Welcome to the Bhumi Garden newsletter + blog

The Bhumi Garden is central meeting place to learn about things brewing and blooming within our community.

Want to help us tend the Garden? We are always looking for volunteers to lend their creative style and pragmatic skills for future issues. If you’d like to help, email Eric B, Community Groundskeeper, at eric@bhumisparsha.org:

Want to help 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 of all kinds. Check out our “Bhumi Garden Monthly Submission Form” to learn more about how to contribute.

Celebrating Daily Practice

In this video, Community Weaver Ayesha Ali and Daily Practice Liaison Laura DeSpain reflect on the culture of Bhumisparsha's "Daily Practice" offerings (which have been sustained continuously since Bhumi launched in response COVID-19 in 2020!).

All are welcome to drop in and practice together as the real, beautiful, messy, and boundless beings we are. Daily practice is held every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 11:30 am to 12:30 pm EST. For more information and to hop into a session, check out our public calendar.

Weaving Community: Invitation and Offerings

What do we mean by "community", and what does being in community call us to do? In the video below, Ayesha Ali (she/her/Majesty) shares her intentions as Community Weaver and invites everyone to check out Bhumi’s numerous opportunities for exploring the possibility of community life as an affirming, joyful path toward our shared liberation. See the section below for descriptions, dates, times, and links for these offerings. Stay tuned for info about January’s schedule coming soon!

Whenever possible, Ayesha’s monthly community-wide offering will be recorded and shared for those unable to join. Subscribe to our Youtube channel to stay up-to-date as new recordings are added to the Weaving Community Archive. These offerings are made possible through support from the Bess Family Foundation.

Announcing new weekly Global Majority Sit

This weekly practice session with Ayesha Ali is offered weekly on Thursday mornings from 8-9 am EST for all who identify as BIPOC +/ People of the Global Majority. Click here to join Global Majority Sit every Thursday morning on Zoom.

Global Majority Hangouts (Europe & North America edition)

Global Majority Hangouts are offered as a way for global majority +/ BIPOC folks in the US and Europe to connect. Join us for our brunch/dinner time together where we might share the gifts of the Dharma, food, song, and poetry. Stay tuned for information about the next Europe edition of Global Majority Hangout in January! The next North American edition Global Majority Hangout will be December 30th from 7pm – 8pm EST. Click here to join Global Majority Hangout (North America edition) on Zoom (Dates for January Global Majority Hangouts will be announced soon.)

Small Group Hangouts

Small Group Hangouts provide opportunities to unwind, ask questions about our worlds and practices, and simply be together in spiritual community. The next Small Group Hangout will be held Tuesday, December 27th from 3pm – 4pm EST. Click here to join Small Group Hangouts on Zoom

Weaving Community: Ugly Sweater Party!

We are weaving an UGLY SWEATER PARTY on Thursday, December 22 from 6:00pm – 7:30pm EST! Folks are invited to wear your ugliest sweater and your biggest smile and, perhaps, a cup of hot chocolate as we come together for connection and fun. This session will be recorded and shared for those unable to join. Click here to join the Weaving Community Ugly Sweater Party on Zoom!

Welcome to the Bhumiverse!

Join us on the second Tuesday of each month from 5:30 - 6:45 pm EST to learn more about Bhumisparsha including info about what’s available, how to connect, and where to find helpful resources. Next month’s session will be held on Tuesday, January 10th.

Everyone—newer or elder— is welcome to come hang out in community while sharing wisdom and practical information about how Bhumisparsha has (or has not!) supported spiritual practice and creative awakening. Click here to join Welcome to the Bhumiverse on Zoom.

Community Ethics Studio

Held the last Tuesday of each month from 5:30 to 6:45pm EST, Community Ethics Studio provides open and creative space for connection, practice, and reflection with the aim of enhancing Bhumisparsha’s culture of community ethics and spiritual friendship. Each session is informed by our Conflict Support and Transformation (v.1) resource, but our primary intention is to be flexible and responsive to the needs of whatever is emerging in the community. Click here to join Community Ethics Studio on Zoom.

Resting in the Unseen Retreat Update

Please enjoy this Resting in the Unseen Retreat Recap from Community Pollinator Sesalli Castillo! Our time together in Atlanta was a precious gift for many of us. Thank you to all the beings, seen and unseen, who helped make this opportunity possible. We are encouraged by the clear value and vast possibilities of in-person Bhumi practice opportunities, so stay tuned for more to come! Check out the images below for a snapshot of the many beautiful moments we shared as a community of spiritual friends.

Community Chaplaincy

Please enjoy these reflections from Bhumi Community Chaplain Rafael Diaz and colleagues about their CPE (clinical pastoral education) experiences in their respective communities so far this year. In addition to offering 65+ one-on-one spiritual care sessions with folks within and beyond the Bhumisparsha community since September, Rafael was also an invaluable presence during the Resting in the Unseen retreat; holding space for folks as needed while also guiding participants through several grounding practices throughout our time together.

