The Liberated Life Project offers inspiration for
personal and collective liberation.
Find your guide to the best of the LLP right here.
[ssba_hide]
Dreams of Freedom: Responding to Charleston
Photo by L.C.Nøttaasen/Flickr Creative Commons
This article is based on a dharma talk that I gave at Upaya Zen Center
on June 24, 2015. You can view a video of the talk and the memorial service that followed it here.
_____________
If physical death is the price that some must pay to free their children and their white brothers from a permanent death of the spirit, then nothing can be more redemptive.
~Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Just a week ago, last Wednesday night, as many of us were gathered here in the beautiful zendo here to hear a talk by our friend Genzan, across the country a group of people in Charleston, South Carolina, were also gathering to practice in their spiritual tradition. Members of the Mother Emanuel AME church came together that night for their weekly bible study group.
Toward a Socially Responsible Mindfulness
The big news in the Buddhist world this week was a gathering of Buddhist teachers and leaders at the White House – yes, that White House. My heart leaped with joy when I saw photos of members of the group holding up three banners with these words:
The Karma of Slavery is Heavy
I vow to work for racial justice
The Whole Earth is My True Body
I vow to work for climate justice
U.S. Militarism Breeds Violence Not Safety
I vow to work for peace and freedom
Compassionate Action for Nepal and Baltimore
Over these last few weeks, we’ve been rocked in many ways – most notably in Nepal and Baltimore. The first was a natural disaster, the second a human-made tragedy, centuries in the making.
Our first impulse is often a beautiful one – we want to respond, we want to help. But how to do so in a skillful way?
