The teachings and contemplative practices that have been transmitted by Buddhist communities offer a wealth of urgently needed resources that could allow us to respond wisely and compassionately to this era of radical uncertainty, amidst the poly-crises and collapse of ecosystems as well as many of the social and economic structures. 

In this retreat, we acknowledge a history of Buddhism backed by imperial forces and look at the ways Buddhism has been marked by its alignment with imperial, patriarchal and anthropocentric structures. At the same time, Buddhism was embraced and historically integrated into many communities where the lifeblood of indigenous and animist modes of experiencing relationship to non-human kin, to land and to life itself. (We understand animism to mean worldviews that recognize the personhood and intelligence of non-human beings.) 

As they reach us today, these two divergent impulses—animist/shamanic/indigenous versus imperialist/patriarchal/anthropocentric—have been additionally refracted through colonial settler, white supremacist and neoliberal cultural impulses. 

In addition to a commitment to confront the colonial historical context, this retreat is rooted in a wild love and gratitude for the living Earth community. When we open to this love, we also sense the desecration, habitat destruction, waste, and climate mutation wrought by an imbalanced Westernized global civilization. Our study of Animism comes together with our shared quest for the ethical and spiritual demands of being alive within such ecocidal violence. In what ways might animist relational worldviews and practices support such ethics? Might it encourage a more ecological modern Buddhism that is more responsive to the earth?

During this retreat, we will call forth the many Buddhist practices where we hear the whispers or feel the dance of Buddhism’s animist roots, its sprouts and its beautiful weeds. 

Unlike some previous BESS Family Foundation Ecodharma retreats, there is no expectation that every attendee guide a session. Our wilder aspiration is to bring into focus a shared vision and experience of Buddhism that foregrounds our interdependence with all our more-than-human kin and provides a basis for envisioning—and beginning to implement—a human society more consistent with that relatedness. 

We will practice together, question together and dream together. We may need to mourn together and rage together, and we will do so held by our shared commitment to awakening collectively. 

Karen Waconda-Lewis is a tribal native of the Isleta and Laguna Pueblos. After her initiation into Native Medicine, she introduced traditional healing practices into an urban American Indian health clinic in Albuquerque, NM. She continues to expand this program into local hospitals, the Indian Health Service, the VA Hospital, and surrounding organizations. Karen integrates Western medicine with Native healing in preventive health, mental health, and overall well-being. She is the founder and director of the Center for Native American Integrative Healing, LLC, located in Albuquerque, where healers from various tribal nations practice their traditional medicine and extend their services to the community.

Karen is a Spirit Rock Community Dharma Leader program graduate and has been practicing mindfulness from a young age, guided by her grandparents in her traditional tribal practices of caring for the land, gardening, cooking and animals. She regularly provides dharma teachings incorporating Native teachings in her community and nationally. She has intertwined Native teachings with Vipassana meditation, incorporating these practices into ceremonies, sweat lodges, and her community at Laguna Pueblo. At Laguna Pueblo, the ancestral teachings of mindfulness have complemented the Buddhist teachings at the Detention Center, providing insight and wellness to inmates and their families. 

Additionally, Karen co-founded the Annual Indigenous and Native Healers Silent Retreat and the Albuquerque People of Color and Allies Sangha. She has also been appointed volunteer faculty at the University of New Mexico's School of Medicine, where she guides faculty and staff on tribal health issues and wellness support to medical students and residents. 

In her personal life, Karen enjoys spending time with her family, including her daughter and two grandchildren. She manages the family ranch and loves spending time with ancestral lands and caring for its inhabitants.

Damchö Diana Finnegan is co-founder of Comunidad Dharmadatta, one of the largest Spanish-speaking Buddhist practice communities serving Latin America. Dharmadatta is working to manifest an antipatriarchal, earth-based Dharma, and is currently run collaboratively by a women’s spiritual collective. For over a decade, Damcho trained under various Tibetan teachers in India, and was ordained as a Buddhist nun for 24 years. She also holds a PhD from University of Wisconsin-Madison with a dissertation on storytelling, ethics and gender in Buddhist narratives. Damcho has edited and translated numerous works from Tibetan and Sanskrit into English. She serves on the advisory board of Heartwood's Connecting Survivors of Guru Abuse Program. 

Adam Lobel, Ph.D, practices at the threshold of ecologies, Buddhist-inspired meditation and philosophy, contemplative education, and psycho-social political change. His work in the world weaves these practices together. Adam is a scholar-practitioner of philosophy and religion, focusing on Dzogchen Tibetan Buddhism and contemporary theory. A teacher of Ecopsychology at the Falk School of Sustainability and a Focusing professional, he is curious about cultural therapeutics for our collapsing society. He leads ecodharma workshops called “Silent Transformations,” teaches in the Ecosattva Training, is a Guiding Teacher for One Earth Sangha, a GreenFaith fellow, a BESS Family Foundation Eco-Advisor and is active in environmental justice movements. Adam teaches a critical style of contemplative training that seeks to avoid enclosure in neoliberal mindfulness while disclosing effortless awareness. He is developing what he calls Four Fields of contemplative practices for potential worlds. He lives in Pittsburgh, PA with his partner and two kids where he protects lands from the petrochemical industry. For more on Adam’s practices: www.releasement.org

You will find detailed information under the heading Our Retreats: What to Expect, How to Prepare, and On Retreat. This is a unique retreat and will have a different format than silent meditation retreats.