Article II Study Commission Draft Feedback Sessions – The Article II Study Commission has been working through the feedback from General Assembly, and are engaging in our next round of drafting. Once again, we’d like your feedback on different sections to help us as we work. In September 2022, with the assistance of our new Outreach Team, we’re scheduling ten Zoom sessions at various times for people to look at draft language and discuss it. Hopefully, one of them will work with your schedule. We’ll have a link available for feedback. Another round of revision will follow, with more feedback sessions in late October/early November. After we let it simmer over the holidays, we will put together our proposal in early 2023 to send to the board. The proposal will be considered in mini-assemblies before the vote at General Assembly 2023. You’ll need to register to attend a session. When you do, you’ll get the draft via email. We look forward to hearing from you as we help chart the future of our faith together!
Zoom Session Registration
Friday, 9/16 at 6 p.m. Eastern
Saturday,9/17 at 3 p.m. Eastern
Sunday, 9/18 at 2 p.m. Eastern
Monday, 9/19 at 9 p.m. Eastern
Saturday, 9/24 at 3 p.m. Eastern
Sunday, 9/25 at 2 p.m. Eastern
Monday, 9/26 at 9 p.m. Eastern
Tuesday, 9/27 at 8 p.m. Eastern
Thursday, 9/29 at noon Eastern
Mass Incarceration Forum – September 22, 7:00-8:30 pm – To register and request a zoom link, email WDA@defensenet.org, writing: “Race and Criminal Justice” in the subject line. Here is an article by a sponsor of the Forum https://www.vashonbeachcomber.com/opinion/end-mass-incarceration-in-washington-prisons/
Reparations and You Webinar – October 9, 4:00-5:30 pm – Register at: bit.ly/3JX8hQY Questions? email Janie at vmsurj@gmail.com. A presentation and conversation for white people and anyone else who feels that they’ve benefited from the consequences of enslavement and systemic racism– and want to do something about it. Presented by Seattle’s Civil Reparations Project.
Did you know that Washington State doesn’t have a system of parole? WashingtonCAN (Community Action Network) and the community are fighting to change this and create a Community Review Board in the upcoming legislative session. But until then… Please join WashingtonCAN and longtime Mass Liberation Community Advocate & Organizer, and founder of Families Shoulder to Shoulder, Ginny Parham on September 22nd via Zoom to learn about the “parole options” our incarcerated loved ones currently have. During this Workshop we will explain the ISRB (indeterminate Sentencing Review Board) and the Clemency and Pardons Board, and what powers we currently have to ask for sentence relief. With knowledge comes power, and as a community, we must understand the structures that exist in the criminal legal system if we hope to challenge and change them! Be part of this change! Check out the Facebook Event for more details! Zoom Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89269196169
Please join Interfaith Works and the Faith Action Network as we celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ Day with this interactive and educational engagement with author and activist Sarah Augustine. EXPLORE the history and meaning of Indigenous Peoples’ Day and how the Doctrine of Discovery continues to impact Indigenous people today through a case study of the Indian Child Welfare Act. Monday, October 10, 6:30-8:30 pm, United Churches of Olympia, 110 11th Ave SE. This event is also available on Zoom. Register here: Current Events – Interfaith Works (interfaith-works.org)
Some may be aware that at one time many subdivisions and homes had racially restrictive covenants. These live on in needs as property ownership changes, and thousands still exist, though they are illegal. A law was passed last year to allow property owners to remove the covenants free of charge. The Thurston County auditor’s office has been working with the University of Washington to identify thousands of deeds that might have these covenants and notify owners of the opportunity to remove them. They are looking for volunteers to read the deeds to confirm whether the covenants do exist. Here’s a link in case any OUUC member or friend might be interested – and they can feel free to pass along to friends and neighbors: https://www.zooniverse.org/projects/jngregory/racial-restrictive-covenants-washington-state?fbclid=IwAR2EANHLhIgzzVJoH1L1kHfYUx_b5NKrwoIcSaJFR5enUvAOzQBHJvHi4Jc
Khentrul Lodrö Thayé Rinpoche, a Tibetan Buddhist Monk, and esteemed scholar, will be coming to Olympia, WA, as part of an International public talk/book signing tour. I have been a student of Rinpoche’s for twenty years, and he graciously accepted my invitation to come to Olympia. This free event will be held with Browsers Book Shop, an event partner. Saturday, October 1, from 2:00 to 4:00 pm at the Olympia Community Center, Room A.
His new book, The Power of Mind: A Tibetan Monk’s Guide to Finding Freedom in Every Challenge, which will be released on September 6th by Shambhala Publications, is a modern guide to lojong—ancient Buddhist techniques for transforming all circumstances, including pain, anxiety, and stress, into mental well-being that benefits us and the people around us.
We’ve all heard platitudes about cultivating love and compassion, but how can we actually develop these qualities in ourselves and crucially share them in our world? The Power of Mind provides the proven path of lojong, or mind training, for changing our experience from the inside out.
Regardless of what’s happening in our lives, Khentrul Rinpoche teaches that our route to freedom lies in our minds. A thousand years ago, the Indian saint Atisha risked his life to seek out lojong teachings in Indonesia and then brought them to Tibet, where they flourished and spread to the rest of the world. This book introduces those teachings—the Seven Key Points of Mind Training—which have been passed down from teacher to student for centuries. Khentrul Rinpoche was inspired by his own teachers, who, like alchemists, were able to follow these techniques during the Cultural Revolution and transform their immense suffering into something positive.
The Power of Mind guides the reader through these transformative practices one by one—from recognizing the value of our human life to overcoming the sources of suffering—and offers meditation advice for incorporating these insights into our daily lives. This wisdom is accessible to everyone, whether Buddhist or not. As Khentrul Rinpoche states, “Peace and happiness can be attained, but not by searching for something in the outside world. They start within us then extend out to the entire globe.”
Khentrul Lodrö T’hayé Rinpoche is revered as a highly accomplished teacher of Buddhist philosophy and meditation and is one of the very few people in the world to hold three Khenpo degrees—the equivalent of three PhDs—in Buddhist philosophy. He is the director of Katog Choling, a nonprofit organization based in the United States. He oversees more than twenty practice groups across North America and in China, Australia, and South Africa, as well as a large retreat center in the mountains of northwest Arkansas. He is also the abbot of Katog Mardo Tashi Choling, in Tibet, where his family has overseen the monastery for several generations. There, he established a Buddhist university, a three-year retreat center, a primary school, and a number of community outreach programs.
For further information, you can go to Rinpoche’s website, https://katog.org/, contact me at candacepalmo@gmail.com, or call 360-999-0859. Browsers Book Shop will be selling his book at their store after September 6 and at the event on October 1, where Rinpoche will do a book signing after the public talk.