For Justice & Peace

[Washin]

That's powerful. Thank you Jundo and all contributing to this thread

Gassho
Washin
st-lah

[trafalger888]

Thank you for this thread and the sharing of everyone's thoughts.

I fear that until we as a whole can realize that we are all the same, interconnected, and all want and need basic human rights the outrage will continue.

I hope that we can show, teach, and reinforce the fact that we are all the same and all interconnected so that we can move beyond the us vs them mentality.

Gassho

Colby

Sat today

Sent from my ONEPLUS A6013 using Tapatalk

[Juki]

It's always nice when my daily reading dovetails with one of your teachings, Jundo. Today, this:

"Buddhism is not about getting enlightened -- it's about being kind. If I have a chance at the time of my death to take an accounting of what I've done, I won't be asking how enlightened I've become, I'll be asking how much I've shown kindness to others.

This is how the Buddha began, who set out walking the earth not in quest of enlightenment but in search of a means to end the suffering he saw all about him. If I ever hope to realize a generous, loving, merciful, nonviolent human society, I too must carry on the daily practice of generosity, love, mercy and nonviolence that the Buddha set in motion. This is the practical and ordinary work of the bodhisattva."

Lin Jensen, from "Together Under One Roof, Making a Home of the Buddha's Household

Gassho,
Juki

sat today/lah

[Naiko]

Constitutional rights should be protected, excessive force should not be used by officials, those who do violence should be prosecuted. Good police officers should not be considered the same as those who do wrong. All victims of violence are recalled in our hearts. Peaceful protests should be honored, trouble makers should be condemned.

The system needs to be fixed, social injustices need to be remedied, violence in anger should be avoided.

Now, let us sit.

Gassho, J

STLah

Krista
st/lah

[Doshin]

Thanks to all for the insights.

Doshin
St

[Jundo]

"Buddhism is not about getting enlightened -- it's about being kind. If I have a chance at the time of my death to take an accounting of what I've done, I won't be asking how enlightened I've become, I'll be asking how much I've shown kindness to others.

Oh, sorry, I did not know that enlightenment and kindness were mutually exclusive! Maybe better said that kindness is a facet of the same one jewel.

Gassho, J

STLah

[Amelia]

Good point, Jundo

Gassho
Sat today, lah

[Shoki]

I have no Buddhist wisdom to offer. Only my experience with police. My father was the director of a police training school academy during the 1960s and 1970s in a US city that had major social and racial upheaval. We had riots, burning, looting, the whole thing. I knew many of his fellow police officers and back then most of them were just regular, normal guys who happened to be policemen. I never heard any race hatred from them. This was a time and place when if you were racist you didn't hide it. You let it be known loud and proud. This, by the way was not the South.

We would have lively discussions on subjects like harassment of hippies, racial profiling, illegal search and seizure, violent subduing of unruly arrestees, clubbing protestors, etc. He was strictly against all of this. As far as he was concerned the police had to obey the law too. Bottom line in regard to today; You can arrest a hostile suspect without them dying. Later when the old guard began to fade away they were replaced by a younger breed who, let's just say, look and act more like these cops under criticism today. I had a couple of frightening encounters with wild-eyed, hostile, aggressive cops in the 1980s myself. I don't know how or why this change in police culture happened.

I agree that not all police are bad and they do have a hard and dangerous job. I am not anti-police. I knew policemen who did massive amounts of charity work with sick children, animal rescue and adoption, etc. But are the good cops complicit in all this? The cop in Minneapolis had 18 complaints filed against him. Didn't one supervisor, a fellow officer or somebody in authority say; we have to do something about this guy? Is there a code of silence? Do they just look the other way?

The system is stacked against minorities. Statistics repeatedly prove this. Too many police departments are just rotten from top to bottom. This is why people don't trust or respect them. My grandfather used to say that one of the reasons the Mafia got entrenched in his neighborhood was because the police were so crooked and brutal to the immigrants that when they were wronged they had to turn to the Mafia for justice. Is that where we're headed?