Raf has also recently sent out a request for feedback from those who have booked a spiritual care session with him. If you haven’t booked a session, but would like to offer suggestions for possible themes for group work in the new year, please feel free to do so! (Just mention that you haven’t booked a session, but would still like to offer suggestions in terms of what fruitful group-based spiritual care work could be supportive for the community).

If you'd like to learn more about community chaplaincy and spiritual care, Raf also created a short introductory video for the community (below).

New Youtube Archive

Transitioning away from Crowdcast for the time being has given us an opportunity to transfer the treasury of all of our earliest recordings into our new Youtube Archive. To stay up to date as recordings are added, please subscribe to our Youtube channel. We hope you enjoy perusing these incredible resources! You can find our entire Crowdcast archive in the playlists, below.

Bhumi Foundations

Please enjoy this playlist featuring recordings of special events + "foundational" offerings we've collected since launching our virtual platform in 2020. If you are curious about Bhumisparsha's approach to weaving Indo-Tibetan Buddhism and creative liberation, these recordings are a great place to start.

Chenrezig’s Ring of Fire

Lama Rod Owens invites us to lean into challenges arising in our practice. Drawing from a Tantric Buddhist technique known as yidam practice, he introduces one of the tradition's most accessible methods for generating the energy of love. In this practice, the Tantric deity known in Tibetan as Chenrezig (Skt: Avalokiteshvara) becomes a representation of our own capacity for boundless love, opening a doorway into its energy and wisdom. Through this approach, we can begin to relate to this expression of kindness and compassion through a direct experience of our own loving qualities, one of the most skillful ways to hold space for difficult emotions as they arise. These teachings from were recorded during a retreat with Lama Rod hosted by the Catalyst Cooperative Healing in Easthampton, MA in August 2022.

Medicine Buddha

Join Lama Rod for a guided Medicine Buddha practice that can help promote healing for self and others, as well as address social inequities that perpetuate harm.

Mahamudra for the People

Please enjoy this archive of our earliest Mahamudra for the People offerings from Lama Justin and Lama Rod. The combination of instructions from the mahamudra tradition and brief sitting sessions allow for effective diving into a daily meditation practice.

Community Dharma Share

An archive of all Community Dharma Share recordings from Crowdcast. Featuring Lama Justin, Lama Rod, and members of the Bhumisparsha community.

Sunday Service

These recordings are from Lama Rod's monthly "Sunday Service" series. Including Ma Tara, Mahamudra, and relating with ancestors.

Mission Circle Update

The Mission Circle has been very busy for the past few months, with several positive developments to share! We look forward to sending out much more information about what we’ve been working on together, including updates about our financial sustainability, multiple transitions and recent changes, and our emerging sense (it’s exciting!) of what we might be able to build together as a community of spiritual friendship for throughout the 2023-2024 solar cycle. In collaboration with Lama Rod and Lama Justin, the Mission Circle has decided to start practicing a more intentional seasonal rhythm (alongside accompanying organic themes) as an experiment in grounding our shared heartbeats and the structure of our offerings for the year ahead. Much more will be shared in terms of our concrete plans for organizing structure and community development in the next few months, but we wanted to share a sketch of this seasonal rhythm in case it is helpful for awareness.

Winter Season: December - February (“Slowing”)
Spring Season: March - May (“Growing”)
Summer Season: June - August (“Ripening”)
Fall Season: September - November (“Decaying”)

Our comrades and fiscal hosts at the Open Collective Foundation have requested that we share an end of year update with everyone in the community by December 21st, which we are currently collaborating on! Stay tuned for additional info coming soon.

In the meantime, we are happy to share the following Mission Circle meeting notes from September, October, November, and December. (Big thanks to Leigh R., the Mission Circle’s super-powered note-taker/clerk!)

Coming soon + save the date

Stay tuned for more info about the following offerings coming in the next few weeks. To make sure you don’t miss any future announcements, click here to subscribe to our mailing list.

Medicine Buddha with Lama Rod is moving to Zoom starting Monday, January 2nd, 2023.

CLICK HERE to learn more and to submit your one-time registration for accessing future Medicine Buddha offerings via Zoom.

Day-long Protector Practice Intensive with Lama Justin: Saturday, January 14th from 10am to 5pm EST

More information coming soon!

Chenrezig’s Ring of Fire Practice with Lama Rod: Sunday, January 15th from 12pmm to 1:30pm EST

Lama Rod will begin offering a monthly session of Chenrezig’s Ring of Fire. Dates for each month will change depending on Lama Rod’s availability. You can find guided audio instructions for this practice in our Chenrezig’s Ring of Fire playlist.

