Panel Presentation on Clouds in Water Zen Center’s Statement on Non-Harming

Dharma talk by the Statement of Non-Harming Task Force on Sunday, October 23, 2022.

The task force who crafted the statement speaks about how the statement came to be and encourages us as a community to consider what our next steps may be and to take collective action. This is our Bodhisattva practice related to saving all beings and engaging in ethical behavior. The beginning few minutes of this talk were not recorded. What was missed was the introduction of our Task Force members. Here they are:

  • Busshin Carol Iwata (she/her). Chair of the Ethics and Reconciliation (EAR) committee. Coordinator of the Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) sitting groups and of the Deep Listening for Social Change (DLSC) program for BIPOC folks that is sponsored by Clouds.
  • Raul Ramos (he/him). Chair of the board of directors. BIPOC group facilitator.
  • Martin Hernadez (he/him). Past chair of the Clouds’ board of director. Current board secretary.
  • Donna Madea (she/her). Member of the EAR committee.
  • Jake Nagasaw (he/him). Member of the EAR committee. BIPOC group facilitator.
  • Minna Jain (they/them). Executive director.
  • Koji Aquaviva (he/him). Administrative assistant to the guiding teacher. Was executive director when the statement was being crafted and was part of the group that created it.
  • Sosan Flynn (she/her). Guiding Teacher.
  • Jirin Ann Schulman (she/her). Member of the EAR committee – unable to be present for the panel.

We also read the statement on non-harming at the beginning of the talk. Here is a link to the statement