Gassho
STlah
James

[Jundo]

Police should be good and honest. I think most still are, some are not. They should treat citizens with respect and gentle words as much as possible, citizens should treat police with respect and gentle words as much as possible. Excess force should not be used, bad apples should be removed from the force. Those who use excess force should be prosecuted. The system should not be stacked, we need to fix it. Nobody should be crooked and brutal.

Now that said ...

Let us sit.

After sitting, we can get up and start to fix things if we can.

Gassho, J

SatTodayLAH

[Jundo]

Someone asked me my view whether violence is ever justified in Buddhism.

Various Buddhists will disagree, but I believe that it is sometimes justified if necessary to save life. That may include, for example, use of reasonable deadly force (emphasis on reasonable) as my friend, a police officer, needed to use once to rescue a child being held hostage, or the use of force if one has an intruder in one's home. Even so, we should avoid to act in anger even then, and we should condemn excess force by police or anyone. I think that some groups, such as the Rohingya in Burma, might be justified in some violence if necessary to defend their villages and members from being burned or killed in a pogrom, ethnic cleansing etc.

I think there has to be some clear connection, however, and no reasonable alternative. Thus, while some might argue that violence in the streets to overturn an unjust system is necessary to "save lives" because members of a minority group are dying of poverty in a situation that is like "ethnic cleansing," burning a Starbucks or throwing rocks at police does not seem directly connected to the goal, and it seems counter-productive and motivated by anger. There are reasonable alternatives, and peaceful action should be maintained unless unavoidable. Violence should only be a last resort.

This is just my view, I am not the last word on this for other Buddhists.

Gassho, J

STLah

[Jundo]

Another story I found inspiring, and I hope others will too ...

While tensions between police and protesters boiled over in some cities, other officers joined the movement

While some police departments have been accused of being heavy handed in their attempts to control protests that turned violent over the weekend, other departments have tried to reach out to protesters to share their grief and help convey their message of peace.

More here ...

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/06/01/us/officers-protesters-images-george-floyd-trnd/index.html

Gassho, J

STLah

[Meian]

Another story I found inspiring, and I hope others will too ...

While tensions between police and protesters boiled over in some cities, other officers joined the movement









More here ...

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/06/01/us/officers-protesters-images-george-floyd-trnd/index.html

Gassho, J

STLah

my neighborhood was smashed overnight. i'm not exaggerating. not going to explain what i mean either. i am trying hard not to cry because i don't have time to right now.

but these photos -- this is like my city also.

thank you for these photos. this is the good in my city as well.

gassho, meian st briefly

[Meian]

Okay ..... i'm going to wade into this a bit and if it gets pulled, so be it.

Sorry – it's long. No way around it (for me). And no offense intended …..

First – I've studied anarchism a bit, and I agree (in theory) with some of its principles. In an ideal society, I think it has a chance of working. But I won't address everything I think about this ideology here because this is not a political forum, and I can't do so without some really salty language at this point. I intend no offense to anyone, but going from 3 months of quarantine to my city being razed and destroyed within 2 days is more than I can handle right now.

My city is highly diverse, and somewhat polarized. My city is also a Sanctuary City, which I love about it -- we are a sanctuary for immigrants and refugees, which I have advocated to preserve because I strongly believe in this. I don't believe in borders and boundaries that separate people, I don't believe in the concept of "illegal aliens" or "illegal immigrants." We live on one planet, we are one human race. That's my opinion and one of my core beliefs.

I say that as I hear the helicopters coming in again, and as I've been witnessing people fighting over who is to blame for this whole mess, calling other human beings "animals" "thugs" and much worse. Telling me and others that we need to get guns and .... you can fill in the blanks.

