The Huffington Post‘s Jaweed Kaleem travels to Seattle to profile the emergence of “people of color sanghas,” exclusively non-white Buddhist groups, a rarity in the predominantly white Buddhist enclaves of the Pacific Northwest. Members believe that practicing away from whites has spiritually empowered them. “Being an American Indian woman, I am judged all the time. I just feel more accepted if it’s not white people telling me what to do, how to meditate,” Teresa Powers says. “It’s like I’m among my own.”