Buddhist teachings and racial and social justice: similar paths to peace Gomez MB
Buddhist teachings and racial and social justice: similar paths to peace
This discussion will summarize the direct ways Buddhist teachings, like social justice work, seek to investigate the way we construct and perceive the world in order to relieve the suffering of the world or achieve peace. It will review the teachings of the four noble truths, dependent origination, fabrications, and mindfulness as paths that can be used not only for relieving individual suffering but provide a framework for the path away from social injustice. Various non-Buddhist activists’ actions of love, non-harming, and non-violence-major Buddhist teachings- are presented as an example of how Buddhist teachings have been informing social justice work for years. This review brings together these concepts and practices in one short and summary reading to remind us how Buddhist teachings and social justice provide us the tools to understand injustices so as to arrive at peace in ourselves and the world.
Background
Social injustice exists when individuals treat each other unfairly based on discrimination according to some socially constructed label (race, class, gender, age, language, ability, etc.) and/or systemic government practices and policies which directly or indirectly treat different groups unfairly (housing, health, policing, labor, voting, environmental, education lawsi). The
i Laws: Housing (ie. redlining, urban renewal; underfunding for public housing); Health Care (ie. coverage eligibility, mental health parity); Policing (ie. traffic stop, search and seizure); Labor (ie. worker’s rights, occupational health and safety); Voting (ie. voter ID, redistricting); Environmental (ie. clean water and air, industrial waste disposal); Education (ie. public school segregation; underfunding)
Buddhist teachings and racial and social justice: similar paths to peace Gomez MB effect of these actions can be generally termed social injustice. Social injustice is a suffering where advocates/activists/organizersii determine the cause that when understood can result in developing a path toward ending the causes of the harm. [Activists’ work is often described as social justice work to highlight their action to address, directly or indirectly, the multiple social systems that interact to bring about a more just society.]
The description of Buddhism and its general philosophy of peace and non-harming and its connection with social justice has been described previously (Bond) (S. King). The Vietnamese monk venerable Thich Nhat Hanh is one of the foremost teachers of mindfulness and socially engaged Buddhism: “Mindfulness must be engaged. Once we see that something needs to be done, we must take action. Seeing and action go together. Otherwise, what is the point in seeing?” (Hanh) Hanh’s teachings and actions are well documented since his activism to end the Vietnam War. The American monk venerable Bhikkhu Bodhi has also spoken of the need for Buddhist practitioners to engage in the world of social injustices as an extension of the
Buddha’s teachings on social and community harmony (Bodhi). Other contemporary Buddhist teachers continue to interpret Buddhist teachings within the realm of racial and social justice, including angel Kyodo williams, Earthlyn Zenju Manuel, Lama Rod Owens, John Powell, Jan
Willis, Ruth King and others. These teachings include analysis of racial, class, gender, sexual, and other oppressions within Buddhist spaces (williams, Owens and Syedullah; Ikeda; Duran) (R.
King) (Manuel) (Willis) (AlanSenauke) (Glassman). Common amongst these teachers is their emphasis on the need for: spiritual spaces which do not bypass social injustices in an attempt
ii Future references to advocates/activists/organizers will use the label ‘activists’. Buddhist teachings and racial and social justice: similar paths to peace Gomez MB to focus on oneness; greater inclusivity in practice communities in regard race, class, gender identity, sexual orientation, diverse abilities; interpreting the teachings within the context of society and its sufferings (williams, Owens and Syedullah; Ikeda; Duran) (R. King) (Manuel)
(Willis) (AlanSenauke) (Glassman) (Schireson) (Powell).
This essay will contribute to this growing literature and body of teachings by delving deeper into four specific Buddhist teachings as frameworks for how racial and social justice work can be interpreted and carried out. It will provide examples of how past and current social justice work already enacts these teachings.
