Queer Dharma Approaches First Weekend Retreat – Reflections by Co-Coordinator Jason Bray

As co-coordinator of the Portland Shambhala Center’s Queer Dharma group, I’m reflecting on the beginning and intention of the the program as our first weekend retreat, led by Craig Smith, fast approaches.

Our Queer Dharma group is for LGBTQ people to study and practice meditation and Dharma and to discuss personal experiences. The group serves to send a message to newcomers to Shambhala that they are welcome in our tradition and to explore (perhaps in ways that may be unintentionally overlooked or excluded in our regular programming) how we as gays, lesbians, bisexuals, transgender and genderqueer individuals can incorporate the teachings in our everyday lives and in our various social circles.

When the idea of starting an LGBTQ group at the Portland Shambhala Center was first conceived, I was a bit baffled by the “soft resistance” that came up from some members.  That is to say, many folks didn’t quite understand the need for such a separate “special interest group.”  It’s not that anyone objected to the formation of such a group in any way – but for some there was a mindset that since all are welcome to join our community, there was no need for a special group.  While I’m rather glad that my fellow sangha members don’t bat an eye at my sexuality, here’s a question to ponder:  Have you ever been made to feel unwelcome or even unsafe because of who you are?  I have, and it’s something that I deal with on one level or another every day.

The unfortunate truth, and my own experience, is that we live in a culture of implied exclusion – especially when it comes to the LGBTQ community and spiritual or religious institutions.  I am not welcome in the church and faith that I grew up in – and I am not alone.  The predominant attitude of faith traditions toward sexual minorities has made many of us spiritual orphans.  Even the Dalai Lama once famously claimed that all acts of  homosexuality are considered sexual misconduct, though he has since come around.  So it’s really no wonder that someone might be unsure whether or not they’ll be welcomed or accepted — even in the Kingdom of Shambhala.

It took a great deal of courage and much investigation for me to enter the doors of the Shambhala Center for the first time.  Eventually I did find my spiritual home here, made new friends, and began to touch-in with my own basic goodness.  What a relief to discover that I was not, in fact, broken!  I knew there had to be others like me, seeking a similar path.  With the support of my now good friend, meditation instructor and co-coordinator, Michaela McCormick, who had recently come out to the community as genderqueer, the plan was hatched for the Queer Dharma program.

The turnout for our first meeting was overwhelming and the shrine room was filled to capacity.  Many attendees shared a similar story — they had been hanging out on the periphery, checking out the center website and email list but not sure of the welcome they would receive upon entering the door.  Only after an explicit public invitation were they fully convinced that they were welcome in Shambhala.  Since then, the program has continued to draw large numbers of participants to the center every month.  Some have even started on the Shambhala path.

Our mission, however,  is not to “convert” members of the LGBTQ community.  We don’t aim to create avid meditators or “good Buddhists,”  but rather to embody the Shambhala values of kindness, inclusion and community.  Organizing this group is as much a part of my personal practice as sitting meditation — continually expanding out into the world beyond the shrine room and our Shambhala family.  There are countless number of people who will never sit down to follow their breath, or pick up a dharma book, or chant our liturgies.  But, they will at least know they were welcome to have a taste.

A propos of our first Queer Dharma weekend retreat, you are invited to come practice and celebrate our authentic selves with other LGBTQ practitioners – The Union of Masculine and Feminine, August 22nd-24th at Portland Shambhala Center.  All are warmly welcome regardless of experience, spiritual tradition, age, gender or sexual identity.

Here is some further reading:

CLICK HERE for a Chronicles Radio interview with Bill Wooding about being gay in the early Vajradhatu/Shambhala community, about the history of “Queer Dharma”, and about the efforts made by a number of North American dharma groups to welcome and include the LGBTQ community as part of their sangha.  There is considerable mention of Craig Smith, who is leading our upcoming retreat and his work leading LGBTQ retreats and groups.

Does being lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender have anything to do with practicing mindfulness?  Sure. Over the years, many LGBT voices have made themselves heard within Buddhist communities, and have enriched the sangha as a result.  But the interesting part is just beginning–and it has less to do with inclusion than with insight.  CLICK HERE to read the rest of this article by Jay Michaelson for the Huffington Post Blog.