That is not my way, and never has been. Yes, I am very scared. Our neighborhoods have been destroyed. Businesses burned to the ground, looted. It is senseless to me. This has nothing to do with Floyd, nothing to do with Black Lives Matter. Why destroy your own community? People, families, elderly, children? Calling the military in? That makes NO sense. There is something else at work here, it's not about the protesters. They are addressing the systemic and institutionalized racism throughout the US and throughout our nation's history, and rightfully so. Attacking the police won't solve that, but the protesters themselves weren't doing that. (Not ours, anyway – our police are rather chill for all they got hit with.) Our police commissioner (an African American woman) addressed this, saying that the violence is hindering the work being done inside the system to improve community relations. If people are destroying the progress being made, and alienating their allies in the community -- what good does that do? It only feeds the racism and fuels the calls for a violent crackdown that we really don't want.

The calls for martial law, military occupation, all-out war in the streets are getting louder -- and we don't want that, at all. (People don't understand what they're asking for.) I don't want that for my kids. We respect the police. For the most part, our cops are okay, and yes, there is bad in every bunch. And yes I am speaking from a position of white privilege, and yes I try to use my white privilege to combat racism, bigotry, and prejudice in all of its forms, and to recognize when I am benefiting from systems built on these injustices. I have a long way to go, but I keep trying. Part of our family is Arab Muslim, our neighbors are Asian Muslim, and most of my medical team is Asian and African American. This violence is hurting all of us.

Sorry, I am not an anarchist. I respect those who are -- but right now, I am in deep fear for my family's safety, and have no good options. I don't want retaliation -- I want peace, mutual understanding, open communication, and healing. I want to know what the rioters want, what is making them do this. Can't stop the violence without understanding what their suffering is, why they are so angry -- or apathetic, or whatever they are. Happy, well-adjusted people don't throw Molotov cocktails at businesses and launch bricks at cops. Or maybe it's just me, but violence never crosses my mind.

I'm in solidarity with the protesters, AND I support the efforts of our law enforcement trying to protect our communities in this chaos and destruction.

Trying to push away the gnawing fear in my stomach of where we seem to be headed, while also weighing the very real worry of my family's safety and having no good or clear answers. I was worried before about the increasing crime and violence in my neighborhood. That was before the looting and the fire-bombing happened. This tells me these people (whoever they are) have no limits.

Shikantaza, nothing light or fluffy here ..... breathing and sitting in the middle of our undeclared war zone. I said what I said.

Gassho, meian st

[Jundo]

Hi Meian,

When you come to our place, please try to put all the chaos outside down for a time. Do your best not to get tangled in so many ideas and emotions. Few words. Even silence sometimes, and a simple Gassho.

That does not mean that we don't care. Far from it! It means we care, and wish to see justice and peace, but the first step is to bring quiet to our own mind and peace to the heart. We "just witness" what is happening. I posted this earlier in the discussion, but this "bearing witness" has been taught by the great Bernie Glassman Roshi and others this way:

"In times of doubt, disbelief, and insecurity, the practice of bearing witness can be an important aspect of our awareness and presence.

Bearing witness can be defined as acknowledging that something exists or is true. From a Buddhist perspective ... to bear witness is to embrace both the joy and the suffering we encounter. Rather than simply observing the situation, we become the situation. We become intimate with whatever it is ... When we analyze and judge a situation, we normally come to it with all of our ideas and habitual beliefs. We are only able to see it through the lens of our conditioned thinking. But when we shift to the practice of bearing witness, we suspend our analytical thinking and move to a place of open awareness. This allows the witnessing presence to become one with whatever situation we encounter.

To bear witness, we need to set aside the focus on our own reactions and enter a place of stillness and receptivity. Bearing witness in the world, we are cultivating the same ground of open heart and mind that we practice in our [Zazen]" (Jules Shuzen Harris).

Why is this our way?

Perhaps, when the world is screaming, we answer with quiet. When the streets are burning, we respond with cooling waters. When there is hate, we bring caring and love. Like that.

