Online: Do Dharma and Abolition Go Together?
with karen g. williams, Peace Twesigye, and Kiki Williams
Friday, July 30th, 2021 | 6:30pm – 8:30pm ET
Saturday, July 31st, 2021 | 11:00am – 5:00pm ET
Sunday, August 1st, 2021 | 11:00am – 1:00pm ET (optional)
Whether within systems or within our own minds, abolition speaks to the process of unlearning and undoing, moving towards greater freedom and non-harming. If liberation of the mind is the eradication of greed, aversion, and ignorance of the way things have come to be, then we might be compelled to abolish, or support the abolition of all systems, internally and externally, that foster greed, aversion, and ignorance.
In this workshop we will consider how the story of the Buddha’s life from royalty, to asceticism, to the middle path is a testament to the abolitionist qualities that the Buddha embodied. Alongside this inquiry, we will dive into how the abolitionist perspective of changing everything, coupled with the Buddhist perspective of allowing things to be as they are, can seem contradictory. Yet maybe, reflections on sila, or ethical non-harming conduct, can help us imagine a community that is free from fear. And maybe then we can see the synergy of Dharma and abolition.
During this weekend of quiet contemplation, dialogue, creative interaction, movement, and meditation, we will explore a few important questions: How are the Buddhadharma and abolition in relationship to one another? How do our individual and collective thoughts and actions reflect abolition?
Join us for this weekend of fun, liberating inquiry and practice in community! All levels of experience are welcomed.
Registration for Friday Evening and Saturday only:
Please register at the highest level that your generosity offers.
Explanations of levels follow below.
If you are registering via a mobile device such as a phone or tablet, you can scroll right and left and up and down within the below form if it is partially obscured or cut off. Please contact registration@nyimc.org if you need assistance.
Registration for Friday Evening, Saturday and Sunday:
Please register at the highest level that your generosity offers.
Explanations of levels follow below.
If you are registering via a mobile device such as a phone or tablet, you can scroll right and left and up and down within the below form if it is partially obscured or cut off. Please contact registration@nyimc.org if you need assistance.
Registration Fees include Teacher Support
New York Insight Meditation Center has streamlined the registration fee levels. Members of our Circle of Friends are eligible to receive 20% off of the Sustaining Rate via a code provided in the email confirming membership, which you can enter after clicking the Sustaining Level registration.
*Benefactor Level: Supports NYI’s ability to offer the Subsidized Base.
**Sustaining Level: This level reflects the actual costs to support this program. Circle of Friends members eligible for 20% discount with code. Click here to join.
***Subsidized Base: Made possible by the generosity of Benefactor Level above and other donations to ensure participation by those requiring financial assistance.
If you have questions about your registration (cancellation policy, membership discount, email confirmation, etc.), please read our FAQs. If your question is not addressed in the FAQs, please email registration@nyimc.org.
If you are unable to pay the Subsidized Base Fee, you can learn about volunteering to offer work exchange and letting us know how much you are able to pay for this program by emailing registration@nyimc.org.
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If you have any questions, please contact registration@nyimc.org.
Teacher(s)
karen g. williams
karen g. williams, Ph.D. (she/her) is on New York Insight’s Teachers Council and the board of Insight Meditation Society. She also co-chairs the Diversity, Equity and Liberation committee at New York Insight. In 2017 she graduated from the joint Insight Meditation Society and Spirit Rock Community Dharma Leader Training Program; and since then she has taught around the NYC metropolitan area, primarily in communities of color and in the LGBTQI community. karen is an Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Guttman Community College. Her research focuses on the carceral state and the aftermath of mass incarceration. Specifically, her scholarship examines how the institutionalization of evidence-based practices has ushered in a new wave of governance, one that synthesizes punitive power with systems of care within prisons. She brings mindfulness and meditative practices to her research and teaching to build compassionate engagement and to recognize the interconnectedness of all things. When karen is not writing or teaching, she can be found knitting or inhabiting her alter ego, “BackAlley Dred” (ohh, dare we talk about egos) who coaches junior roller derby.
Peace Twesigye
Peace Twesigye is the Assisting Program Director of Buddhist Studies at Union Theological Seminary. Peace assists in designing and overseeing curriculum in Buddhist Studies, working directly with the Senior Director. Peace supports and creates spaces for contemplative practice that serve as a basis for students’ active engagement and service in community as well as supporting academic advisement of Buddhist students. Peace Twesigye organizes and manages public and private conversations and events as part of the Thích Nhất Hạnh Program for Engaged Buddhism at Union Theological Seminary to further expand its public offerings in understanding applied Buddhism. Peace also serves on the board of Barre Center for Buddhist Studies, and serves as a practice leader and teacher at New York Insight Meditation Center as well as enjoying the opportunity of offering programs in other spaces when invited. Peace Twesigye has two master’s degrees; the first in violin performance, and the second in education, with a specialization in students with disabilities, and is committed to the path of being a lifelong student.
Kierstin Williams
Kierstin Williams (she/they) is a black, queer, interdisciplinary teacher, meditator, yogi, and dancer, currently residing in Oakland, CA. Originally from Los Angeles, much of her own practice came out of weekly hiking trips, where oak trees, sagebrush, and the quiet of valleys introduced themselves to her as profound sources of wisdom and healing. She found a similar quiet and access to inner wisdom with meditation when she began a formal Vipassana practice 7 years ago. Since then, Kierstin has attended many residential retreats, taught meditation in both studio and corporate settings, and has become a practice leader with NYI. Alongside several yoga classes, she currently facilitates the POC and Allies sangha in Brooklyn, as well as a weekly meditation for Doctors Without Borders. Kierstin is propelled by the belief that all people have the innate right to thrive, experience unmitigated joy, and to be free, beginning with the freedom we each have the capacity to feel in and through our own body/minds.