Buddhists For Racial Justice

[Byokan]

Hi All,

Out of the recent U.S. Buddhist Leaders conference at the White House, has come a website about racism, with many links and resources, calls to engage, and an open letter that can be endorsed by anyone who wishes to sign.

Racial equality and justice are very important to me, and to you too I’m sure, so I’m glad to see this effort, and hopefully some good action will come about, as well as hearts and minds expanding. The site looks great.

One thing does make me pause, though. I kind of wish they weren’t starting off by splitting the room into “white people” and “people of color.” The Calls to Engage are split in this way. As someone who looks very white, but is of mixed race, I’m always frustrated when forced to choose one side, when filling out forms and etc. Obviously the intent of the website is good: it is to tailor these actions to the people who, presumably, will benefit the most from them. It seems to me that everyone could benefit from all of it, and would get a wider perspective in this way. The world is (stupidly) divided along racial lines... I’m not sure the cure for that should be divided along racial lines as well. I need to read more and think more about that. This is me making distinctions about them making distinctions, I guess.

Anyway, it looks like a good thing to me overall. Here’s the link:

http://buddhistsforracialjustice.org/

Gassho
Lisa
sat today

[Dosho]

Lisa,

I have found a similar frustration when discussing issues related to gender, where men talk among men and women talk among women. I assume this is to make people more comfortable and for most folks that is probably true. But since I tend to feel more comfortable with women, I don't usually engage in these types of interactions because I end up with men who, stereotypically, don't like to talk! So, it is very well intentioned and probably works best for most people, but as someone who is most interested in outliers, it doesn't really help.

But thanks for the link!

Gassho,
Dosho

Sat today

[Cumminjd]

Hi Lisa

While I do see the frustration on this site being separated into race, after checking out the site it seems to have a really good message. I think the intention here is in the right area. It is a problem that faces many people. I myself am White, but on my fathers side of my family there is White, Black, Hispanic and Native American, so growing up I (luckily) never knew racism. But, I had experienced racism growing up towards my family members. So personally I gravitated more towards the side of "people of color buddhist" category because Its what I understood. So I agree, separating these into "White" buddhists and "People of color" buddhists is not a perfect strategy. But at least this sight is worth looking at.

Thank you for sharing this link

Gassho
James
SatToday

[Byrne]

Buddhism needs to cater to the culture. In order for a Sangha to function people need to feel comfortable to express themselves. The reality of America is that no matter what we feel in our hearts, race does effect our attitudes and perceptions. Since western Buddhism is so predominantly white and middle class, despite the best intentions and purest desires, many people who identify as a person of color may have difficulty being the odd one out. As Buddhists we need to acknowledge this sentiment that is prevalent in our culture. How the sentiment makes us feel personally is irrelevant and needs to be viewed in as broad a context as possible.

I've been visiting sitting groups and zen centers around America as I travel through different places and many, especially larger ones, are actively trying to encourage non-white people to participate. Personally I think it's wonderful as given the kind of culture we are it really is an indirect path to inclusiveness. In addition to matters of race I think it is also wise for Buddhists to actively seek out people of lower economic status and political affiliations. Buddha is all or none. Or both.

If we wish in one hand and shit in the other guess which one's going to fill up first?

Gassho

Sat Today

[Jundo]

The letter is already signed.

I believe in Community and Society that is open to all, opportunity for all, free of violence.

Our mission statement in our Treeleaf Sangha states ...

Treeleaf Sangha is a multicultural Zen Buddhist Community in which people of all socio-economic classes, nationalities, races, ages, creeds, genders, sexual orientation and identification, and physical abilities discover shared humanity by direct experience of one anothers’ lives. We are open to all. We commit ourselves to cultivating a practice in diversity and multiculturalism by incorporating into our practice the dissolving of all barriers that perpetuate the suffering of separation, prejudice, and discrimination. We intend to expand and develop our awareness of the ways we are conditioned to separate ourselves by socioeconomic class, nationality, race, age, creed, gender, sexual orientation, physical ability and other forms of identity.

http://www.treeleaf.org/

In the future, I would like very much to see communities within communities develop under the welcoming umbrella of Treeleaf, catering to the special needs and voices of members who (and -if-) they feel the need to commune and share with people of like background ... sitting and discussion groups for members of the lgbt(qia) community, for the physically challenged, for war veterans, for people of color, for people of various language groups ... you name it. There are time for all to come together beyond differences, times to commune with those who understand our story. As is our way around here, these groups and relationships should happen both in the flesh and through online groups, meetings and sittings. Each should be facilitated by experienced members or priests who come from such backgrounds themselves ... something I hope to nurture around here, even if it takes some time.

