Transforming the American Sangha: Diversity

UCF Prof. Ann Gleig, USC Dornsife; Ashley Wells, Seth Auberon (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Transforming the American Sangha: Race, Racism, and Diversity in North American Insight Meditation

American Dharma (Ann Gleig)

North American insight meditation institutions, rooted in the vipassana tradition of Theravada Buddhism, are often seen as liberal, inclusive, multicultural spaces committed to welcoming diverse constituencies into their communities.

The research undertaken through the Transforming the American Sangha project (TAS) nuances this image by using a social scientific lens to understand the struggles, experiences, and practices of people of color (PoC) who are teachers, practitioners, and advocates seeking to incorporate race and diversity concerns in major American insight meditation institutions over the last three decades.

There are right wing and racist Buddhists

The project will traverse the ground between Buddhist meditation practice and social justice and give voice to PoC leadership’s unique perspective on the way meditation is popularly understood in the United States.

I'm liberal, so I want inclusivity.

Over the past few decades, PoC insight meditation practitioners have produced a broad and varying set of initiatives to facilitate institutional change around diversity, inclusion, and multiculturalism.

These have resulted in changes within existing insight groups and have encouraged the founding of new community spaces, both formal and informal.

Yet, these multiple approaches are often disparate and not readily available to other teachers and practitioners. More

• Ann Gleig writes about race, religion, and Black Lives Matter movement (ucf.edu)