Has mindfulness become a numbing agent instead of a tool to sharpen our awareness?

In this highly engaging call to action, two Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence explore how our capitalist society has co-opted mindfulness and commodified it. In this way, it has become a means to distract individuals from distressing societal problems that demand our attention.

They explore:

• The fascinating history of SPI, its roots in the Radical Faeries, and its formation in response to Harry Hay's theory of Queer Consciousness.
• The foundational role of mindfulness and meditation in SPI's quest "to promulgate universal joy and to expiate stigmatic guilt" and bring liberation to those at the margins.
• The trap of practicing in isolation and believing it is our individual responsibility to internally cope with the suffering caused by the extractive nature of society.
• Our practice of mindfulness can be social and build community rather than foster isolation.
• When situated in context as just one of the Eightfold Path, mindfulness can sharpen our awareness and enable us to actively make a difference in the world.

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The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence are devoted to community service, ministry and outreach to those on the edges, and to promoting human rights, respect for diversity, and spiritual enlightenment.
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Sister Mary Media, SPI, a long-time member of GBF, is one of the original Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence from the Order’s founding in 1979 where she currently serves as Mistress of Grants. She speaks frequently about the group’s history and her vocation as a secular nun.
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Sister Merry Peter, SPI, is a poet, writer, and former sex-worker who found her vocation through the Radical Faeries in 1987. Her life-long activism focuses on HIV-AIDS, queer youth, civil rights and social justice. Her efforts include partnerships to provide street-level health services to sex workers, legal aid for LGBTQ refugees and resistance to police violence. 

#flashbackfriday

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CREDITS
Audio Production: George Hubbard
Producer: Tom Bruein
Music/Logo/Artwork: Derek Lassiter

Alistair Shanks is the Volunteer Program Manager at Zen Caregiving Project where he has worked since 2004, first as a hospice volunteer and training facilitator, and in his current position since 2016. He completed his clinical residency, (CPE), at UCSF and currently serves as a chaplain at both the Parnassus and Mission Bay campuses. He has a Master’s degree from the Institute of Buddhist Studies at the Graduate Theological Union and has presented at the Association of Professional Chaplains conference and Harvard Divinity School. Alistair has been a dedicated practitioner and teacher of the Daoist Internal Martial Arts of Tai Chi, Qigong, and Ba Gua for 27 years, something that has given him a deep appreciation for the wisdom and power of somatic practices to regulate and heal both body and mind. Past volunteer work includes leading mindfulness meditation sessions in the San Francisco County Jail and serving as a volunteer chaplain at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital. He has played and toured internationally with several Bay Area bands for the past four decades.

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To support our efforts to share these talks with LGBTQIA audiences worldwide, please visit https://gaybuddhist.org/
There you can:  

•  Donate 
•  Learn how to participate live 
•  Find our schedule of upcoming speakers 
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•  Enjoy over 900 recorded talks dating back to 1995

CREDITS
Audio Production: George Hubbard
Producer: Tom Bruein
Music/Logo/Artwork: Derek Lassiter

David Lewis has been following the dharma path for 45 years, has a degree in comparative religious studies, and is a graduate of Spirit Rock Meditation Center’s Dedicated Practitioners Program. He teaches Insight Meditation and enjoys sharing the dharma at several sanghas around the Bay Area. He is a proud long-time member of GBF.

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To support our efforts to share these talks with LGBTQIA audiences worldwide, please visit https://gaybuddhist.org/
There you can:  

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•  Learn how to participate live 
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•  Join our mailing list or discussion forum
•  Enjoy over 900 recorded talks dating back to 1995

CREDITS
Audio Production: George Hubbard
Producer: Tom Bruein
Music/Logo/Artwork: Derek Lassiter

Joe Rodriguez is a Soto Zen Buddhist practitioner at San Francisco Zen Center, where he sits on the board committee for diversity, inclusion, and belonging. He is a father, a social impact strategist, and a LGBT+ activist.  https://www.gardnerrodriguez.com/about

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To support our efforts to share these talks with LGBTQIA audiences worldwide, please visit https://gaybuddhist.org/
There you can:  

•  Donate 
•  Learn how to participate live 
•  Find our schedule of upcoming speakers 
•  Join our mailing list or discussion forum
•  Enjoy over 900 recorded talks dating back to 1995

CREDITS
Audio Production: George Hubbard
Producer: Tom Bruein
Music/Logo/Artwork: Derek Lassiter

Rev. Keiryū Liên Shutt is a lineage holder in the Shunryu Suzuki tradition. Born to a Buddhist family in Vietnam, she received her meditation training in the Insight and Zen traditions in the US, Thailand, Japan, and Vietnam. She was a founding member of the Buddhists of Color in 1998 and currently is the guiding teacher of Access to Zen, an anti-racist, inclusive sangha and non-profit in the SF Bay Area. She lives in San Francisco with her partner, exploring waterways and forests as often as they can.  

