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44 EASTERN HORIZON | FEATURES

Japanese Americans) and family-friendly programs, This desire for community, Cardenas said, is one way
such as weekend dharma school for children. Taborga the Latinxs are shaping American Buddhism.
is now part of the temple’s hospitality committee, book
group, and adult study class, and is an advisor to her Based on her experience teaching, she said that Latinxs
children’s Dharma wheel club. place a higher value on community and intimacy
with outer practitioners. Spanish speakers usually
“It’s the community, it’s the family service, it’s the share more of their personal lives in an effort to build
reading I get to do and talk to people about — I was community with other students, she said, whereas most
looking for that,” she said. “I knew I needed more than English speakers seem to be more focused on their
reading on my own. I knew you could only go so far in independent practice.
your spiritual growth with that.”
“It leans very strongly toward a traditional style of
The temple — and Buddhism in general — also offers Buddhism,” she said. “Ananda said, ‘Spiritual friends
a more inclusive community than what she had found are half of the spiritual life.’ And the Buddha said, ‘No,
in the Catholicism of her upbringing, she said, which is Ananda, don’t say that. Spiritual friends are the whole of
one reason many Latinxs are searching for new forms of the spiritual life.’ The value of spiritual friendships are a
spirituality. very traditional value, and Latinxs plugging into that is a
positive thing.”
“People are moving away from Catholicism,” Taborga
said. “For me, I didn’t like the rejection of whole groups “It’s taking our sangha closer to the heart of Buddhist
of people, like the idea that homosexuality is a sin. At practice,” she said. EH
OCBC, no one talks about being gay. No one says it’s
good or bad — we just accept it.” Source: Lion’s Roar, www.lionsroar.com. November 21,
2018

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