susan orr, beloved lifelong organizer for peace and justice, defender of Mother Earth, accomplished artist, healer, Buddhist teacher, and spiritual leader passed away at the age of 76 in Sacramento, CA on September 9, 2018.
susan was to provide a Dharma talk about her journey and resiliency in impermanence at the Sacramento Buddhist Meditation Group Sangha the evening she died. With the karma of a bodhisattva, susan died held in the loving embrace of her family and as her Sangha joined her in meditation and Sacramento Insight Meditation retreatants chanted the anicca with her. It was magical that susan died as we meditated and chanted together – remembering her and her extraordinary gifts of an open heart and endless compassion. Her daughter Katie shares with us that susan received all our heartfelt and loving messages before her spark left.
It feels like susan’s death happened so fast in the end. Once she knew “…the body is done…” susan was ready to go, with no regrets, and feeling truly loved and loving all of us. susan’s Dharma brother, Andy Bein, delivered susan’s talk on her behalf and Sangha members shared their experiences with susan. Andy/susan’s talk can be heard here. The Turtle, by Mary Oliver, is a poem that susan felt captured her essence and can be found here.
The depth of our grief and gratitude is unfathomable. The Sacramento Dharma Center, one of susan’s gifts to her practice and us, and susan’s family will hold a memorial service, at a date and time to be announced. We welcome your memories of susan and encourage you to share them on the Sacramento Dharma Center Facebook page, the sheets of paper in the break room, and to info@sacdharma.org
susan asked that donations in her memory be made to the David Samuel Orr Fund for the Earth (www.dsoffte.org) and the Sacramento Dharma Center (www.sacdharma.org). susan’s son David died at the age of 24, just as he was beginning his work in environmental and tribal justice. The family-run David Samuel Orr Fund continues his work. Our Dharma Center – dedicated to bringing compassion and wisdom to community – would not be here if it were not for susan, both as a founding ‘now ancestor’ and as the guiding shepherd who encouraged and loved each of us day after day, year after year, until the final hours of her life. All donations to the Center in susan’s memory will be restricted to manifesting and dedicating an outdoor space to susan.
With Love and Gratitude,
Julia Mullen, Board President
On behalf of the Sacramento Dharma Center
