{"id":3920,"date":"2026-09-04T02:33:47","date_gmt":"2026-09-04T02:33:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uubf.org\/wp\/?page_id=3920"},"modified":"2026-09-08T17:06:38","modified_gmt":"2026-09-08T17:06:38","slug":"general-assembly-uubf-workshop-presentations","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/uubf.org\/wp\/general-assembly-uubf-workshop-presentations\/","title":{"rendered":"General Assembly UUBF Workshop Presentations"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Long ago, the Unitarian Universalist Association&#8217;s annual meeting, known in the bylaws as &#8220;General Assembly,&#8221; allowed affiliated organizations like the UU Buddhist Fellowship to have a workshop every year.  The UUBF offered high quality content that Sam Trumbore recorded on video.  The quality isn&#8217;t fantastic but the audio is usually good (with captions better).  The last one with video was 2007.  The earliest Sam has video of was 1998.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\">2007<\/h1>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\">Dr. Rita Gross<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe title=\"UUBF GA 2007 Rita Gross\" width=\"940\" height=\"705\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/lWInyborrZE?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\">2006<\/h1>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\">Not Two, Not One: Zen and UU<br>Rev. Melissa Myozen Blacker and David Dayan Rynick<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Using a combination of experiential practice and dialogue, we will explore how Zen practice informs, supports and diverges from the mission of Unitarian Universalism. Rev. Melissa Myozen Blacker and David Dayan Rynick, Sensei are a married couple, long-time UU members, formally recognized Zen teachers, and founding teachers of the Worcester Zen Community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe title=\"UUBF GA 2006 One Not Two - Zen and UU with David Rynick and Melissa Blacker\" width=\"940\" height=\"705\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/JSWOt6z8B5o?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\">2005<\/h1>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\">Barbara Kohn and Rubin Habito<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe title=\"UUBF GA 2005 Barbara Kohn and Rubin Habito\" width=\"940\" height=\"705\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/QG5KvryIAyQ?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\">2004<\/h1>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\">Integrating Meditation, Soul and Art<br>John Tarrant<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">John Tarrant is one of the new generation of Zen masters trained in both eastern and western traditions, and author of <em><strong>The Light Inside the Dark: Zen, Soul and the Spiritual Life<\/strong><\/em>.&nbsp; John has PhD in psychology and teaches meditation and trains meditation teachers in The United States and Australia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe title=\"UUBF GA 2004 John Tarrant\" width=\"940\" height=\"705\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/9mBhIi1F3Pw?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\">2003<\/h1>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\">Awakening the Mind, Opening the Heart:<br> A Postdenominational Spirituality<br>Lama Surya Das<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">(Lama Surya Das at the <a href=\"https:\/\/cambridgedzogchen.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Dzogchen Center Cambridge)<\/a><br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe title=\"UUBF GA 2003 Lama Surya Das\" width=\"940\" height=\"705\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/tKzI4nPqEtg?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\">Embracing Life With the Heart of a Buddha<br>Tara Brach<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Senior teacher, Tara Brach, Ph.D., has practiced and taught meditation since 1975 and is the founder of Insight Meditation Center of Washington  (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.imcw.org\">www.imcw.org<\/a>). Tara is a clinical psychologist, teaches meditation classes in the Washington DC metro area, and leads retreats with Jack Kornfield and other Vipassana teachers at meditation centers around the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe title=\"UUBF GA 2003 Tara Brach\" width=\"940\" height=\"705\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/0ccxT_H38zw?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\">2001<\/h1>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\">Dr. Douglas Phillips<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Dr. Douglas Phillips, psychotherapist, parent, and meditation teacher, will explore the possibilities in taking spiritual practice off the cushion.&nbsp; Don started Buddhist studies in the Zen tradition; for the last decade he has been a student of Vipassana mediation with Larry Rosenberg at Cambridge Insight Meditation Center. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe title=\"UUBF GA 2001 Douglas Phillips\" width=\"940\" height=\"705\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/5ktV6XZyLFk?