioners.
They meet at the home of Duran,
the Native American Buddhist who
co-taught the beginner’s course
with Sala, and follow the same
schedule as most meditation gatherings: a 40-minute sit, a dharma
talk and socializing afterwards.