You may have noticed that the main altar in the meditation hall looks a little different now! On May 30th, during our Mahasangha 1/2 day, we placed a Green Tara statue on the altar. Green Tara is sometimes known as “the Mother of all Buddhas” and represents the awakened activity of compassion. In the Tibetan lineage, the Green Tara practice helps liberate oneself from fear and afflictive emotions.
Having more female representation at the BDC was requested during the 2025 Community meeting. Having Green Tara on our altar partly meets our goal of making the BDC a more inclusive, welcoming space. Other actions we’ve taken to feel more inclusive is to start having our handouts available in both English and Spanish and to post a land acknowledgment on the wall in the foyer. We hope to add books in Spanish to our library soon. If you have other suggestions, please let us know!