Building Buddhist Communities Retreat
Building Buddhist Communities: A Retreat Inspired by Be the Refuge
Saturday, May 22nd, 2021, 10am–3pm Pacific Time / 1–5pm Eastern Time
YBE is thrilled to invite you to this free online retreat, inspired by the recently published book Be the Refuge: Raising the Voices of Asian American Buddhists. We are delighted to feature author Chenxing Han alongside many other presenters and panelists for this exciting half-day event. Come prepared to participate in interactive sessions inspired by the four parts of Be the Refuge: Trailblazers, Bridge-Builders, Integrators, and Refuge Makers. The retreat is open to people of all backgrounds. We hope our time together can deepen connections and build friendships within and beyond our Buddhist communities.
About the Author:
Chenxing Han is a Bay Area–based writer whose publications have appeared in Buddhadharma, Journal of Global Buddhism, Lion’s Roar, Pacific World, Tricycle, and elsewhere. She holds a BA from Stanford University and an MA in Buddhist studies from the Graduate Theological Union. After studying chaplaincy at the Institute of Buddhist Studies in Berkeley, California she worked in spiritual care at a nearby community hospital in Oakland. Her first book, Be the Refuge: Raising the Voices of Asian American Buddhists, was published by North Atlantic Books in January 2021.
Reflections on Be the Refuge
Co-facilitators and presenters
(I) Trailblazers: The Deep Roots of Asian American Buddhism
In this session, co-facilitated by Funie Hsu and Chenxing Han, we’ll explore the challenges that Asian American Buddhists have faced as well as the contributions they’ve made from more than 150 years ago up to the present day. As part of this conversation, we’ll be discussing May We Gather: A National Buddhist Memorial Ceremony for Asian American Ancestors—those who weren’t able to attend the livestream on May 4th can access the recording at www.maywegather.org. We’ll have time for an interactive presentation followed by breakout rooms, and will wrap up with a big-group discussion.
(II) Bridge-Builders: Show & Tell with Second-Gen Buddhists
In this hour, we’ll consider the vast diversity of second-generation Buddhists through an exploration of the objects that connect us with our cultural and religious heritages. After a show and tell featuring Tanny Jiraprapasuke, Wanwan Lu, Dedunu Sylvia, and Mihiri Tillakaratne, we’ll have time for breakout rooms before reconvening as a big group. Please bring an object you’d like to share with the group—it might be an object that represents your resilience, connects you to ancestors, uplifts you in times of difficulty... feel free to surprise us!
(III) Integrators: A Panel with BIPOC Convert Buddhists
During this 45-minute discussion, we’ll have the opportunity to learn from, and ask questions of, our stellar panelists Juliet Bost, Cahron Cross, Elaine Lai, and David Woo. What has your Buddhist journey been like? How do you relate to the identity of “BIPOC convert Buddhist”? What are your thoughts on building solidarity between Buddhists of different racial, ethnic, and religious backgrounds? We’ll have a chance to hear our panelists’ responses to these questions and more—please add your own questions to the mix!
(IV) Writing Workshop on Anger, Privilege, and Solidarity
Have a pen(cil) and paper ready for this final session together! Devon Matsumoto and Chenxing Han will lead us in a writing workshop on themes from Be the Refuge’s last three chapters: Anger, Privilege, and Solidarity. We don’t want to give too much away, but letter-writing may be involved. No writing experience necessary!
Additional facilitators:
