Diversity and Accessibility Group Meeting 8

Present: Cortez Rainey, Chair; Hamish Maclaren, Aba McHardy, David Fraioli.

The meeting was preceded by an announcement from David that there are plans for another Queer Dharma retreat at Fire Island. Aba indicated that she had previously staffed the retreat at Fire Island. She said the fact that she hasn't been invited to staff it this year, that the sangha is generally unaware of her years of involvement (over 30 years) in the Shambhala community, that they are unaware she is a lama, says a lot about how this community makes people of color invisible. She said she knows that her attempts to make people aware of institutional racism and her advocacy of the need for the community to make people of color more visible are perceived as an enormous problem, but she is just urging greater honesty.

Cortez said that the Practitioner Survey has been posted on the Shambhala website and that an announcement was placed on sangha-announce and center-talk inviting people to complete the questionnaire. He said he has received several emails alerting him to typographical errors. He has responded by adding a paragraph in the survey instructions describing the errors and explaining the choices that we intended. An announcement concerning the Center Director Survey will be placed on center-talk in a few days.

The discussion turned to the topic of Accessibility. Hamish said that he is still working on the preliminary list of recommendations for promoting accessibility, but there are three issues that the recommendations will address: the need for leadership to let people know that fully accessible facilities is a priority; the need for leadership to educate people about what constitutes a "fully accessible" facility; and the need for leadership to allocate resources to make facilities accessible.

Aba objected to the use of the words "disability" and "disabled," saying that what we're talking about here are people who are "differently-abled," and it would be helpful to our discussion if we could begin to look at it in this way instead of talking as though being in a wheelchair is something negative. She said she understands that Karme Choling is offering programs wherein people can experience these differences, exercises that involve being in a wheelchair, wearing blindfolds and earplugs. She said it is setting sun to view "difference" as a disability and that our mindfulness practice should help us to see that people are simply different.

David said that while he can appreciate this perspective, he feels our concern with language can actually keep us from getting anything done. He said that in deciding to name his group "Queer" group members debated what language to use. He said they could have sat around forever trying to figure out what to name themselves. There comes a point at which we have to sacrifice correctness in order to get people to the dharma.

In response to the statement that "Queer" is anything that is different, Aba said that allegiance to any identity including "Queer" is questionable, particularly in this case since we're saying there is some kind of deviation from a norm and implying there's a need for validation. Even people of color mistakenly exclude whites from that identity people because they don't view whiteness as a color too. But when we let go of our identity we begin to experience and appreciate difference as richness, as ordinary.

Hamish responded although we need to raise awareness, we also need to raise awareness of the need for people to get inside our facilities. Aba replied that we don't have to wait for the Sakyong to tell people to do that. We can begin on our own by using our mindfulness-awareness practice to see and relate to race and disability in another way. She acknowledged, however, that there is also a role to be played by people who are responsible for policy, governance, education and practice. Hamish agreed that if there is no leadership on this issue, nothing is going to happen.

Aba said that if resources are not allocated, nothing is going to happen. But if we are interested in including differently-abled people in our community, we need to start thinking about the needs of veterans returning from Iraq and our own aging population and make an investment now in making our facilities accessible, instead of waiting until later when it will be financially more costly.

In response to Aba's suggestion that the Kasung have a role to play in making our facilities accessible, Hamish acknowledged that members of the Kasung have been very helpful. But the Kasung is not always on duty at the Center when you go there, and it dangerous to be carried up and down stairs every time you go. Therefore, they are not a reasonable solution to the problem of accessibility.

Aba said the Shambhala community must become more fully engaged with people who are differently-abled in all aspects of what it does. When differently-abled people in their roles as meditation instructors, program staff members and Center leaders are able to interact with individuals in our community, they are able to share their own personal journey with others in a way that helps to raise everyone's awareness of this and other issues. Hamish agreed, but added that first we've got to find a way for them to get up the stairs and through the doors of our Centers.

It was decided that the next meeting would be held on Sunday, September 26th, 7:30 p.m., Eastern Daylight Time. At that meeting we will discuss the preliminary list of recommendations for promoting diversity. There was no further business to discuss. The meeting adjourned at 9:00 p.m.

Diversity and Accessibility Working Group

Minutes of Meeting #8 - Sunday, September 12, 2004, 7:30 p.m.