So, let's us be simple. We want justice and we want peace.

Let us sit.

Gassho, J

STLah

[Naiko]

Okay ..... i'm going to wade into this a bit and if it gets pulled, so be it.

Sorry – it's long. No way around it (for me). And no offense intended …..

First – I've studied anarchism a bit, and I agree (in theory) with some of its principles. In an ideal society, I think it has a chance of working. But I won't address everything I think about this ideology here because this is not a political forum, and I can't do so without some really salty language at this point. I intend no offense to anyone, but going from 3 months of quarantine to my city being razed and destroyed within 2 days is more than I can handle right now.

My city is highly diverse, and somewhat polarized. My city is also a Sanctuary City, which I love about it -- we are a sanctuary for immigrants and refugees, which I have advocated to preserve because I strongly believe in this. I don't believe in borders and boundaries that separate people, I don't believe in the concept of "illegal aliens" or "illegal immigrants." We live on one planet, we are one human race. That's my opinion and one of my core beliefs.

I say that as I hear the helicopters coming in again, and as I've been witnessing people fighting over who is to blame for this whole mess, calling other human beings "animals" "thugs" and much worse. Telling me and others that we need to get guns and .... you can fill in the blanks.

That is not my way, and never has been. Yes, I am very scared. Our neighborhoods have been destroyed. Businesses burned to the ground, looted. It is senseless to me. This has nothing to do with Floyd, nothing to do with Black Lives Matter. Why destroy your own community? People, families, elderly, children? Calling the military in? That makes NO sense. There is something else at work here, it's not about the protesters. They are addressing the systemic and institutionalized racism throughout the US and throughout our nation's history, and rightfully so. Attacking the police won't solve that, but the protesters themselves weren't doing that. (Not ours, anyway – our police are rather chill for all they got hit with.) Our police commissioner (an African American woman) addressed this, saying that the violence is hindering the work being done inside the system to improve community relations. If people are destroying the progress being made, and alienating their allies in the community -- what good does that do? It only feeds the racism and fuels the calls for a violent crackdown that we really don't want.

The calls for martial law, military occupation, all-out war in the streets are getting louder -- and we don't want that, at all. (People don't understand what they're asking for.) I don't want that for my kids. We respect the police. For the most part, our cops are okay, and yes, there is bad in every bunch. And yes I am speaking from a position of white privilege, and yes I try to use my white privilege to combat racism, bigotry, and prejudice in all of its forms, and to recognize when I am benefiting from systems built on these injustices. I have a long way to go, but I keep trying. Part of our family is Arab Muslim, our neighbors are Asian Muslim, and most of my medical team is Asian and African American. This violence is hurting all of us.

Sorry, I am not an anarchist. I respect those who are -- but right now, I am in deep fear for my family's safety, and have no good options. I don't want retaliation -- I want peace, mutual understanding, open communication, and healing. I want to know what the rioters want, what is making them do this. Can't stop the violence without understanding what their suffering is, why they are so angry -- or apathetic, or whatever they are. Happy, well-adjusted people don't throw Molotov cocktails at businesses and launch bricks at cops. Or maybe it's just me, but violence never crosses my mind.

I'm in solidarity with the protesters, AND I support the efforts of our law enforcement trying to protect our communities in this chaos and destruction.

Trying to push away the gnawing fear in my stomach of where we seem to be headed, while also weighing the very real worry of my family's safety and having no good or clear answers. I was worried before about the increasing crime and violence in my neighborhood. That was before the looting and the fire-bombing happened. This tells me these people (whoever they are) have no limits.

Shikantaza, nothing light or fluffy here ..... breathing and sitting in the middle of our undeclared war zone. I said what I said.

Gassho, meian st

Meian, I am sorry you are living with this. Metta to you, your neighbors, your city, and all who are living with this violence. I hope peace will soon be restored so real work for justice can continue.
Gassho,
Krista
st/lah