On this LGBTQIA+ program during the Pride Month of June, we come together to celebrate and delight in our communities, and in the courage of our hearts to be who we truly are. We come together to practice turning inward, caring for ourselves, each other, and all that matters in our lives.

During this program, we will explore the Buddha’s foundational teachings of kindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity. Known as the Brahma Viharas, or Divine Abodes, these inner qualities of heart and mind can be cultivated amidst all the conditions and events of our lives, the delightful, the difficult, the uncertain. These teachings are so needed for our LGBTQIA+ communities! 

This program is an invitation to explore and nurture what already lies in each of our hearts. For while the Brahma Viharas are natural human capacities, if cultivated they can support us when most needed. Over the course of the program, each of us will be invited to make kindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity the home of our hearts. We will develop these inner qualities in our formal meditation practice and investigate them together in dialogue. 

Courage of the heart teaches us that each moment of our precious LGBTQIA+ lives is an opportunity to cultivate inner clarity, ease, and freedom. The Brahma Viharas can help us face the many difficulties of our world in a more skillful, spacious way. This is an extraordinary way of living our lives, here and now. 

Everyone is welcome whether these teachings are brand new for you, or not. People who have practiced the Brahma Viharas before are encouraged to participate in this program as they grow deeper and more profound with practice, and within our LGBTQIA+ community.