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\">2000<\/h1>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\">Returning to the World with Bliss-Bestowing Hands.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Our workshop took place in the Nashville East Room of the Renaissance Hotel. We we had a panel discussion led by James Ford. The Title is <em>Returning to the World with Bliss-Bestowing Hands.<\/em> &nbsp;\u201cJames Ford, a Zen sensei and a UU minister, will lead a panel discussion on Buddhist practices and how they shape our lives as Unitarian Universalists.&nbsp; Other panelists will be the Unitarian Universalist Rev. Joel Baehr, senior practitioner of Tibetan Dzog-chen and Dorrie Seishu Senghas, long-time Zen student.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe title=\"UUBF GA 2000 James Ford   Dorrie Senghas   Bob Schaibly\" width=\"940\" height=\"705\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/KWOz-lVMi7g?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\">1999<\/h1>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\">BUDDHISM, FEMINISM AND THE GODDESS KWAN YIN<br><strong>Sandy Boucher<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">The UUBF, in conjunction with Beacon Press, has invited Sandy Boucher, author of <em>Turning the Wheel: American Women Creating the New Buddhism, Opening the Lotus: A Woman&#8217;s Guide to Buddhism<\/em>, and the recently published <em>Discovering Kwan Yin<\/em>&nbsp; to speak to us Friday, June 25<sup>th<\/sup>.&nbsp; Her title will be \u201cFeminism and Buddhism: The Not-So-Odd Couple\u201d&nbsp; The blurb in the GA program will read:&nbsp; \u201cA 2,500-year-old male-supremacist religion meets a Western female-powered movement. Offenses are committed; both partners must deepen to accommodate. Beacon author Sandy Boucher has documented this relationship in her books and will speak about the marriage of feminism and Buddhism with humor and insight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">An edited version of her remarks (no video) appeared in the UU Sangha October 1999 issue:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It is wonderfully exciting to be present at the inception of a religion\u2019s entering a culture, and to participate in the inevitable transformations that result. Buddhism in the United States is on its way to becoming American Buddhism. And part of that evolution is the meeting of feminism with Buddhism, which has led to a particularly fruitful conjunction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For twenty years I have been doing a type of Buddhist meditation called Vipassana (as practiced in Theravada Buddhism), have studied in a Tibetan Buddhist Institute, and have \u201csat\u201d in Zen centers. I came to Buddhism in about 1980 after a decade of intense activism in the women\u2019s liberation movement and the antinuclear movement, and found no contradiction between Buddhist practice and political activism. The two seemed to form a circle, carrying me out into the world to effect change, then bringing me back inside to connect deeply with myself in meditation and study, the two movements strengthening and sustaining one another. I also was able to travel in Southeast Asia and to see Buddhism as it is practiced in primarily Buddhist cultures, and to live briefly as a Theravada Buddhist nun in Sri Lanka. Here at home, I have helped organize several national Women and Buddhism conferences, and have written several books on the subject. <em>Turning the Wheel: American Women Creating the New Buddhism<\/em> presents an overview of the whole phenomenon of American women\u2019s participation in Buddhist practice, including eighty interviews and photographs. <em>Opening the Lotus<\/em> is a primer on the basic Buddhist concepts, with some discussion of the kinds of questions asked by women, and some directions for beginning practices. So that has been my personal trajectory in this great process of Buddhism\u2019s entering our culture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><u>How Buddhism Came to the West<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the sixties and seventies Buddhist practices and perspectives were brought here by Japanese Zen monks, Tibetan lamas, Korean Zen monks, Vietnamese monks, Chinese Pure Land practitioners and other Asian teachers (as well as some westerners in the Theravada tradition who had studied in Asia). Asian teachers met up with two dimensions of experience that Buddhism had never encountered before: <em>psychology,<\/em> and <em>feminism.<\/em> Because of these conjunctions, Buddhism in the United States has particular characteristics and qualities that you do not find in Asian countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><u>The Psychological Perspective<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">An image I like is given by the western woman teacher, Tsultrim Allione, who says that we wear a shield over our hearts, and we hang our Buddhist practice like a medal on that shield. Psychotherapy, she avers, can be a way to melt the shield so that the Buddhist practices can penetrate our hearts. Western teachers encourage their students to engage in psychotherapy when they need it, along with their Buddhist practice; the two inquiries can be seen as complementary. We do not necessarily subscribe to the idea that Buddhist practice alone can lead to liberation and wholeness. A number of well-known Buddhist teachers earn their living as psychotherapists, notably Jack Kornfield and Sylvia Boorstein of the Spirit Rock Meditation Center, and psychological training is considered an asset in a teacher.