How is the Dharma antiracist? Exploring our Buddhanature and path to collective awakening in the time of Covid-19, the Uprising and the 2020 U.S. Presidential Election
Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced. – James Baldwin
Dharma teachings are also said to be the way, or the right philosophy of life. They’re an ever-present invitation for every person to realize how cultivating generous, loving and wise actions can serve as an antidote to the three poisons of greed, hatred and delusion sitting at the root of suffering…. and to see whether in so doing, we return to greater inner and outer balance, further equipped to be active agents in intentional, causal change, opening the possibility of creating a more just society.
Ehipassako is the Pali word for the Buddha’s invitation into exploring our own direct experience. He asks that we cultivate concentration and use our spacious awareness to bear witness to our actual experience, become curious about what we think we know, who we think we are, and check, is that so? We’re offered the opportunity to practice curiosity around who we imagine other beings to be, as well as around the causes and conditions that may be at the root of our imaginings… and investigate whether that’s really the end of the story, or part of what’s arisen in our unique embodiment that’s shaped our personal imprintings, perceptions and views.
In the Buddha’s time, over 2500 years ago, ancient wisdom teachings document that Shakyamuni Buddha, born into privilege as Siddhartha Gautama, was quite revolutionary at the time. He invited people from all walks of life into a more integrated practice, cutting through often often exclusionary rules other belief systems used during the period that were often based on caste, creed or gender. While the Buddha acknowledged conventional distinctions, he challenged scientific arguments of fundamental difference based on biology or sociology, recognizing that all beings are subject to the same common experience, that we share a common humanity and as such, possibility for awakening exists in everyone.
In this talk, together we will explore how the Buddha’s teachings compare to our historical and current Western philosophy and ways of being, what we may learn from fundamental dharma teachings about how they apply to collective liberation in this moment, how we may create an even greater panoramic awareness in our practice of compassionate action during the pandemic, and more. We can explore how applied mindfulness may help us envision how awakening the Dharma within supports our lives today. We will take refuge in our sangha, cultivating humility and a calm strength, in service to the collective liberation of all beings.
Quotations for Further Reflection:
“We do not know who we are” (na mayam jānāma keci mayam homa,” The Buddha in Majjhima Nikaya, speaking of Brahims set on caste differences.)
“One who hardened his heart by virtue of his birth in a particular race (jati-tthaddho) or caste (dhana-thaddho), or caste (gotta-thaddho), and despises his neighbor (sam ñātim atimaññeti) – The Buddha, in the Sutta Nipata, speaking of those, from a Buddhist perspective, who would be considered the real outcasts, countering the prevailing theories of the caste system of the time, of Sudras being lowest caste/class and Brahmins highest
We have to overcome ourselves in order to achieve great things. If we simply allow our habits to prevail, it won’t be possible to remake America. That is the way, the path forward, to overcome the challenges ahead and to rebuild. – Thich Nhat Hahn
Love takes off masks that we fear we cannot live without and know we cannot live within. – James Baldwin
Hatred, which could destroy so much, never failed to destroy the man who hated, and this was an immutable law. – James Baldwin
Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced. – James Baldwin
Neither love nor terror makes one blind: indifference makes one blind. – James Baldwin
To accept one’s past—one’s history—is not the same thing as drowning in it; it is learning how to use it. An invented past can never be used; it cracks and crumbles under the pressures of life like clay in a season of drought. – James Baldwin
It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have. – James Baldwin
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This event will be recorded and emailed to everyone who registers.
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