“Culturally specific venues allow safe spaces to become sacred spaces through the exploration of dharma and meditation practice,” Insight Meditation teacher Larry Yang wrote in his book Awakening Together. “They invite the universality of the teachings to be felt through the particulars of one’s own cultural experience—to see and directly experience how relevant these teachings are to each life.”
Until recently, the first and last time Spirit Rock Meditation Center organized a gathering for Asian Dharma practitioners was the Asian American & Pacific Islander Dharma Retreat and Conference in 2004. Led by Larry Yang, Buddhist teacher and activist Mushim (Patricia) Ikeda-Nash, and artist Michele Benzamin-Miki, this retreat offered teachers, leaders, and practitioners of Asian descent an unprecedented opportunity to meditate together and foster mutual support as Buddhists.
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