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><u>Buddhism Meets Feminism<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The meeting of Buddhism with feminism has been called \u201causpicious\u201d by the Buddhist scholar Rita Gross. That is, life-enhancing, attended by favorable circumstances, leading to good things. And indeed it has been. I think of it like a marriage: the two get together, there are misunderstandings and conflicts, some serious crises even, but they stay together and over time they grow in mutually beneficial ways. This is true of Buddhism and feminism: in their commingling both endeavors have been informed and deepened. But I want to address, here, the effect of feminism on Buddhism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">First, western women have had to grapple with <em>hierarchy<\/em> and have addressed it in several dimensions<em>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li> As Buddhism was brought from very top-down institutions in Asia, the structure of the early Buddhist centers in this country was extremely hierarchical. Feminists in particular have been working for decades to develop more egalitarian models. Their influence in Buddhist centers has resulted in more horizontal structures, more sharing of responsibility, and more cooperative methods of decision-making. The nature of most Buddhist centers has been radically changed by this influence.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The hierarchy was exclusively male. A piercing story concerns the distinguished Zen teacher Yvonne Rand. For many years she studied with the Japanese master Suzuki Roshi of the San Francisco Zen Center and was one of his most dedicated and gifted students, but when it came time to designate his successors, he picked only men, and passed over Yvonne. On his deathbed, while she was caring for him, he apologized to her, saying, \u201cI should have ordained you, but I did not know how to train a woman.\u201d All that has changed. In most American Buddhist institutions women hold important teaching posts and other positions of authority. Some head their own centers. (See <em>Turning the Wheel<\/em> for many examples of excellent and accomplished women teachers, and for a more in-depth discussion of these issues.) <br><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>In a hierarchical situation, access to information is controlled, and thus power is kept at the top, with secrecy shrouding any questionable behavior by the leader. These situations harbor the preconditions for abuse. Buddhism weathered some major scandals in the early eighties involving sexual power abuse and other unfortunate practices by teachers. Now, thanks to feminists, both female and male, there is an insistence that such issues be brought out into the open, discussed and dealt with by the groups affected. A group of Zen teachers has drawn up guidelines, to be accepted by Zen centers across the country, to protect against such abuses in the future.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><u>Monasticism Versus Lay Practice<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The centrality of women and feminists in Buddhist centers, as well as concerns for family and community, have tilted American centers in the direction of lay practice. Buddhism in Asia is largely a monastic religion, with much involvement by laypeople, but the ideal being a monastic lifestyle. In the early days of Buddhism in this country, young Americans became monks or priests, wearing the robes, undergoing arduous training, living lives of renunciation. But in the coed Zen centers, they fell in love, married and had children, and were confronted with a difficult path: how do you live a monastic life while working for a living, maintaining a relationship and fulfilling your family responsibilities? This dilemma has resulted in the restructuring of most Buddhist centers to adapt the requirements of meditation and other practice to a householder\u2019s life. Family retreats are offered at many centers, and children are welcome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">(Note: In all my remarks, I do not presume to speak about the Asian immigrant Buddhist groups, which have their own challenges on American soil.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In general, in American Buddhism, the preference is for lay practice, and the emphasis is on Buddhism in daily life: how to act compassionately and responsibly in your relationships, how to live your Buddhist principles in the workplace, how to practice while caring for children,&nbsp; etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It\u2019s said that it takes 300 years for Buddhism to enter a culture and take on its distinctive form there. In the United States, we are in the process of creating a kind of Buddhism never seen in the world before, which incorporates democratic values, psychological and feminist insights, into the centuries\u2019 old practices taught by the Buddha.