Monthly “La Hooking” practice with Lama Justin beginning in February: Day/time TBD

Drawing from the Yuthok Nyingthig lineage (which is closely related to traditions of Tibetan medicine) this practice of “hooking back the life force” works with subtle elemental energies and creative visualizations to help sustain the work of personal liberation and collective healing. More details coming soon.

Support + Connect

We created this Support + Connect bulletin as a resource for gathering all of the various links and other helpful information that make it easier to navigate through the Bhumiverse, and maybe meet new friends along the way!

Bhumisparsha is always in need of volunteer support! If you are interested in helping out in any aspect of the Bhumisparsha ecosystem, please check out the “Bhumisparsha Volunteer opportunities” document (also included in the Support + Connect bulletin) to get a sense of where we need help and how you might like to offer support in a way that feels good for your current capacity. All help is deeply appreciated! May all beings benefit from the wealth of generosity emerging from this community in myriad ways.

Community Creations + Reflections + Shoutouts

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”

Bhumisparsha folks in Oregon

Payne and Cloud are wondering who else in Bhumisparsha might be out in Oregon, specifically the Willamette Valley and Eugene area, and might want to meet up to practice and commune! To connect, you can reach out to Payne at payne.morris89@gmail.com.

Community Outdoor Meditation?

Aleta has proposed creating space for grassroots + community outdoor meditation sessions! If this is something you would be interested in helping to support or organize, reach out to Aleta at withjusticepeace@gmail.com.

A short poem offered by Sarah Siegel

Representation Matters

We are very happy to spread the good word about the Representation Matters Thangka art series by Kait Hatch. Click here to order your own radically affirming 5 Buddha Family greeting cards while also supporting independant art and mutual aide.

Writing Opportunity

An invitation to the community from Kait Schatch: “Hello lovely humans! One of the faculty from my Chaplaincy training has co-created a new online journal called the Buddhist Justice Reporter, exploring the intersections of Buddhist practice and social justice […] This is a PAID writing opportunity, if anyone on here has something they’d like to pitch for it.”

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

Daily Practice Group

Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 11:30 AM to 12:30 PM EST (8:30 - 9:30 AM PDT)
Daily practice groups are spaces where people can sign in and practice individually with others in an online space. Space will be held by a Bhumisparsha community member for the first 30 minutes, while the second 30 minutes (optional) will open for questions and discussion.
Monday and Friday daily practice sessions feature the option to break out into small groups for the check-in/conversation portion of the sit. Small group breakouts on these days are based on the preferences expressed by participants on a given day.
For Wednesday practice sessions, Bhumisparsha is automatically breaking out into a BIPOC breakout room and a General breakout room for both the practice and check-in periods. Each group will be self-moderated. This practice is intended to give folks who identify as BIPOC the option to immerse in the energy of a BIPOC group space, without having to navigate a larger, shared space.
Click the following link to via Zoom:
*https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81566513407*

Medicine Buddha with Lama Rod

Mondays from 7 to 8:30 PM EST
(Medicine Buddha is moving to Zoom! For more information, CLICK HERE) Join Lama Rod for a guided Medicine Buddha practice that can help promote healing for self and others, as well as address social inequities that perpetuate harm.
Link to register for Medicine Buddha on Zoom beginning 1/2:
*https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0ude-opz0jH9bPMmg8W-kgyiahBEHYuFEh#/registration*

Mahamudra for the People with Lama Justin

Tuesdays from 12:30 pm to 2:00 PM EST
Join Mahamudra for the People with Lama Justin to explore the non-conceptual view and practice of the Mahamudra, or “Great Seal” tradition of Indo-Tibetan Buddhism.

The combination of instructions and brief sitting sessions are effective supports to sustain a daily meditation practice for the benefit self and all beings. Sessions will be recorded and shared, and include opportunities for Q&A and discussion. All are welcome!
Click the following link to via Zoom:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88141152499?pwd=K1paV3pDOHdBWEUxM3d0L0cwd2d5QT09
(See below for the recording of our most recent session Mahamudra for the People session.)

Chöd Practice and Discussion

Tuesdays from 7 to 8 PM EST
Join Lama Justin and Bhumisparsha community members to learn and practice the Milam Lungten Chod Sadhana. Join to learn more about this practice and its benefits for all beings. All community members welcome!
Click the following link to via Zoom:
*https://us02web.zoom.us/j/93954714384?pwd=ZmhYM0VsbjN6L1U4dnptNmRycUtsZz09*

Protector practice

Every Wednesday from 7 to 7:45 PM EST

Join for a guided practice led by either Lama Justin or a community member focusing on energies embodied by Palden Lhamo, Shanglon Mahakala and Chittapatti, three powerful dharma protectors.
Click the following link to via Zoom:
*https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82176897152?pwd=TUd2a3ltM0M1eFlkTUJ2NXpSbGlRUT09*

