Larry is a senior advisor in Mindfulness and Healing Justice for the Kataly Foundation, to provide grants to support community-based mindfulness and awareness practices for ethnically and racially diverse multicultural communities and organizations.
For 20 years, Larry has taught meditation retreats nationally and has a special interest in creating access to both Buddhist and secular mindfulness for non-dominant cultures. Larry has practiced meditation for 30 years, with extensive time in Burma and Thailand, and a six month period of ordination as a Buddhist monastic. Larry is on the Teachers Council of Spirit Rock Meditation Center, and is one of the founding teachers of both East Bay Meditation Center (Oakland) and Insight Community of the Desert (Palm Springs). He has trained teachers for spiritual leadership within communities of color and LGBTQI communities for 15 years. Larry was honored for his work in racial justice by being selected as the community’s choice for Grand Marshal in the 2016 San Francisco LGBTIQ Pride Parade, whose theme that year was “For Racial and Economic Justice.” His book, Awakening Together: the Spiritual Practice of Inclusivity and Community, is published by Wisdom Publications. His website is: www.larryyang.org
In previous lives, Larry has been a national park ranger, a corporate communications designer, psychotherapist, and public health social worker.
Photo by Bethanie Hines