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><u>Meeting the Goddess, Kwan Yin<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This is the context in which I have come to my present strong focus, which is, surprisingly for me, a Buddhist goddess, Kwan Yin, the Celestial Bodhisattva of Compassion. It\u2019s surprising because my journey to this place began with the deepest skepticism.&nbsp; Back in 1980, one of my initial attractions to Buddhist practice was that there was no god in Buddhism, no overweening divine presence that one was supposed to venerate and obey. Vipassana or Theravada Buddhism, the kind I chose to practice, is very spare, a striving to achieve \u201cbare attention.\u201d Certainly there are no divine beings involved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism there are various divine emanations, but when I attended a Tibetan Buddhist Institute, I studied the abhidharma, the so-called higher teachings, which are the codified teachings taken from the discourses of the Buddha. Nothing devotional there! Then in 1982 I had my first encounter with Kwan Yin. I was passing through Kansas City, and a friend said to me, \u201cI want to take you downtown, there\u2019s someone I want you to meet.\u201d We went to the Nelson Atkins Museum, and into a room that held a single stunning statue. She was life-size, carved from wood in 12<sup>th<\/sup> or 13<sup>th<\/sup> century China. A beautiful, richly dressed woman seated with one leg propped up, in a strong, commanding posture. In her presence I experienced a powerful range of emotions, from grief to delight and everything in-between, as if she allowed me to experience the fullness of what it is to be human. And in her form I sensed a deep serenity. I bought a postcard of this image of Kwan Yin and put it on the car seat next to me as I drove east from Kansas City. Kwan Yin was now part of my life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So who is Kwan Yin? She is, first of all, the pre-eminent goddess in all of Asia. You find her in China, Korea, Japan, Vietnam, Burma, Thailand and other countries. Then, in the Buddhist tradition, she is the Celestial Bodhisattva of Compassion. What is a bodhisattva? That is someone who does spiritual practice with the goal of achieving full enlightenment, but just before she arrives at that point, she turns back into the world and says, \u201cNo, I will not achieve liberation until all beings have been liberated.\u201d Then she steps into the world and works to alleviate suffering and to awaken beings to their true nature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Kwan Yin appeared again and again in my life in the following years. I made some efforts to learn about her, discovering that she is called \u201cShe Who Hears the Cries of the World,\u201d and that her image can be easily consonant with social action. In 1983, as my affinity group prepared to go out to the Lawrence-Livermore Laboratories to protest the designing of nuclear weapons that goes on there, we met to do a \u201cMetta\u201d or lovingkindness meditation. Very much in the spirit of Kwan Yin, we called up in ourselves kind and compassionate feelings for all beings, including the University of California policemen who would arrest us and the employees of the laboratory whose livelihoods depended on the production of nuclear weapons. We relied upon the meditation to help us maintain a nonviolent demeanor in the midst of the very chaotic and sometimes violent situation of a demonstration that involved many hundreds of people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In other ways Kwan Yin entered my life. I read John Blofeld\u2019s <em>Bodhisattva of Compassion<\/em> about her. With a friend I designed greeting cards bearing Kwan Yin\u2019s image.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Then in 1995, on my way to China to attend the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women, I set out to find Kwan Yin in her birthplace. I discovered an island off Shanghai in the South China Sea called Putuo Shan, where it is said Kwan Yin resides, and where pilgrims have come for hundreds of years to commune with her. With a Chinese-American friend I spent six days on Putuo Shan. There I experienced how strongly Kwan Yin is expressed in nature, in the sound of the waves on the beach, in the sea wind, the heat of the sun, the buzzing of cicadas in the trees. My friend and I both had powerful experiences of connection with the compassionate energy of Kwan Yin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A month after returning from China, I was diagnosed with cancer and told I must have major surgery in a week and would probably have to undergo chemotherapy treatments for months afterwards. In my shock and dismay, I found myself talking to Kwan Yin. I walked in the graveyard near my house and called upon her, saying, \u201cHelp me.