Gassho, J

SatToday

[Ugrok]

Hello !

I have a question about this. Does buddhism have anything to do with justice ?

I heard the debate go both ways and i'm curious to read about this !

Gassho,

Ugrok

Sat Today

[Jundo]

Hello !

I have a question about this. Does buddhism have anything to do with justice ?

I heard the debate go both ways and i'm curious to read about this !

Gassho,

Ugrok

Sat Today

Hi Ugrok,

I am not sure of your question.

Perhaps early Buddhism was more concerned with getting out of the wheel of Samsara, escaping this world as hopeless. In traditional societies in Asia, not much could be done to reform the authoritarian, impoverished, class based societies of old India, China and Japan. Concern with "social justice" and "engaged" activity out in the world is rather a late 19th and 20th Century invention, mostly aimed at modern societies and economies.

However, now, yes, many Buddhists are more concerned with justice. We have adapted many Buddhist doctrines to emphasize the same, perhaps in ways that they were not traditionally. An example is the "interconnection" of all phenomena, as discussed here in the wonderful history book, "The Making of Buddhist Modernism" [my emphasis] ...

Contemporary descriptions of interdependence, though, do not stop at
the celebration of its wonder. They also emphasize the fragility of the interconnected
network of beings: because everything depends on everything else,
altering the balance of the web of life can be—and has been—catastrophic.
Thus the concept entails strong ecological imperatives. The many Buddhist
and Buddhist-inspired groups engaged in environmental activism routinely
cite interdependence or interconnectedness as the conceptual rationale for the
link between the dharma and environmentalism. Contemporary discourse on
interdependence also carries ethical and political imperatives regarding social
and economic justice. It recognizes that the interdependencies of the modern
world are often sources of suffering. Perceiving interconnectedness may
involve tracing a running shoe for sale at the local mall to global warming
because of the fuel it took to ship it from China, where it in turn connects to
economic injustice, since it is made by women in a sweatshop making barely
enough to survive, while a huge percentage of the profit from the shoe goes
to corporate executives. It stresses finding root causes and seeking out hidden
sources of social problems. The idea of interdependence, therefore, is an essential
part of the conceptual arsenal of engaged Buddhism, the contemporary
activist movement that strives to relieve suffering by addressing human rights,
war, poverty, injustice, and environmental degradation. It is not then just a matter
of “experiencing” the world as a part of the self but also a matter of ethical
and political commitment.

...

While modern articulations of interdependence are rooted in the traditional
Buddhist concept of pratı¯tya-samutpa¯da, in the last few decades they have
taken on meanings, implications, and associations unique to the current era.
For the historian of religion, therefore, the contemporary Buddhist concept of
interdependence is a fruitful arena for analyzing the processes of conceptual
and praxiological change and adaptation to shifting global circumstances. In
this chapter I want to show how this concept has developed from both Buddhist
and non-Buddhist lineages, including the discourses of Romanticism
and scientifi c thought. It could serve as a paradigm of a hybrid concept. In brief,
in some of its current forms, it is a hybrid of indigenous Buddhist concepts—
dependent arising, the interpenetration of phenomena in the Huayan school,
and various attitudes toward the natural world in East Asian Buddhism—
commingled with conceptions of nature deriving from German Romanticism
and American Transcendentalism, popular accounts of modern scientifi c
thought, systems theory, and recent ecological thought.

...

Especially complicating
is the fact that early classical formulations took a view of the signifi -
cance of interdependence that was nearly opposite to that of their contemporary
successors. The monks and ascetics who developed the concept of dependent
origination and its implications saw the phenomenal world as a binding chain,
a web of entanglement, not a web of wonderment. How did this position that
took a rather dim view of worldly life develop into the one today that celebrates
this-worldly life and promotes activist engagement?

(p152-153)
http://sociology.sunimc.net/htmledit...1035621193.pdf

In any case, our vow is to "rescue all sentient beings". Part of that is to teach about liberation from the small self by showing how to transcend the small self ... but part may also be to provide housing, medicine and food to that cold and hungry small self in need.