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To support our efforts to share these talks with LGBTQIA audiences worldwide, please visit https://gaybuddhist.org/
There you can:  

•  Donate 
•  Learn how to participate live 
•  Find our schedule of upcoming speakers 
•  Join our mailing list or discussion forum
•  Enjoy over 900 recorded talks dating back to 1995

CREDITS
Audio Production: George Hubbard
Producer: Tom Bruein
Music/Logo/Artwork: Derek Lassiter

Trip Weil has been practicing in the Theravadan tradition since 2004. He is a graduate of Spirit Rock’s Community Dharma Leader and Dedicated Practitioner programs. Trip serves on the board of San Francisco Insight, where he also leads sitting groups and teaches meditation classes. He is a psychotherapist in private practice in San Francisco and a former attorney.

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To support our efforts to share these talks with LGBTQIA audiences worldwide, please visit https://gaybuddhist.org/
There you can:  

•  Donate 
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•  Enjoy over 900 recorded talks dating back to 1995

CREDITS
Audio Production: George Hubbard
Producer: Tom Bruein
Music/Logo/Artwork: Derek Lassiter

René Rivera is a meditation teacher, restorative justice facilitator, and leader, working and learning in all the spaces in-between race, gender, and other perceived binaries, as a queer, mixed-race, trans man. René teaches heart-centered, trauma-informed meditation, at the East Bay Meditation Center and other meditation centers. He has co-led the first residential meditation retreats for transgender, nonbinary, and gender-expansive people. René is a restorative justice facilitator for the Ahimsa Collective, working to heal sexual and gender-based violence.

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To support our efforts to share these talks with LGBTQIA audiences worldwide, please visit https://gaybuddhist.org/
There you can:  

•  Donate 
•  Learn how to participate live 
•  Find our schedule of upcoming speakers 
•  Join our mailing list or discussion forum
•  Enjoy over 900 recorded talks dating back to 1995

CREDITS
Audio Production: George Hubbard
Producer: Tom Bruein
Music/Logo/Artwork: Derek Lassiter

John Martin teaches Vipassana (Insight), Metta (Loving Kindness) and LGBTQIA+ meditation retreats. He leads an on-going weekly Monday evening meditation group in San Francisco. He serves as Co-chair of the Guiding Teachers Council for Spirit Rock. John is also currently serving as Interim Executive Director for Spirit Rock. His practice has been supported by twelve years as a hospice volunteer: including five years at Shanti Project during the AIDS crisis, and seven years with the Zen Hospice projects.

______________ 
To support our efforts to share these talks with LGBTQIA audiences worldwide, please visit https://gaybuddhist.org/
There you can:  

•  Donate 
•  Learn how to participate live 
•  Find our schedule of upcoming speakers 
•  Join our mailing list or discussion forum
•  Enjoy over 900 recorded talks dating back to 1995

CREDITS
Audio Production: George Hubbard
Producer: Tom Bruein
Music/Logo/Artwork: Derek Lassiter

Walt Opie was introduced to insight meditation in 1993 at Spirit Rock and attended his first residential retreat there in 2005. He is a graduate of both the Spirit Rock Community Dharma Leaders' (CDL4) program and the Sati Center Buddhist Chaplaincy program. Walt is a participant in the current Insight Meditation Society (IMS) Teacher Training program. He leads a monthly sitting group for people in recovery in Berkeley and serves as a volunteer Buddhist facilitator at Solano State Prison in Vacaville. In addition, he is Executive Director of the Buddhist Pathways Prison Project (BP3).

______________ 
To support our efforts to share these talks with LGBTQIA audiences worldwide, please visit https://gaybuddhist.org/
There you can:  

•  Donate 
•  Learn how to participate live 
•  Find our schedule of upcoming speakers 
•  Join our mailing list or discussion forum
•  Enjoy over 900 recorded talks dating back to 1995

CREDITS
Audio Production: George Hubbard
Producer: Tom Bruein
Music/Logo/Artwork: Derek Lassiter

Rev. Keiryū Liên Shutt is a lineage holder in the Shunryu Suzuki tradition. Born to a Buddhist family in Vietnam, she received her meditation training in the Insight and Zen traditions in the US, Thailand, Japan, and Vietnam. She was a founding member of the Buddhists of Color in 1998 and currently is the guiding teacher of Access to Zen, an anti-racist, inclusive sangha and non-profit in the SF Bay Area. She lives in San Francisco with her partner, exploring waterways and forests as often as they can.  

______________ 
To support our efforts to share these talks with LGBTQIA audiences worldwide, please visit https://gaybuddhist.org/
There you can:  

•  Donate 
•  Learn how to participate live 
•  Find our schedule of upcoming speakers 
•  Join our mailing list or discussion forum
•  Enjoy over 900 recorded talks dating back to 1995

CREDITS
Audio Production: George Hubbard
Producer: Tom Bruein
Music/Logo/Artwork: Derek Lassiter