\u201d Of course I hoped she would appear,&nbsp; hovering in the branches of one of the beautiful old trees, looking tenderly down at me. That did not happen. But there was an answer to my plea. The answer came deeply from myself, and it sustained me in the trial that followed. I had begun to understand that Kwan Yin is not a way to focus outward but her image, wholeheartedly addressed, gives us a way to go deeply into ourselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When I recovered, I studied Kwan Yin in earnest, reading the few books on her\u2014the Blofeld book and <em>Kwan Yin: Myths and Prophecies of the Chinese Goddess of Compassion<\/em> by Martin Palmer and Jay Ramsay, with Man Ho Kwok, as well as numerous scholarly articles, most notably by Chun fang Yu. Then a few years ago, in a class I teach called Writing Your Spiritual Journey, a student asked me, \u201cWhy is there no book on Kwan Yin written by a woman?\u201d Intriguing question. I knew then that such a book needed to be written, and I did not yet know that I would write it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The quality of compassion is highly stressed in Buddhism. Kwan Yin in embodying it brings to the fore something very much needed in contemporary life. She expresses qualities that can soften and strengthen us, reminding us that compassion can be both tender and fierce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To research the book, <em>Discovering Kwan Yin,<\/em> I investigated the presence and influence of Kwan Yin in the lives of North American women, both Asian-American and other women. One of the most interesting elements of Kwan Yin\u2019s story is how she transformed from a male figure into a female one. She was brought to China in the fifth century as the male bodhisattva Avalokitesvara; in the next three hundred years she became the female Guan Shih Yin or Kwan Yin. How did that happen! Well, she came into the world embodied in actual flesh-and-blood women. There would be a child who was particularly kind and sweetly accepting, she would grow into a compassionate woman who did many good deeds; sometimes she would even sacrifice her life to save others. Then, after her death, through various magical signs, it would be understood that this had not been an ordinary woman but a sacred being, the goddess Kwan Yin. Many stories in China relate this history, and that is why there are so many different forms of the Chinese Kwan Yin or Guan Shih Yin. Kwan Yin is very actively involved in people\u2019s lives. She arrives to save people from disaster, she grants their wishes, she watches over them. She is not a remote divinity but a familiar spirit, moving among us, teaching us compassion. Because Kwan Yin has that propensity to be present in daily life, I wanted to explore her presence in the lives of actual contemporary women, and also to give people some practices with which to contact her and keep her present in their lives. All that became the text of<em>Discovering Kwan Yin, Buddhist Goddess of Compassion<\/em> which was published by Beacon Press in April of this year<em>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><u>Kwan Yin Retreats<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Since the appearance of that book I have been asked to lead retreats based upon the Kwan Yin material. In the last several months I have led one-day retreats in Sacramento, Tucson, Berkeley, and Fort Bragg. I\u2019ve also led a three-day retreat at Cloud Mountain Retreat Center in Washington state. In each of these venues the retreat was very well received and well attended. Through my experience teaching these retreats I have come to understand how much people need nurturing. Many of the participants have been caregivers\u2014therapists, ministers, social workers, mothers, teachers in the schools, nurses; they are rarely in a situation in which their needs are met, their emotions honored, their deeper thoughts elicited. These women and men apparently benefited strongly from the one day or three days they spent with me, a time of compassionate self-nurturing through the energy of the bodhisattva Kwan Yin.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The day is grounded in meditation, both sitting and walking, which I instruct. Newcomers particularly like the walking meditation, which allows them to concentrate more strongly. Then we do practices to evoke a compassionate state of mind, each participant being encouraged to bring her own experience into the group. People are asked to bring something to put on the altar (cherished object, picture of a loved one in trouble, image of Kwan Yin, flower or other reminder of nature), and we talk about the significance of these objects. This is often quite profound, with sharing of intimate feelings, worries, and hopes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As the day progresses, I share my own history with Kwan Yin and lead a guided meditation invoking her. In the meditation I play a tape of \u201cShe Carries Me,\u201d the chant by singer\/songwriter Jennifer Berezan which evokes Kwan Yin\u2019s energy as well as the spirit of the Great Goddess and the Virgin Mary. Later in the day after another sitting and walking sequence, I define and discuss the concept of empowered or fierce compassion (in distinction to the programmed self-sacrifice that is expected