Gassho, J

SatToday

[Mp]

Thank you Lisa,

I agree that it looks very promising. Why they broke into these groups of ethnicity I am not sure ... but I do feel that their focus/direction is trying to find/create a community of equality. =)

Gassho
Shingen

#sattoday

[Ugrok]

Thank you Jundo !

I'm always suspicious when "justice" is mixed with spiritual practices/views. Who says what is fair and what is not ? On what basis ? It seems to me that "justice" is something that has to do with our judeo christians society. I sometimes wonder if buddhism is compatible with this.

We have a good example of this with the project shown in this thread : those guys are certainly full of good wiil, but the very way they talk about their project is divisive and based on racial differences, in the name of "justice", which is unescapable since when you talk about justice you assume that there is one guy over here, and another one over there, and that one is abusing the other.

I wonder if buddhist practice should not be beyond those kind of concepts.

Gassho,

Ugrok

Sat Today

[Jundo]

I wonder if buddhist practice should not be beyond those kind of concepts.

Gassho,

Ugrok

Sat Today

Hmmmm. Well, in an absolute sense, there is no male and female, straight or gay, black and white, rich or poor, etc. etc.

And yet, there are. There are people who are disadvantaged in society, people with their own histories who seek support and communion with other people who share that history. So, I think it a little simplistic to say that we should just be "color blind" to differences. For example, war veterans may feel some benefit in sometimes communing and attending retreats with fellow war veterans who might share some sense of what they have experienced. Women practitioners might wonder why all the "teachers" are men, and would benefit from having access to women teachers and other women ... and likewise for members of racial and sexual preference minorities. (I have been working for years to develop some priests in all those categories around here, and have had only very limited success ... a subject for another time).

It is also silly to pretend that there are not people in society who are not disadvantaged in many ways, including economically, in access to decent educational opportunities and much more. The weak in society are getting abused in many ways by the powerful.

There is a time when we all sit and commune together, beyond differences. There is a time to sit and be with people who share our histories. I believe a Sangha like ours has to be committed to both bridging differences and reaching out to make folks welcome. We also need to be committed to social justice as part of our Bodhisattva Vows. I do not think we can ignore social justice, including access for all to basic shelter, nutrition, education, medical care and opportunity.

... Now, all that being said, I just heard a long interview with two folks who are part of a Sangha in California that goes so far to welcome various subgroups that, well, I started to wonder if they were actually creating differences in the process. Some wonderful ideas, but also a bit extreme perhaps. I invite anyone with a deep interest in these issues to listen to some or all of the following ...

SECULAR BUDDHIST: Episode 222 :: Mushim Ikeda and Brenda Salgado :: Creating Diverse Sanghas

http://secularbuddhism.org/2015/04/26/episode-222-mushim-ikeda-and-brenda-salgado-creating-diverse-sanghas/

Founded to provide a welcoming environment for people of color, members of the LGBTQI community, people with disabilities, and other underrepresented communities, the East Bay Meditation Center welcomes everyone seeking to end suffering and cultivate happiness. Our mission is to foster liberation, personal and interpersonal healing, social action, and inclusive community building. We offer mindfulness practices and teachings on wisdom and compassion from Buddhist and other spiritual traditions. Rooted in our commitment to diversity, we operate with transparent democratic governance, generosity-based economics, and environmental sustainability.

Gassho, Jundo

[Kaishin]

(I have been working for years to develop some priests in all those categories around here, and have had only very limited success ... a subject for another time).


Gassho, Jundo

I'd be interested in hearing about that. I think Treeleaf could definitely benefit from female novices, at the least.

-satToday

[Shoka]

While I am no expert, and have only been exposed to social justice for a relatively short amount of time, I would like to attempt to explain why most social justice work is divided into White and POC.

There is a lot of work that White people need to do around privilege and recognizing the racism which exists and they have benefited from even if they have not actively taken part in racist acts. The first section of the “Call to White Buddhists” addresses issue. This type of self-education is a critical first step for most white people, so that we are more prepared in everyday life to address racism as it exists.

One of the resources linked on the site is: http://imcw.org/Resources/Article-De...e-About-Racism
This article is a wonderful description of the problems that face talking to white people about race.

