Letter from ARISE Sangha regarding the continued police violence against Black and Brown lives.
https://arisesangha.org/end-police-violence/
#SociallyEngagedBuddhism #PlumVillage #PoliceViolence

I saw a "meme" recently that claimed (I haven't verified) that the word "liberation" appears in Christian scriptures numerous times but we generally don't know this because it's translated as "salvation." When discussing #Buddhism, I try to avoid the word "enlightenment," because the word that's being translated (bodhi) means "awakening." While those 2 words can be interpreted similarly, their connotations are different. Awakening can also be associated with liberation. #SociallyEngagedBuddhism

2/2 "So perhaps, first of all, resistance means opposition to being invaded, occupied, assaulted, and destroyed by the system. The purpose of resistance, here, is to seek the healing of yourself in order to be able to see clearly. ... I think that communities of resistance should be places where people can return to themselves more easily, where the conditions are such that they can heal themselves and recover their wholeness.”

#ThichNahtHanh
#SociallyEngagedBuddhism

1/2 “I think it [resistance] is a very meaningful term. And resistance, at root, I think, must mean more than resistance against war. It is a resistance against all kinds of things that are like war. Because living in modern society, one feels that he cannot easily retain integrity, wholeness. One is robbed permanently of humanness, the capacity of being oneself… there are so many things ... in modern life that make you lose yourself."

#ThichNhatHanh
#SociallyEngagedBuddhism

From an interview with three dharma teachers over a decade ago but still just as relevant. In a globalized world where the Three Poisons are institutionalized into our societies, awakening is collective, is political.
https://oneearthsangha.org/articles/i-vow-to-be-political/

#Buddhism #SociallyEngagedBuddhism #BodhisattvaPath

The Five Remembrances remind us that we are of the nature to grow old, become sick, & die; that (because everyone else is of the same nature) we will sooner or later lose everyone we love. These are truths. I am at peace with them.

What I'm not at peace with is that, due to extreme wealth inequities and other hierarchies (-isms & phobias) in this society, some people die much sooner than others in ways that are entirely avoidable.

#Buddhism #SociallyEngagedBuddhism

One of the most important things I've learned from #Buddhism is that we #practice being compassionate and loving while conditions are easy - such as on a cushion or in a sangha w/ people of similar aspirations - so that when conditions are harder, we increase our chances of being able to remain open-hearted.

Practice creates habits, which are easier to draw on in times of stress.

But we ARE ultimately meant to engage with the harder conditions, in the larger world.
#SociallyEngagedBuddhism

A follow-up to my posts 2 days ago:

It occurred to me this morning that Mastodon institutionalizes loving kindness. In all the years I've been on Facebook, I've never once added an image description. But here on Mastodon, I do. Because the culture asks it AND because that function is built into the platform, making it EASY to do so. So I do. If we build systems such that it is easier for people to be kinder, people will be kinder. And the opposite too.

#Buddhism #SociallyEngagedBuddhism

Dharma teacher, Dr Larry Ward, shares about caring for our traumatic experiences so we can fully arrive where we are needed.
https://www.parallax.org/mindfulnessbell/article/how-to-be-engaged-without-becoming-entangled

#PlumVillage #Buddhism #SociallyEngagedBuddhism

(5 of 5) The Three Poisons are ingrained in the institutions of our society. Which leads to the question:

What are the ways in which we can grow the Three Antidotes? How do we plant the seeds and water and nurture Wisdom, Generosity and Metta (loving kindness) so that they can bloom in their place?

#Buddhism #SociallyEngagedBuddhism

(4 of 5) Third of the Three Poisons: Delusion

With the rise of cable news, the internet (anyone can create a website) and social media, fake news is rampant. (And all media is driven by profit, fueling click-baiting). I sincerely believe that the problem is worse on the right, but cannot deny that it exists on the left as well. We (collectively) live within in our personalized feedback chambers, believing what suits us and dismissing things we don't like.

#Buddhism #SociallyEngagedBuddhism

(4 of 5) Third of the Three Poisons: Delusion

With the rise of cable news, the internet (anyone can create a website) and social media, fake news is rampant. (And all media is driven by profit, fueling click-baiting). I sincerely believe that the problem is worse on the right, but cannot deny that it exists on the left as well. We (collectively) live within in our personalized feedback chambers, believing what suits us and dismissing things we don't like.

#Buddhism #SociallyEngagedBuddhism

(3 of 5) Second of the Three Poisons: Greed

This one is pretty straightforward. Everyday, Wall Street tries to convince us to buy things we don't need, tries to convince us that if we have more of x we'll be happy, and that you can never have too much of anything. In service to their own greed, corporations use designed obsolescence to force us to buy more. We have been conditioned to think of ourselves as consumers rather than creators and problem solvers.

#Buddhism #SociallyEngagedBuddhism

(2 of 5) First of the Three Poisons: Hatred

Loy originally pointed to our military industrial complex as the institutionalization of hatred in US society. But I think we can include our various forms law enforcement: racial profiling/police brutality, border patrol, ICE, surveillance of American Muslims, bathroom ban laws... all in service of growing hatred towards marginalized groups and reinforcing the power of dominant groups.

#Buddhism #SociallyEngagedBuddhism

(2 of 5) First of the Three Poisons: Hatred

Loy originally pointed to our military industrial complex as the institutionalization of hatred in US society. But I think we can include our various forms law enforcement: racial profiling in police brutality, border patrol, ICE, surveillance of American Muslims, bathroom ban laws... all in service of growing hatred towards marginalized groups and reinforcing the power of dominant groups.

#Buddhism #SociallyEngagedBuddhism

(1 of 5) David Loy and other socially engaged Buddhist teachers have noted how the Three Poisons as recognized in Buddhism - Hatred, Greed, and Delusion (translated into English from the original Pali) - are now institutionalized within our society. The three poisons are reinforced by the very fabric of our modern society, making them ever stronger in our hearts unless we are aware and actively cultivate their antidotes.

#Buddhism #SociallyEngagedBuddhism