In-Person and Online: Celebrating Asian Heritage Month with Asian Insight Diaspora Sanghas
A National Celebration of Community and Connection Honoring Asian Heritage Month
with Lin Wang Gordon, Tim Hwang, and Joanna Williams
Thursday, May 21st, 2026 | 7:00pm – 9:00pm ET (4:00pm – 6:00pm PT)
In-Person Location: New York Insight at 115 West 29th Street, 12th Floor
Join us for an inaugural gathering to celebrate and connect Asian American Diaspora Insight sanghas across the country. While each of our communities may be small, together we form a vibrant, supportive, and growing network of Asian American Buddhist practitioners. This gathering is an opportunity to recognize and honor that collective strength.
This gathering is open to self-identified practitioners of all Asian Diaspora sanghas. Come to connect, share, and celebrate our heritage and help strengthen this growing network of practice and belonging. We kindly ask those who do not identify as members of the Asian Diaspora community to support us from afar as we hold space for our community.
Whether you gather with your local sangha in person and join via Zoom, or connect individually from wherever you are, you are warmly invited to come and share in this moment of connection.
Participating Asian Diaspora Sanghas include:
- Insight Meditation Community of Washington (IMCW)
- Watsonville Insight (Santa Cruz, CA)
- New York Insight Meditation Center (New York, NY)
- Insight San Diego
- Insight Dialogue
This is the first year we are organizing this event. We hope more sanghas can join us in the future.
What We’ll Explore Together
This gathering will weave together three threads of reflection and dialogue: sangha experience, heritage and Buddhism, and community engagement. The evening will include a panel conversation with leaders from participating sanghas, small breakout groups, and a sharing circle.
Together we will reflect on questions such as:
- What inspired the creation of Asian American sangha spaces?
- What feels most supportive in these communities?
- How do heritage and Buddhist practice shape our paths?
- What does “Asian American Buddhist” mean to us today?
Dana from the evening will be donated to an Asian American charity, which participants will vote on together during the event.
Zoom link will be shared upon registration.
Registration:
Although there is no registration fee and your presence remains the greatest gift, we invite you to offer what you can. All proceeds will go to a charity determined by participants during the event.
If you are registering via a mobile device such as a phone or tablet, you can scroll right and left and up and down within the below form if it is partially obscured or cut off.
CLICK HERE to open the registration form in a new browser window.
Teacher(s)
Lin Wang Gordon
Lin has dedicated over a decade to studying insight meditation (Vipassana) and has recently deepened her practice through the Tibetan Dzogchen traditions. Through her meditation journey, she discovers the transformative power of Buddhist philosophy and practices to help live a life of flow, joy, wonder, and resilience.
She graduated from Mark Coleman’s Awake in the Wild Nature Meditation Teacher Training in 2017 and is currently enrolled in the Community Dharma Leaders Program (CDL7) at the Spirit Rock Meditation Center. Lin has led nature meditation and ecodharma programs, and through New York Insight Meditation Center, co-founded the Sacred Earth Sangha, Midlife Sangha, and Asian Diaspora Sangha. She hopes to guide others in meditation to foster inner transformation and cultivate a deeper sense of purpose and belonging in everyday life.
Lin served on the Board of the New York Insight Meditation Center and the Rocky Mountain Ecodharma Retreat Center. linwanggordon.com
Tim Hwang
Tim Hwang has been practicing meditation for over 15 years. He is a licensed occupational therapist and a certified mindfulness meditation teacher with a focus on mental health. Currently, Tim serves as a therapist in the NYC Public School system, where he specializes in mindfulness-based programming and interventions for high school students with disabilities. He actively works on workshops and initiatives to support mindfulness education among staff and students.
His love for meditation was nurtured by NY Insight, which has been his refuge for community and practice since 2019.
Joanna Williams
Joanna Williams has been meditating for over 10 years. Her primary studies have been in the Theravada tradition. She enjoys exploring the dhamma through direct experience and appreciates the nuances of deeper understanding that can arise. Joanna is also a Practice Leader for the Aging As A Spiritual Practice Sangha. She has trained with Jack Kornfield and Tara Brach’s two-year program, Mindfulness Meditation Certificate Program, Mindfulness Mentor Program, Dharma Moon Mindfulness Teacher Program, meditation teachers, and monks. She has also completed four units of Clinical Pastoral Education and is a clinical chaplain, spiritual care provider, and Reiki Practitioner.
She believes that through the heart of the dhamma, our life journeys become supported and cared for. Her experience in a clinical setting has helped her bring the dhamma to daily life. She also enjoys spending time in nature and tending to her garden.