Welcome to the Bhumi Garden newsletter + blog!

What is the Bhumi Garden?

It’s a central meeting place to learn about the beautiful things brewing and blooming within our community. Specifically, this monthly virtual resource is shared with two primary intentions:

To share practical information about Bhumisparsha offerings, updates, and resources each month.
To foster the creative appreciation, nourishment, and celebration of all that is growing and composting in the garden of Bhumisparsha community life.

Want to help us tend the Garden?

We are looking for volunteers to assist in the following areas for next month’s issue (and beyond!) to whatever extent feels good. If you’re interested, please email eric@bhumisparsha.org:

Web design - making this page as beautiful as our community
Editing/Copywriting - contribute to formatting, editing, and reviewing submissions

Want to plant something in the Garden?

We welcome contributions from the entire community! We’d love to highlight your art work, poems, practice reflections, programing (both within Bhumi and beyond), resources, and volunteer opportunities. We’d also love to include information/updates/images from the remarkable Facilitators and Tech Hosts who make all of our offerings possible. Check out our “Bhumi Garden Monthly Submission Form” to learn more about how to contribute.

Announcements + Updates: August 2022

Summer Community Town Hall

Thank you to everyone who was able to join Sesalli and Eric during last month’s Summer Community Town Hall. Click here for a recording of the event (also below). To see the presentation Sesalli created to share the insights we received from our recent Overall feedback survey, click here. We look forward to hosting another Community Town Hall in the Fall!

Registration now OPEN! “Resting in the Unseen” in-person retreat in Atlanta, October 26 - 29

Featuring co-teachers Lama Rod, Lama Justin, and Ms. Ayesha Ali. To learn more and to register click here to head over to the main event/registration page for the retreat.

connection + ritual + embodied practice

Bhumisparsha is hosting a long awaited in person retreat in Atlanta, GA from October 26 - 29, 2022! Below is a brief overview of what we are planning (stay tuned for more details about location, housing, carpooling, and other logistics coming soon):

Tuesday, October 25th will be a small event for those who have volunteered for Bhumisparsha at any point and are attending the retreat. We are still working out the details. More information will be shared closer to the date with those that have registered for the retreat.
Wednesday, October 26th - Friday, October 28th are the main retreat days! This is a non-residential, urban retreat in the Atlanta area. This year’s theme is “Resting in the Unseen”, it will be a time for us to explore unseen realms and relations, calling us to find rest within spaces that are unknown, unseen and uncontrollable. Lama Rod, Lama Justin and Ayesha Ali will be the main facilitators of this retreat with special guests we will announce later!
Saturday, October 29th will be a FREE offering open to all members of the community, those curious about Bhumisparsha, friends and family. This will be an informal gathering at the park where we will create a collective altar and enjoy being in physical space with one another.

Call for art!

We are looking for artists and/or graphic designers within our community to design a digital flier (for promotion and event page) and for retreat t-shirts. We are looking for art inspired by our theme, Resting in the Unseen. These designs must include the name of the retreat (Resting in the Unseen), location (Atlanta, GA), and dates (October 26-28, 2022).

If you are interested email sesalli@bhumisparsha.org by August 19, 2022. There is a small honorarium available for this design.

Introducing Rafael Diaz

We are very happy to have Rafael Diaz joining the Bhumisparsha team from September 2022 to May 2023 to support “community chaplaincy” and more for our collective. This arrangement is made possible through collaboration with Union Theological Seminary. Much more information will be coming soon! For now, here is a message/bio from Raf for the community. We look forward to learning and collaborating together this year!

Hi Everyone! I'm Rafael Diaz (they/he) and I'm so incredibly thankful and excited to be formally working with our sangha as a Community Chaplain Intern (or something—I think we're still working on a title!). I'm a householder and seminarian in my hometown of Lancaster, PA, currently studying Buddhism & Interreligious Engagement at Union Theological Seminary. I'm a former community organizer and co-founder of the community organization Lancaster Stands Up, and started seriously studying and engaging with the dharma and spiritual practice more broadly as a source of refuge, rest, and resilience amid the ceaseless struggles I faced fighting for political liberation. I'm currently working towards becoming a chaplain to support people in hospitals, hospice, and movement organizations as a loving listening presence and spiritual companion, doing what I can to alleviate suffering and work toward liberation for all beings. I'm looking forward to holding space for folks in and outside of our sangha, so don't hesitate to reach out!

