Sangha Is All
An embodied awareness community
Modern Abolition is a four-part, small group, white-caucasus series drawing on wisdom from Indigenous traditions around the world.
M O D E R N A B O L I T I O N
When your felt sense of a situation changes, you change -- and therefore, so does your life.~ Eugene Gendlin, Focusing
This practice provides:
=> frameworks for uncovering racialization in our own lives and family histories,
=> a safe space for processing our racialized experiences and beliefs,
=> practices for uprooting behaviors and beliefs that do not serve us as we work to support the arising of a post-racial world,
=>opportunities for building the community of care necessary to undertake this work.
After all of natural life, humans were made last. And the Creator might have been tired, because humans have a little fault that other living things do not; we’re always trying to be somebody we’re not. We’ve got a mask on. - Iroquois creation story as related by Sakokwenionkwas
Iroquois teaching on the fallibility of humans echoes Buddhism, which holds that humans are naturally subject to delusion. Modern Abolition draws on this important sophistication in indigenous to invite fresh ways of being with experiences of race and racism in racialized as white white bodies.
Thought that underpins racism, like Great Replacement Theory, is largely produced for white consumption and spread in ways that allow it to spread at a molecular level. ~ Ibram X. Kendi
If we are to move beyond racism, we must understand the racist construction of “whiteness,” fully digesting that understanding at a molecular level so that new growth can occur. To facilitate this, each Modern Abolition meeting will offer three kinds of awareness:
1. an historical artifact relating to whiteness,
2. a practice for engaging self with information,
3. the practice of setting out.
Every new stage in human evolution came about as a result of learning. Some people have spoken of a new species called Homo conscius, humans with the capacity of being mindful. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh
Racism evolved over centuries and continents to arrive at its current form. Modern Abolition is considered practice of personal and community evolution that respects the ways in which change happens over time; it gently but persistently unfolds over four sessions over the course of a year.
Fall - Harvesting Our Roots - October 10-November 14, 2026
In indigenous traditions, fall is a time for reflection and preparation for transformation. The fall session offers an investigation of whiteness, considering how white racialization is a distortion of thought, perception, and view, and explore frameworks for developing a personal relationship with our whiteness.
Winter - Setting Out Our Stories - January 9-February 13, 2027
Traditionally, indigenous peoples came together in community during the winter to share stories that upheld the highest values of the culture. Modern Abolition’s winter session supports excavation of our personal stories of race and racialization. This is a deep journey that can be painful and confusing; Buddhism teaches us transformation begins by being with what is, no matter how difficult or painful. Values we practice to facilitate this unfolding include radical acceptance, nonjudgment, connection with capacity, and loving-kindness.
Spring - Beginning New Stories - March 20-April 24, 2027
New life takes root in the spring. Having connected with some of our personal racialization stories, in the spring we consider freshly how these experiences can be metabolized into healing and transformed into stories of love, understanding, forgiveness, and life forward energy.
Summer - Healing Play With Our Stories - June 5-26, 2027
A deep inner journey into white racialization is incomplete without play. In our deepest selves, human beings are love and enjoyment. Returning to these core capacities to be nourished and inspired by them is essential medicine. In the summer session, we explore and choose medicines that help us to create our own ways to play with what we’ve learned on this journey and enjoy what we are becoming.
To register for the Information Session on Saturday, September 26 at 1pm US central time. You can use this time zone converter to double check your local time. n here.
“One can give nothing whatever without giving oneself—that is to say, risking oneself. If one cannot risk oneself, then one is simply incapable of giving.” ~ James Baldwin, The Fire Next Time
Does the idea of having this kind of practice space feel bizarre, unnecessary, unorthodox, a little threatening, intrusive? Consider James Baldwins’ words about risk. Consider the risk Black and other people of color take every day, driving while Black, having a baby while Black, playing in the park while Black, walking home from the convenience store while Black. What would you risk for a post-racial world?
I hope you’ll consider joining me in Modern Abolition practice.
Modern Abolition is a small group offering. No more than six participants will be enrolled in each session. Click HERE if you are ready to apply to enroll in the fall session, Harvesting Our Roots.
Register for the Information Session, Saturday, September 26 at 1pm US central time here. You can use this time zone converter to double check your local time.
For Additional Details, Visit the FAQ page.
There is no paywall; Sangha Is All community offerings are freely open to everyone. Click HERE to learn about participation dana.