Community Dharma Sharing

Wednesdays from 8:00 to 9:30 PM EST
Please join the Bhumisparsha community each Wednesday evening for a dharma sharing with Karen Nelson, Mary Ganzon, Brenda Collins, and other members of the community!
In the weekly sessions we offer movement suggestions for each of us to adapt for our own body "as we are” today. We welcome your feedback and are grateful to hear and accord with everyone’s access needs. Thank you for participating!
Themes and explorations reflect the needs and interests of participants.
Click the following link to via Zoom:
*https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82385902276?pwd=OHYvWlB2c2dXb1RUT21MK2VvZTVXQT09*
You can find a recording of the most recent Community Dharma Share sessions on our Vimeo page

Uprooting Whiteness

2nd and 4th Thursdays each month from 5:30 to 7 PM EST
Uprooting Whiteness is an ongoing practice group within Bhumisparsha of folks committed to lovingly untangling the individual and collective roots of our whiteness with gentle, direct community care.

We meet biweekly, taking time to meditate together, check-in and share access needs to touch on our full humanity. We then spend time mindfully (and with body awareness) discussing our personal and societal experiences of whiteness and racism.

This group has been shaped for white folks to do this work together so we don’t cause further harm to People of the Global Majority. However, People of the Global Majority are welcome to attend.
Uprooting Whiteness 2nd Thurs (7/14) Zoom:
*https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86369083601*
Uprooting Whiteness 4th Thurs (7/28) Zoom:
*https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89726207438*

21 Taras Practice with Rachael Wooten

The monthly sessions are held on the third Thursday of the month at 7pm ET.
Recordings of the current cycle and the previous cycle (Nov 2020-Aug 2022) are available in two places: on Bhumisparsha Slack Tara Channel **(sign up here**) and
**Rachael's site here**
Rachael Wooten, Jungian analyst, longtime spiritual practitioner and author of *TARA: The Liberating Power of the Female Buddha,* will lead each session into a deep dive of the amazing qualities of each Tara, discovering how Tara helps us heal personal and collective wounds in order to become an active, loving presence of Tara in the world.
As well as being a Bhumisparsha sangha member, Rachael has been authorized by her teacher, Lodrö Tulku Rinpoche, to teach and lead these practices. You can read more about Rachael, and subscribe to her newsletter, **here**.
Each session will open with a grounding and check-in, and include conversation with the sangha. Teachings will then progress into a guided meditation on one of the exquisite emanations. The specific mantra of the particular Tara and praise will be provided in the chat box, or you can check out the whole collection in Rachael's wonderful book **here**.
The teachings are freely given, and there are also opportunities to offer dana directly to Rachael at her website **here** and also to hosting group **Bhumisparsha.org**. The session comes with support from “team Tara” including Mary Ganzon, Diana Garcia Londoño, Karen Nelson.
To join on Zoom, click the following link:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88390314889?pwd=TVJVRkc3dlhxdDF5d00xWGlDQkovZz09#success

Holding Space: Sitting and Sharing Practice in Uncertain Times

11:00 AM to 12:30 PM on the third Saturday of each month
Please join the community for silent meditation practice, followed by an opportunity to check-in with other community members, as we hold space for each other. Facilitated by Brenda Collins and Leigh Rosenberg.
Holding Space Zoom link:
*https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84060666565*

Additional opportunities for study + practice with Lama Rod and Lama Justin

Lama Rod

Click here to check out Lama Rod’s website and here to donate and support his work as a full-time Dharma teacher.

The Dharma of Spring Awakening UK Retreat: with Lama Rod Owens, sister sadada, Daniel Sutton-Johanson, River Malloy
Profile in the reckoningmag.com: LGBTQ Georgians and Allies Round Out AJC’s List of 55 ‘Everyday Heroes’. (See image below)

Lama Justin

Click here to sign up for Lama Justin’s newsletter. Click here to donate and support Lama Justin’s work as a full time Dharma teacher.

One Year Dharma Immersion: Yuthok Nyingthig Ati Yoga with Lama Justin Von Bujdoss, every Sunday from January 22nd - December 17th 2023
Here is Lama Justin’s presentation at the 4th Vajrayana Conference on Buddhism in Bhutan, titled “Western Vajrayana; The Complex Dynamics of Tantric Buddhist Spiritual Formation and Meaning Making within the Western Cultural Milieu”
Lama Justin recently wrote a reflection about the time he spent as a chaplain on Rikers Island for Lion’s Roar: “What I Learned in Hell” (see image below)

Generosity: every dollar helps

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.

Sustaining Monthly Donations

The BEST way to provide that stability is through a monthly contribution that works for you. Click the button to the right to make a sustaining donation:

Global Majority + BIPOC organizing

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:

One-Time Gift

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 the button to the right to offer a One-time contribution:

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.