Global Majority Hangouts

We have started to include Global Majority Hangouts organized by Ms. Ayesha Ali and friends in our public calendar! Please stay tuned as more hang outs are organized and shared moving forward. The next Global Majority Hangout (US + Europe) will be on Sunday, September 4th. For more info and the Zoom link, click here.

From the calendar: “This is offered as a way that the global majority in the US and Europe might connect. Join us for our brunch/dinner time together where we might share the gifts of the Dharma, food, song, and poetry.”

We also recently created a donation tier for offering direct support to Global Majority + BIPOC organizing in Bhumisparsha. To donate and support this essential aspect of our visions and values as a community, click here.

Community ethics + care

Announcing “Community Ethics Studio”: Tuesday, August 30th from 5:30 to 6:45 pm EST.

Our aspirations for the Community Ethics Studio are to offer monthly sessions to support peer-led studying, training, experimenting, and creating within the vast terrain of community ethics, transformative justice, and spiritual practice. Through the Community Ethics Studio, we aim to "put our practices into practice" by embodying and relating fully and creatively to continuous transformations of power, care, harm, and healing.

This first session will be grounded in reflections about the "Conflict Support and Transformation (v.1)" resource. Content and processes for these offerings will be informed by the needs and capacities of those who participate and in the spirit of collaborative leadership.

Questions about the Community Ethics Studio? Please connect with Eric (eric@bhumisparsha.org) or Eliz (elizspy@gmail.com). Click here to join the first Community Ethics Studio session on Tuesday, August 30th from 5:30 to 6:45 pm EST via Zoom.

Announcing “Community Ethics Collaborative”: Beginning September 5th from 10:00 to 11:00 am EST, we’ve also added a weekly gathering for the Bhumisparsha community to collaborate together and help build robust community ethics frameworks, processes, and special projects. The day and time of this gathering is subject to change depending on what works best for folks moving forward!

The Community Ethics Collaborative meets weekly with the intention to improve, enhance, and refine Bhumisparsha's culture of Community Ethics. This space is intended to be more of a working group, while the monthly Community Ethics Studio provides space for learning, training, and study. All are welcome! Click here to join the first Community Ethics Collaborative session on Monday, September 5th from 10:00 to 11:00 am EST via Zoom.

Welcome to the Bhumiverse!

Thank you to everyone who was able to join for our first session of “Welcome to the Bhumiverse!”, an opportunity to connect and help orient everyone interested in learning more about the sprawling ecology of Bhumisparsha. We hope many of you are able to join for our next session on Tuesday, September 13th from 5:30 to 6:45 EST! Click here to to check out the calendar invite for this offering.

Support + Connect Bulletin:

We recently created a new resource to help unify the way we ask for donations and share helpful information across all of our various offerings. Our intention is to start creating the pattern of sharing this resource at the end of each Bhumi offering. Click here to access the new Support + Connect Bulletin, or check it out in the space below.

Several Mission Circle members; Leigh, Lisa, and Eric (from left to right) meeting for lunch in July near Minnehaha Falls in Minneapolis, MN

Mission Circle Update

The next Mission Circle meeting will be Monday, September 12th. We ran into some snafu’s in terms of being able to share Leigh and Ms. Brenda’s summary videos from July and August, so we will share multiple summaries in next month’s Bhumi Garden. Recently, the Mission Circle has been focusing on finding a new treasurer (stay tuned for exciting info coming soon!), as well as discussing how we can start implementing more robust feedback and continuous improvements processes between the Mission Circle and contractors/staff (currently Eric and Sesalli). We have also continued to deepen out understanding of what the Mission Circle does/does not have capacity for in its current manifestation, as well as getting clearer about how we can best support Eric and Sesalli more effectively + efficiently together as collaborators. We look forward to sharing more updates soon!

Practice Circle Update

The Practice Circle is inviting new members!! If you're interested or know someone that may be, please send me an email at sesalli@bhumisparsha.org.

The Practice Circle meets on the 1st Thursday of every month (July 7th) from 5pm - 6:30pm ET. We support the creation and maintenance of ways we practice as a community. We spend time dreaming up what practice in our community can look like and creatively addressing concerns that may arise within practice spaces/processes. In this season the Practice Circle will be focused on supporting in person gatherings for our community. If you are someone interested in hosting or helping plan small regional to larger community gatherings we'd love to have your voice in the space.

