Larry Yang teaches meditation retreats nationally and has a special interest in creating access to the Dharma for diverse multicultural communities. Larry has practiced extensively in Burma and Thailand, with a six month period of ordination as a Buddhist monk under the guidance of meditation master Ajahn Tong. Larry is one of the core teachers and leaders of the East Bay Meditation Center and is on the Spirit Rock Teachers Council. He is one of the coordinating teachers of the Spirit Rock Teacher Training program and their Community Dharma Leader program. He lives in San Francisco.
Jan Willis is the author of Dreaming of Me: Black, Baptist, and Buddhist--One Woman's Spiritual Journey. She teaches at Wesleyan University, and lives in Connecticut.
Sylvia Boorstein is a founding teacher of Spirit Rock Meditation Center, and is the author of It's Easier than You Think: The Buddhist Way to Happiness, as well as several other books
"Awakening Together is the best book ever written on Buddhist
inclusivity, both racially and sexually."--The Bay Area
Reporter
"The compassionate, thoughtful, and inclusive teachings in
Awakening Together provide guidance for communities seeking to be
more diverse, as well as for individuals seeking diverse spaces in
which to practice."-- "Foreword Reviews"
"What a gift Awakening Together (a timely and essential offering)
gives, to learn how, through the lessons of past experience and the
lens of future needs, we can build sanghas that represent the
illuminating and joyous presence that true diversity brings."
--Gina Sharpe, Co-Founder, New York Insight Meditation Center
"I don't see how Awakening Together could be better. It is so wise,
thoughtful, dedicated to our healthful growth, ease, and
enlightenment through the Dharma that I know I will be reading it
for years to come. Larry Yang seems to have thought of everything
we will need as we venture bravely forward--through racism,
prejudice, and ignorance--into the free spiritual beings we were
meant to be. Together."--Alice Walker, author of The Color
Purple
"Awakening Together combines the intimately personal, the Buddhist
and universal into a loving, courageous, important work that will
benefit all who read it. For anyone who longs to collaborate and
create a just and inclusive community, Larry provides a brilliant
guidebook."--Jack Kornfield, author of A Path With Heart
"Larry Yang's voice, heart, and insight in Awakening Together can
be both trusted and radically illuminating. We do indeed need each
other for any of us to awaken to our true nature as human beings.
Mindfulness practice has to be about inclusivity and diversity and
justice if it is to be kind and compassionate and wise. If we truly
"inter-are" as Thich Nhat Hanh asserts, then, as this book shows,
we have to widen our scope of what is worthy of our attention.
Parts of this book may make some people in the greater mindfulness
community uncomfortable. It certainly was true in my case. That is
precisely why it is particularly valuable to read and reflect upon
and learn from. We need trusted others to show us our blind spots,
our tacit assumptions, and our ignorance. I highly recommend this
elegant, highly personal, and hopefully profoundly influential
book."--Jon Kabat-Zinn, author of Full Catastrophe Living
"Larry Yang's Awakening Together seamlessly blends the personal
with the political. He helps us to see that waking up in all forms
is an essential spiritual practice--and that nothing is excluded,
including the thorny areas of race, culture, and identity. Larry is
a thought leader in this work and his compassionate insight shines
through as a guide to us all. This book is a game-changer."--Diana
Winston, Director of Mindfulness Education at UCLA's Mindful
Awareness Research Center and co-author of Fully Present
"Awakening Together is essential reading as we seek to heal our own
hearts, our communities and our world."--Tara Brach, author of
Radical Acceptance and True Refuge
"In Awakening Together, Larry Yang shares an in-depth personal
journey and his professional experience of wise and actionable
guidance for building inclusive Buddhist communities. A must read
for anyone interested in understanding the integrities of
belonging."--Ruth King, dharma teacher, life coach, and author of
Healing and Mindful of Race
"Awakening Together is filled with love. Larry Yang plants your
feet, offers his hand, and without hesitation opens our eyes. His
teachings on creating and sustaining communities that welcome the
full range of our life experiences, are clear and poignant. He
skillfully walks us into a vision of an inclusive spiritual home in
which we can unfold and reveal our true selves. As a seasoned, and
well-loved dharma teacher, his long-awaited gift satisfies the soul
that yearns to be seen. Deep bows, beloved friend, for this
offering."--Zenju Earthlyn Manuel, author of The Way of Tenderness
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