Joining a Spiritual Community in the 21st Century (w/ Kaitna Shankar)
Manage episode 344546577 series 3310612
For those that don’t automatically continue with a spiritual community that they’re born into, the notion of joining one may feel all together daunting, especially in this day and age.
Kaitna Shankar, a Buddhist Practitioner who became an active member of a Buddhist community at 21 years old, shares what led her to feel ready to seek and commit to a spiritual community.
- How did she choose her practice?
- What are the benefits she experiences as a practitioner?
- How does she navigate fluctuations in her practice as a mobile, young urban professional?
- And how is her spiritual practice embedded in her experiences of day-to-day life?
About Kaitna Shankar:
8 years ago, Kaitna was drawn to Nichiren Buddhism in the Soka Gakkai International (SGI) at a time in her life when she was looking for meaning, purpose, and an outlet of self-development. After experimenting with chanting, applying Buddhist scriptures to her modern life, and embracing a spiritual community, Kaitna decided to join the practice as a member. She has since taken on numerous, volunteer-based leadership roles within the SGI, helping support other young women in their daily lives through applying Buddhist practice and scripture, and planning Buddhist meetings for the neighborhood community to participate in.
Outside of her Buddhist practice, Kaitna lives in San Francisco with her husband and works at Samsara, where she leads a team of talented Product Marketers focused on building and marketing products to help Samsara’s customers operate safely and protect their frontline workers. Kaitna is also a leader of the AAPI at Samsara Employee Resource Group, where she helps create a network, celebrate the contributions and influence of the AAPI community, and raise awareness of important topics. In her personal life, Kaitna enjoys traveling, trying new restaurants and leading an active lifestyle, including pursuing a fitness instructor certification and training.
About Soka Gakkai International-USA (SGI-USA)
The Soka Gakkai International-USA (SGI-USA) is part of a global community-based network of more than 11 million people in 192 countries and territories that practice the humanistic philosophy of Nichiren Buddhism centered on respect for the dignity of life. Members of the SGI are committed to dialogue and nonviolence based on the conviction that individual happiness and the realization of peace are inextricably linked.
The basic daily Buddhist practice, carried out in members' own homes, is chanting the phrase “Nam-myoho-renge-kyo” and reciting portions of the Lotus Sutra as a means to embrace and bring forth our Buddha nature, our limitless reserves of wisdom, courage and compassion and apply them to our daily lives.
In the U.S., SGI represents one of the most diverse Buddhist communities with more than 2,500 monthly neighborhood discussion meetings and some 100 Buddhist centers throughout the country. Members and guests gather monthly for small-scale neighborhood discussion meetings where they study Buddhist principles and share experiences of applying Buddhism to the challenges of life. As religion journalist Clark Strand notes: “At an SGI-USA discussion meeting, every voice is heard. Such meetings are egalitarian in spirit, democratic in practice and decidedly life-affirming in their vision of how Buddhist practice might contribute to the happiness of the individual and, in so doing, provide the foundation for a happy society.”
Based on core Buddhist principles such as respect for the dignity of human life and the interconnectedness of self and the environment, the SGI enga
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