In a tense moment on a full plane, Ruth King gets a glimpse of the inner strength of equanimity. Several years ago, I took a long flight from South Africa to California. As I boarded the plane, I looked forward to taking a long nap on the fully-booked plane. As we rose into the air, I relaxed into my seat and pushed the button to recline. The person sitting behind me, a [...]
How Tune-Yards created an indie-rock meditation on race and Buddhism
Lilly Greenblatt talks to Tune-Yards' Merrill Garbus about how race and Buddhism informed the band's latest release. Close your eyes Get in touch With the physical sensations coursing through your body (Honesty) Breathe (Honesty, honesty) Those are the instructions from frontwoman Merrill Garbus on “Honesty,” the fifth track of Tune-Yards’ latest album. The song also [...]
Buddhism & Diversity: Profiles, Teachings, and Conversations
A collection of teachings, profiles, and discussions about diversity in Buddhism. Featuring angel Kyodo williams, Funie Hsu, Roshi Pat Enkyo O'Hara, Arunlikhati, Gina Sharpe, Greg Snyder, Justin Simien, George Takei, Alice Walker, Lama Rod Owens, and more. Diversity is increasingly discussed in Western Buddhism today, and with good reason. Supporting diversity serves three [...]
Where Will You Stand?
If we are to uphold the dharma, says Rev. angel Kyodo williams, we must stand up to racism and expose its institutionalized forms—even in our Buddhist communities. We are at a critical moment in the history of the nation as well as within the Buddhist teaching and tradition in America. This is the "back of the bus" moment of our time. Fifty years after civil rights laws were [...]
Do You Know Your True Face?
Lama Rod Owens says we all need to look honestly at who we are, in all our complexity -- and that includes those who teach the dharma. Excerpted in the Fall 2017 Buddhadharma, "The Best of 15 Years." About a year after I finished the traditional three-year retreat program and had begun my work as a dharma teacher, I experienced a kind of breakdown, a severe sense of being [...]
North American Buddhist Alliance issues response to racial violence
In a new statement shared with Lion's Roar, the North American Buddhist Alliance (NABA) responds to the current events and crises related to White Supremacy in the United States. NABA describes itself as “a new, idealistic, and organic organization modeled after Northwest Dharma Association. We are not a governing body nor are we interested in developing a hierarchy of any [...]
Waking Up to Whiteness
For our practice to have meaning in today's world, says Greg Snyder, it must include a thorough understanding of our racial identities and their impact. This is particularly urgent for white practitioners. Like it or not, we have all been racialized—that conditioning affects each and every one of us. Unfortunately, many Buddhists are not working diligently to [...]
A Buddhist Cop’s Approach to Justice
Cheri Maples, a student of Thich Nhat Hanh and former police officer, addresses the U.S.'s crisis in policing and how a Buddhist outlook could help foster more positive relations between citizens and police. A cop meets Thich Nhat Hanh I became serious about developing a consistent mindfulness practice when I attended my first retreat with Thich Nhat Hanh (known [...]
The Best of bell hooks: Life, Writings, Quotes, and Books
When we drop fear, we can draw nearer to people, we can draw nearer to the earth, we can draw nearer to all the heavenly creatures that surround us. —bell hooks Writer, feminist theorist, and cultural critic bell hooks has played a vital role in twenty-first-century activism. Her expansive life's work of writing and lecturing has explored the historical function of race and [...]
“Dear White People” creator Justin Simien talks Buddhism, empathizing with haters
One element of Simien’s identity isn’t obvious in his Netflix hit: Buddhism. But it’s there. Talking to Justin Simien, it’s clear that the characters in his show, Dear White People, come from within. Each episode of the Netflix comedy, which debuted last month, follows a different character at a fictional Ivy League college in the aftermath of a blackface party on campus. [...]