of women) and I offer examples of giving this and of receiving it. Then we do some writing, describing situations in our own life in which we were able to act with strong compassion, or to receive it. And then we share these experiences in small groups. I tell about my sojourn on Putuo Shan island, and we do a meditation in nature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The day ends with our learning of the traditional chant to Kwan Yin as sung in China&#8211;\u201cNamo Guan-shih-yin Pusa\u201d\u2014with the appropriate melody, and we chant this. Finally there is a circle in which the participants are given the opportunity to express one aspect of their experience that day, and we end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">(The three-day retreat contains more elements, but is done in the same spirit. This longer session allows people to go much more deeply into their experience. One model is Friday evening through Sunday noon, in a residential setting.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While it has been overwhelmingly women who are drawn to this, the men who have participated have benefited greatly. I would imagine that Unitarian Universalist men might be more open to the Kwan Yin\u2019s compassionate spirit than others. The retreats have included people who were new to Buddhist meditation\u2014Christians, a Sufi woman, people from the Siddha Yoga tradition, college students who were studying women and religion, etc.\u2014as well as some seasoned Buddhist meditators. (The retreat has been given in a city Zen center, the banquet room of a restaurant, a country retreat center, and a Masonic hall.) I make sure that no one is left behind, that no prior knowledge of meditation is needed, and that everyone can feel comfortable and included.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At the General Assembly, over smoothies in a hotel dining room, I was describing this retreat to a minister friend, who told me how very much ministers need nurturing, need replenishment and self-care, in their busy lives of giving to others. People in a congregation as well might find relaxation and deepening in a day with Kwan Yin. For me the experience always yields insights and a softening and opening of my perspective. Each time I lead this retreat, I feel a profound appreciation for the spirit of compassion expressed in this beautiful Asian goddess image.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\">1998<\/h1>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\">What Did the Buddhist Say to the Humanist?<br>Wayne Arnason<br>Rochester, New York.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;We know what the Buddhist said to the hot dog vendor (&#8216;Make me one with everything!&#8221;). but is there anything that UU Buddhists have to say to UU Humanists? With so much in common why are these two non-theistic, this-worldly, human-centered traditions type-cast into &#8216;spiritual&#8217; and &#8216;non-spiritual&#8217; camps?&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe title=\"UUBF GA 1998 Wayne Arnason\" width=\"940\" height=\"705\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/a9J6YkTV8g8?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\">1996<\/h1>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\"><strong>CONVERSATIONS ON SPIRITUALITY<\/strong><br>Marni HarmonyDr Arvid Straube<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Is it possible for UUs to come together in silence? Can our faith communities benefit from retreats that are based in spiritual discipline? Drawing on their experiences both attending and leading such retreats, UU ministers Arvid Straube and Marni Harmony (also a UUBF board member) will begin a conversation on this opportunity for meaningful ministry, both lay and ordained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">(No video was taken of this event)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Long ago, the Unitarian Universalist Association&#8217;s annual meeting, known in the bylaws as &#8220;General Assembly,&#8221; allowed affiliated organizations like the UU Buddhist Fellowship to have a workshop every year. The UUBF offered high quality content that Sam Trumbore recorded on video. The quality isn&#8217;t fantastic but the audio is usually good (with captions better). The [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-3920","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/uubf.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3920","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/uubf.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/uubf.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uubf.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uubf.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3920"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/uubf.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3920\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3961,"href":"https:\/\/uubf.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3920\/revisions\/3961"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/uubf.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3920"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}