People of Color Kalyana Mitta (Dharma friends) Group
Please note that the People of Color Kaylana Mitta (Dharma Friends group) is paused for now. Meanwhile, please continue to care for your practice. Please consider other ISC offerings as well as the IMC calendar.
Our monthly practitioner-led People of Color Dharma friends gathering is intended to be a place of belonging, exploring the Buddha Dharma, and offering a supportive place for BIPOC to practice meditation. We will have a 30-minute guided meditation, followed by a 30-minute mindful check-in on a Dharma theme. Anyone who identifies as BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, Person of Color) is welcome to attend.
This group is a joint program of Insight Santa Cruz and Insight Retreat Center. We are delighted to be expanding the participation of practitioners and facilitators to people in both communities.
Additional People of Color Resources
BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) groups hosted by ISC guest teachers:
- BIPOC Meditation Sangha (online). Thursdays from 9am-10am PT, led by Kaira Jewel Lingo and Marisela Gomez. Details and registration here: https://www.garrisoninstitute.org/virtual-offerings/bipoc-meditation-sangha/
- Dharma Circle for People of Asian Background (online). 2nd and 4th Sundays, 1pm-2:30pm PT, led by Ying Chen and Lilu Chen. Details and zoom link here: https://www.insightmeditationcenter.org/dharma-circle-for-people-of-asian-background/
- Dharma en Español (online). Tuesdays, 6:30-8pm PT, led by Andrea Castillo and Sandra Sanabria. Details here: https://www.insightmeditationcenter.org/espanol/
- Mindfulness and Self-Care practice for BIPOC and allies (in-person). Thursdays, 6:30-7:30 pm, led by Tiffany Wong and other Watsonville Insight community teachers. Location: Watsonville Yoga Studio.
POC Dharma Teachers (ISC guest teachers)
Andrea Castillo
Andrea Castillo has practiced Insight Meditation since 1998 under the guidance of Gil Fronsdal and Andrea Fella. She has taught Dharma at the Insight Meditation Center (IMC) since 2011; she has specialized, although not exclusively, in teaching in Spanish for the Hispanic community. Click here to see the rest of Andrea Castillo’s biography.
Marisela Gomez
Marisela Gomez, MD, True Manifestation of Reverence, is co-founder of Village of Love and Resistance in Baltimore Maryland, organizing for power, healing and the reclamation of land. Click here to see the rest of Marisela Gomez’s biography.
Valerie Brown
Valerie Brown, True Sangha Power (pronouns she/her), is a Dharma teacher in the Plum Village tradition, ordained in 2018, and a member of Religious Society of Friends. Click here to see the rest of Valerie Brown’s biography.
Ying Chen, 陈颖
Ying Chen is a first-generation Chinese immigrant. She took refuge to become a Buddhist with Venerable Ji Ru in 1995 and was exposed to Chinese Mahayana Buddhism before practicing in the Insight Meditation tradition. She currently teaches for IMC, Insight Retreat Center, and Dharma Ground. Click here to see the rest of Ying Chen’s biography.
Kaira Jewel Lingo
Kaira Jewel Lingo is a Dharma teacher with a lifelong interest in spirituality and social justice. Her work continues the Engaged Buddhism developed by Thich Nhat Hanh, and she draws inspiration from her parents’ lives of service and her dad’s work with Martin Luther King, Jr.
Greg Morris
Greg Morris (they/them) is a student and practitioner of bhakti yoga and Advaita Vedanta, as well as a student and devotee of the Tao Te Ching and the four gospels of the New Testament.