Racial Justice 2022

Laughing Rivers Sangha is a community of mindfulness practitioners in the Plum Village tradition of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh, a poet, writer, peacemaker who was nominated for the 1967 Nobel Peace Prize by Martin Luther King, Jr., and spiritual teacher revered across the world. Dr. King and Thich Nhat Hanh met in 1966 and again in 1967. After Dr. King's assassination in 1968 Thich Nhat Hanh said "I was devastated. I could not eat; I could not sleep. I made a deep vow to continue building what he called “the beloved community,” not only for myself but for him also. I have done what I promised to Martin Luther King Jr. And I think that I have always felt his support."*
*They call you a Bodhisattva”: Thich Nhat Hanh’s friendship with Dr. King

We acknowledge that the Pittsburgh region was originally inhabited by native Adena, Hopewell, and Monongahela people, and later by Shawnee, Delaware, and Iroquois who were driven here from their native homelands. They lived, worked, and prayed here, cherishing these lands until they were killed or forced from their rightful homeland by European colonizers. We offer these peoples our respect and ongoing mindful awareness of the injustices they endured. For more information about and resources for indigenous people in the Pittsburgh area, please contact the the Council of Three Rivers American Indian Center (COTRAIC).
(Photo credit Roger Wollstadt, licensed under Creative Commons.)

Honoring and Remembering Lives Lost to Racial Violence

https://www.blackpast.org/tag/victims-violence/

"Transformation at the base affects the roots of our body and mind. That is why we practice. ... If we look deeply into the mind and body's role in creating, nurturing, and protecting our racialized awareness and its actions, we see an opportunity for transformation."
--Larry Ward

Contemplations on the *Five Mindfulness Trainings:
A New Paradigm for Racial Justice and the Global Pandemic
* The Five Mindfulness Trainings are the contemporary expression of the Buddha's original core precepts for living an ethical and compassionate life.

"Let us open to a new and deeper way of understanding the Five Mindfulness Trainings, guiding principles for mindful and ethical living, which call us toward individual and collective awakening, compassion, and peace. We are aware that we are interconnected."
A New Paradigm for Racial Justice and the Global Pandemic” is an offering by Marisela Gomez and Valerie Brown, leaders in the ARISE Sangha Initiative.

Racial Justice: Skillful Action for a Path Forward
Plum Village Interview with Valerie Brown
2020.05.04

You are invited to join us for our monthly practice meeting dedicated to body-centered mindfulness of racial justice. Please contact Dawn via our web contact page for more information.

Our Sangha values the work and teachings of The Lotus Institute led by Drs. Larry Ward and Peggy Rowe Ward, senior Dharma teachers ordained by Thich Nhat Hanh. We were fortunate to be able to attend their on-line retreat in 2020, "Lived Emptiness - the Heart of Anti-Racism". In 2021 we followed up with reading and discussion groups on Dr. Larry Ward's book, 'America's Racial Karma -- An Invitation to Heal'. Some of us are embarking on their Earth Gate study program in 2022.

Honoring and Remembering Victims of Racial Violence In the Greater Pittsburgh Area

"The time has come for White people to no longer say “I’m one person, how can I address the systems and structures?” I’ve just outlined several things that each one of us who identify as White can do to address that. This is not the problem of Black people alone. We are interconnected."
--Valerie Brown

*Gatha for Healing Racial, Systemic and Social Inequity

*Gathas are short practice poems, that help us bring mindfulness, concentration, and insight to daily activities.

We read and meditate on this Gatha from the ARISE Sangha periodically as part of our regular practice.

"Aware of the suffering caused by racial, systemic, and social inequities, we commit ourselves, individually and as a community, to understanding the roots of these inequities, and to transforming this suffering into compassion, understanding and love in action..." Full Gatha HERE

Offered by the ARISE Sangha
(Awakening through Race, Intersectionality, and Social Equity)

Additional Resources for Understanding and Action

Plum Village Series on Racial Justice: https://plumvillage.org/series/racial-justice/ With remarkable talks and videos by Thay Phap Dung; and Dharma Teachers Valerie Brown and Larry Ward.
"A look into the friendship of Thich Nhat Hanh and Martin Luther King Jr., two brothers working to build a Beloved Community", Tricycle magazine, Jan. 2022.
Krista Tippett’s On Being podcast, June 4, with Resmaa Menakem, noted author and Trauma therapist - Notice the Rage; Notice the Silence.
Krista Tippet's 2nd On Being podcast, with Resmaa Menakem, and also Robin DiAngelo, author of one of the most read books in the world right now, White Fragility. CAUTION: This discussion can be very stimulating, and could trigger reactions in particular with persons who identify as white.
Resmaa Menakem’s book, My Grandmother’s Hands: Radicalized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending our Hearts and Bodies.
Buddhist teacher, Ruth King's book, Mindful of Race, Before the COVID 19 pandemic, Laughing Rivers' ARISE2 Group was exploring the possibility of a Study Group on this book. If interest exists, this can become a ZOOM-based discussion group.
The Inner Work of Racial Justice: Healing Ourselves and Transforming Our Communities Through Mindfulness, Rhonda V. Magee, 2019.
Trauma-sensitive Mindfulness Podcast, Episode 2: Rhonda Magee
https://soundcloud.com/tsm-podcast/episode-2-rhonda-magee
Radical Dharma: Talking Race, Love, and Liberation. Rev. angel Kyodo williams
The Lotus Institute Deeper Still Academy
Waking up to Whiteness - a little peek into the both challenging and deeply nourishing journey of a small Sangha of white monastic and lay friends looking into the seeds of racism in our store consciousness.
Nuns of Deer Park Monastery. - Looking Deeply: Reading and Walking for George Floyd 15-minute video from June 3, 2020
Korean Zen Ceremony for George Floyd - The 49-Day Transition Ceremony, from the Kwan Um School of Zen (Korean), was offered for George Floyd and his family: https://americas.kwanumzen.org/g-floyd-49-day-ceremony Within the Plum Village tradition such transitions - i.e. from this manifestation to the next - are assisted with the Ceremony for the Deceased for the Seventh and Forty-Ninth Days (page 257 of the Chanting From The Heart Practice book).