The Reading Circles are open to experienced members of the Triratna Buddhist Community (order members, mitras and friends) of all races and ethnicities. Each session will be held mostly in the format of racial affinity groups. These are intentional small groups for BIPOC/BAME and white/white-presenting people.

Each session lasts 90 minutes over Zoom, and will be dedicated to a section of the book, typically one chapter. So a very readable amount, week to week.

We will first all gather as a larger circle, have a short opening and meditation, review some guidance, and then go off in our respective racial affinity groups.

We are aiming to have two designated facilitators for each small group.

At the end of the session, we come back all together as a larger circle for a short dedication of merit.

At the end of the cycle we will have a special session with the author of the book, with a format that will be announced.

When exploring our racial conditioning, it can be very helpful to meet separately in different groups.

We have our experience within Triratna of “single sex” activities to draw on which helps us know the value of this kind of approach.

In each grouping, there can be a supportive space to explore how race is experienced and the different issues it brings up.

Experience shows communication in multiracial contexts and relationships can be greatly improved through this practice.

For more about racial affinity groups in Buddhists contexts and beyond, please see our general FAQ.

We don’t really know at this stage, as this depends on how many people register, but we will have several facilitators to help hold space in smaller groups. Ideally, small groups with be 6-7 people, each with two facilitators. These groups will stay the same through the arc of the journey, so that participants can build a depth of connection and trust.

It’s important to have a reasonable degree of consistency so that the connections between us can deepen and trust can build. In terms of what you already know about your availability, we’d like you to be able to commit to at least 6 of the 8 sessions, for each circle.

Each circle is run independently. You can sign up to one, or both.

We fully acknowledge that it’s hard to know if you want to participate or keep participating in something until you experience it and feel it out. We respect that after giving it a go, you might decide this is not for you, and it is totally ok to drop out. No judgement!

This offering is freely available. There is no fee.

However, you will need to purchase the book(s). Please do use the discount codes provided! In support of the authors and copyright laws, we will not be providing full scans.

There will be an opportunity to offer dana to Eugene Ellis and Rima Vesely-Flad who generously accepted our invitation to come and engage with the groups without asking for a speaker fee.

This initiative is a collaboration of the (white) Awareness is Revolutionary Collective and members of the BIPOC/BAME community of Triratna.

Find out more about the (white) Awareness is Revolutionary Collective.

Find out more about the Welcoming Liberation community gatherings for BIPOC/BAME folks.

Both of these initiatives were started by order members of the Triratna Buddhist Community.

Thanks for your enthusiasm.

Do get in touch, we would love to hear from you.

You can also check out the volunteer opportunities more generally for WAIR here.

Do get in touch, we would love to hear from you.