You are invited to be a committed member for 6 months + OR to just be added to the calendar invite + emails so you can join whenever you are able. All are encouraged to join! Email me if interested?

Ways to help support + sustain

In addition to offering financial resources which sustain Bhumi’s general operating costs, there are many ways to help take care of our community through the gifts of your time, energy, and skill. Here are some specific volunteer opportunities that would be of tremendous benefit for the whole community. If any of these possibilities resonate, please reach out to info@bhumisparsha.org.

Whether you are able to help once for an hour, if you feel inspired to work on a specific one-time or recurring project, or if you’d like to help but may not know how, your generosity is welcome and greatly appreciated! Do you have skills, knowledge, or creativities to contribute but don’t see them reflected in this list? Please let us know how you would like to support! We are committed to respecting boundaries and not expecting people to give beyond what is offered. Let’s wander through this Garden together at the speed of ease.

Volunteer opportunities

Helping organize our Vimeo page and leverage this platform more effectively, including integrating videos and recordings more meaningfully on our website.
Assisting with the maintenance and general upkeep of our Zoom accounts
Sprucing up the Bhumisparsha website!
Getting trained as a Tech Host and/or Facilitator for morning daily sits or helping launch an evening practice sit. If this resonates, we will get you in touch with Laura D, Bhumi’s Daily Practice Liaison.
Helping us create “Welcome to Bhumisparsha” space from the perspective of a new community members
Creating a very simple, technical support guide for multi-generational community members
Providing graphic/digital design support for our
- Mailchimp
- Blog
- Event communications
- Flyers
- Website
Supporting our Social Media presence (creating posts for Instagram, posting regularly)
Hosting a community-led book club or wisdom text study group
Grant writing and fundraising support
Help plan In-person/regional gatherings at Practice Circle meetings
Providing direct assistance and logistical support during in-person offerings.
Sharing professional expertise and skillfulness in counseling, chaplaincy, mediation, and crisis response to support community members when needed
Sharing professional expertise and skillfulness in legal affairs, non-profit management, strategic development, and collaborative leadership.

Donation opportunities

In financial terms, our hope is that this community can be sustained through the heartfelt contributions of those who feel connected to Bhumisparsha and share visions of personal transformation, beloved community, and collective liberation. The BEST way to provide that stability is through a monthly contribution that works for you. Click the button below to make a sustaining donation:

Sustaining Monthly Donations

We invite everyone who is able to offer direct support for Global Majority + BIPOC organizing within the Bhumi community. Help us enhance and co-create this vital aspect of our visions and values as a collective:

Global Majority + BIPOC organizing

One-Time donations are just as vital to ensuring we can meet our budgetary needs for the year. Your gift now will helps fuel Bhumi's practice. Click below to offer a One-time contribution:

One-Time Gift

Through our fiscal hosting partnership with Open Collective Foundation (OCF), all donations made to Bhumisparsha are tax deductible as charitable contributions. Click here to learn more.

Community Creations + Reflections

Painting of Kshitigarbha Bodhisattva by Janet Piésold.

This section of the Bhumi Garden is dedicated to sharing reflections, artwork, dance, poetry, photography, or any other mode of creation and reflection. If it feels good to share, you are very welcome to do so. We look forward to including contributions from the community in next month’s issue of the Bhumi Garden! To submit materials and/or proposals, please fill out the “Bhumi Garden Monthly Submission Form”

“Within the Brokenness” by Malika Bouhdili

This month, community member Malika Bouhdili shares powerful refections on practice, chaplaincy, brokenness, and freedom. Click here: “Within the Brokenness”.

“Teen retreat flower mandala”, by Eric B.

I was fortunate to serve as a mentor on a teen mindfulness retreat in Michigan (with the amazing team at Inward Bound Mindfulness Education) in July. Toward the end of the retreat, the teens were invited to silently collaborate and compose a flower mandala together. It is my pleasure to share their beautiful composition with the Bhumisparsha community!

Regular practice opportunities + recordings:

Click here to subscribe to Bhumisparsha’s calendar for the most up-to-date schedule information. You can also click here to view the calendar page on our website
If you have feedback from your experience with a Bhumisparsha practice offering that you would like to share, please fill out the practice feedback form. Thank you!
All times listed are in Eastern Standard Time