Sangha Is All
An embodied awareness community
“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
In order for people not to be chained by racism’s ideas, a force has to get them to unlearn those ideas. ~ Ibram X. Kendi
Modern Abolition requires those of us who have been racialized as white to engage in active processes that uncover our personal history and experiences of white racialization and to engage in practices that allow the poison of these experiences to leave our bodies, better positioning us as individuals and community members to take appropriate action. It requires us to embrace our recovery from racism as individuals in order to best support recovery in our homes, communities, the nation, and the world. The force that will unchain you from the invisible racist ideas you metabolized at home, school , work, and throughout your life journey is in YOU.
When your felt sense of a situation changes, you change -- and therefore, so does your life.~ Eugene Gendlin, Focusing
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
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
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 Hahn
Modern Abolition is a four-part, small group, white-caucasus series drawing on wisdom from Indigenous traditions around the world to provide:
=> 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.
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.
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.
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.
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. For Additional Details, Visit the FAQ page.