Sangha Core Beliefs

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Sangha and Diversity Committee member Karen Reppen has also offered to organize and lead a weekly class on multicultural awareness, the elements of which would include:

• Very fundamental work” on the basics of multicultural awareness” on matters of—economic status, gender/sexual/affectional orientation, class, age, education, health, profession, physical ability, language, affiliations, faith/spiritual beliefs, etc.

• Using an interactive approach (exercises and discussions), to explore class participants’ core beliefs in a safe way to help them reveal their personal feelings, beliefs, and values about who they are relative to others who they presume to be similar to, or different from, them (on personal, interpersonal, institutional/systemic,
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The Committee is uncertain as to how often announcements are made about the opportunities for service made available to Sangha members by way of SnowFlower’s Projects. The Committee recommends that such announcements occur quarterly at each of the Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday meditation groups.

Many other opportunities to volunteer and assist persons of color in our community are listed in the Justified Anger Next Steps document. Nehemiah.org also offers a volunteer application and training at http://nehemiah.org/get-involved/. Other volunteer and training opportunities may exist through WISDOM and MOSES, statewide Wisconsin and Madison-area area grassroots organizations, respectively.

Sangha members with a record of involvement with Madison Urban Ministries suggested other volunteer opportunities that merit further exploration. For instance, the Sangha or its members could:

• Send three to five Sangha members to attend Sunday services at traditional black churches in
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• Throw a fundraiser for specific trans* supportive changes.
• Have a panel and listen to personal experiences.
• Hold educational sessions when there is usually a dharma talk, such as bringing in leaders from the community or showing films with discussion.
• Hold a LGBTQ sangha sit, yoga class, or retreat.
• Have a LGBT breakout group after retreats.
• Create a process to thoughtfully draft a diversity or inclusion statement, and post it publicly. Elicit and act on feedback from sangha members about structural changes needed to make the goals of the inclusion statement a reality.
The Steering and Care Taking Councils should review closely the suggestions as to appropriate housing and facilities for transgender persons. Input from the Sangha, especially members who have organized our retreats, should be