Dr. Robin DiAngelo states:

This concept came out of my on-going experience leading discussions on race, racism, white privilege and white supremacy with primarily white audiences. It became clear over time that white people have extremely low thresholds for enduring any discomfort associated with challenges to our racial worldviews. We can manage the first round of challenge by ending the discussion through platitudes -- usually something that starts with "People just need to," or "Race doesn't really have any meaning to me," or "Everybody's racist." Scratch any further on that surface, however, and we fall apart.

Socialized into a deeply internalized sense of superiority and entitlement that we are either not consciously aware of or can never admit to ourselves, we become highly fragile in conversations about race. We experience a challenge to our racial worldview as a challenge to our very identities as good, moral people. It also challenges our sense of rightful place in the hierarchy. Thus, we perceive any attempt to connect us to the system of racism as a very unsettling and unfair moral offense.

Another resource listed on the site is: The UNtraining; I think their explanation is very valuable (and probably better than I could word it.)

Why Only White People?
We believe that white people have the responsibility to educate ourselves about racism, rather than expecting people of color to be our teachers. In white caucus work, people are more free to express difficult feelings and to examine complex situations around race. This honesty, often held back in mixed groups to avoid embarrassment or for fear of causing harm, is crucial for learning and healing. Sharing common experiences breaks down two other aspects of white conditioning: isolation and the taboo of talking about personal issues around race.


White Privilege and the Cost of Whiteness
The premise of the UNtraining is that we are all affected by racism. No matter how aware our parents may have been, how liberal, loving or spiritual we may be, as white people we have been trained to be "white" by media, educational systems and continual subtle feedback from those around us.

Although it may not be obvious at first, we benefit from racism in our daily lives through the privileges associated with light-colored skin. Even less apparent, however, is the cost to us as white people living within this hierarchical system. Many of us live with guilt, fear, and defensiveness. Our curiosity is stifled and our passions blunted. This keeps us from speaking out and taking action against racism. Or if we do, we may come across as righteous and judgmental, which is rarely helpful or effective.

I will personally say that the first time I was in a room and had a deep conversation about racism beyond the normal superficial topic; the room was a mixed room, so as the white people worked through our issues there was real harm done to the POC in the room. It took a long time after that conversation for me to feel that I could engage in a conversation with a POC without doing harm.

For me there is a lot of work that white people need to do before they are ready for the same resources that POC will need. Once this work has been started then white people will be able to engage with resources that talk about topics which contradict the systemic and institutional controls that we have lived inside of, without “falling apart” as DiAngelo says. Taking the time to learn about white privilege and to actively engage the topic will make you a stronger advocate for social justice. And it will also help you understand what is happening when you start to engage other white people in the conversation.

I think this is a great starting point for a long conversation about social justice, and applaud the effort even if it might have stumbled a bit at first. It looks like they have already amended the Open Letter to include not choosing a race, or selecting other.

Gassho,

Shoka
sattoday

[Jundo]

I'd be interested in hearing about that. I think Treeleaf could definitely benefit from female novices, at the least.

-satToday

Well, in a nutshell ... I have asked many times (almost to the point of being a pest) a few special folks if they are interested. I did not ask "because they are women" or any other special category, but simply because I thought they would be excellent priests. So far, personal life circumstances and own preferences have prevented any female folks from accepting the invitation.

I'm sorry about that. But I really believe that some of it is just luck of the draw. Sometimes the penny flips "heads" 10 times in a row!

That being said, if anyone (I especially mean folks who have been part of this community for a few years, because there should be some mutual familiarity which takes some time) ... if anyone like that is interested in Ordination whether male or female, gay or straight, blue or green or anything in between ... let me know. So long as I feel you will truly make a dedicated, sincere, committed for the long haul, ethical priest ... we can talk seriously.

Gassho, Jundo

SatToday

[Kaishin]

Thanks, Jundo.

[Myosha]

Hello,

"The purpose of human life is to serve, and to show compassion and the will to help others." - Albert Schweitzer

May all beings everywhere plagued with sufferings of body and mind
quickly be freed from their illnesses.
May those frightened cease to be afraid and
May those bound be free.
May the powerless find power and
May people think of befriending one another.


Seeing that
there’s nothing to do
rolling up our sleeves and
going to work.

Gary Snyder


Gassho
silly Myosha sat today