ASK THE TEACHERS
LA SARMIENTO: When I think of the traditional loving-kindness phrases I was taught early in my practice, this immediately comes to mind:
May all beings be happy.
May all beings be peaceful.
May all beings be free from suffering.
May all beings awaken and be free.
As a genderqueer person, hearing those words, I could finally feel a sense of belonging in a world that would rather deny my civil rights, my relationships, and my existence.
I once considered ordaining as a monastic. But when I discovered that in Myanmar novice monks wore white robes and the women wore bubblegum pink robes, and there was no possibility of wearing the sherbet-swirl robe that would most represent me, that sense of external belonging faded away. For me to feel
