Mushim (Patricia) Ikeda is a Buddhist teacher, author, mentor, and community activist. She teaches meditation retreats for people of color, women, and social justice activists nationally. She is a core teacher at East Bay Meditation Center near where she lives in Oakland, California.
Occupy Oakland! For Mushim’s essay on the General Strike in Oakland, go to Turning Wheel Media, an offering of the Buddhist Peace Fellowship.
Here is an excerpt:
“If there’s one thing I’ve learned in two decades of occupying the many spaces I’ve occupied in Oakland, it is far too diverse with too many constantly moving pieces to be reduced to any single description, or formula, or solution. It’s large and sprawling and small and tightly knit in its communities; it’s gritty and dangerous and filled with blooming plants and it’s reassuringly familiar and relaxing; many of its systems are corrupt and dysfunctional and there are kids learning to read and there are quinceañeras and people getting acupuncture and there is depression and rage and joy and boredom and contentment.”
See Mushim’s new article on diversity in American Buddhism, “Not What I Thought,” in Tricycle: The Buddhist Review, Winter 2011. http://www.tricycle.com/feature/lifting-corner?page=0%2C1
and the followup interview: “One Size Doesn’t Fit All: An Interview with Patricia Mushim Ikeda” on the Tricycle blogsite.
-mushim-ikeda
Mushim’s Dharma teachings are supported by the practice of generous giving (Dana). She lives simply in order to share the practices of Buddhist meditation and mindfulness with others in a fully accessible manner.