The four noble truths of social injustice
The interpretation of Buddhism as a philosophy and a spiritual tradition rests on a journey toward waking up to a truth that releases everyone, not a chosen few, from suffering. There are multiple ways in which social justice and the teachings of Buddhism can be understood and practiced as similar paths toward freedom from the systemic and individual suffering of racism, classism and other forms of injustice. Buddhist texts documenting the teachings of the Buddha state: ‘And what do I teach? Suffering, its cause, its transcendence and the way leading to its transcendence’ (Nanmoli and Bodhi). These are the foundational Four Noble Truths of Buddhist teachings, each carrying with it a duty. The First Noble Truth, that suffering exists, is to be understood; the Second Noble Truth, the origin or cause of suffering, is to be abandoned; the
Third Noble Truth, the cessation of suffering, is to be realized; the Fourth Noble Truth, the path leading to the cessation of suffering, is to be developed. Buddhist teachings emphasize that Buddhist teachings and racial and social justice: similar paths to peace Gomez MB when these Noble Truths are fully realized, one can put an end to all suffering. (Bodhi, Setting in motion the wheel of the dhamma)
Such a framework can be easily interpreted and applied in the work of activists seeking an end to social injustice. The Four Noble Truths of Buddhism can easily be understood in the context of this noble path of justice seekers, Table I. Bhikkhu Bodhi states how effort is used to investigate or determine a suffering or hindrance:
Instead of turning away from the unwanted [corrupt] thought [word, action], one
confronts it directly as an object, scrutinizes its features, and investigates its source.
When this is done the thought [word, action] quiets down and eventually disappears.
For an unwholesome thought is like a thief: it only creates trouble when its operation is
concealed, but put under observation it becomes tame (Bodhi, Right Effort: Samma
Vayama).
This investigation, this deep looking, requires identifying, meeting with, and determining how to resolve the suffering or the hindrance. Preparation for this investigation occurs through a process of stopping and stilling the mind so as to see clearly that which is usually obscured by distractions. Different forms of meditation support the mind becoming concentrated so as to investigate and see clearly through the normally busy and distracted thoughts. This clear seeing of oneself, one’s likes and dislikes, distinguishing between right and wrong, provides choice and intentionality in how one interacts in the world. Therefore a person is a justice seeker or Buddhist teachings and racial and social justice: similar paths to peace Gomez MB activist, simply by being aware of themselves. This occurs because social justice work does not occur only in a public setting of a protest march or sit-in. Justice work also occurs in the way we engage with each other at home, in the workplace, in spiritual centers, in the supermarket.
Whether we are reflecting on the way we responded or didn’t respond to someone making a discriminatory statement, making up ‘facts’ or telling a lie, awareness of our framework of right and wrong moves us toward equity, justice. Clear seeing allows us act with intention toward truth and non-harming, justice lens, in all our interactions, individually and in community.
Using the Second Noble Truth of Buddhism as an example of its application in the work of social justice follows. For example, to understand and transform current wealth inequity activists must look deeply into the history of racist US government policies that resulted in systematic economic disparity in employment, education, and housing. What was the path that led to a median wealth of $171,000 for white families while median wealth of black and Latino families is $17,600 and $20,700 respectively (Dettling, Hsu and Jacob)? Stopping to investigate the history of employment and land rights in cities across the US will aid in understanding how we came to this current outcome, and how we can end it. Forced displacement of the ancestors of
African Americans and labor exploitation began almost 400 years ago in 1619 when the first enslaved Africans were brought to the Americas. After 264 years of slave labor, enslaved black
Americans were freed into conditions of poverty. Forced displacement and the traumatic root shockiii effect, community disruption, and economic exploitation continued over the past 400
iii Root shock is the traumatic effect of uprooting people from their communities similar to the effect of uprooting plants from the soil. Buddhist teachings and racial and social justice: similar paths to peace Gomez MB years, with Jim Crow laws resulting in separate and unequal actions not only in housing but in all sectors of life in the late 1800s; redliningiv in the 1930s; unfair implementation of the GI Bill in the 1940s; urban renewalv and interstate constructionvi in the 1950s; planned shrinkagevii in the 1970s; mass incarcerationviii in the 1980s; gentrificationix in the 1990s and 2000s (Fullilove),
(Hiller), (Weber), (Nelson and Ayers), (Stromberg), (Metzger), (Alexander), (Lees, Slater and
Wyly), (Gomez) (Katznelson). These policies systematically limited or denied the opportunities for black Americans to own land or borrow money to buy land, while assuring access to land ownership and investment opportunities for white Americans. This inequity of opportunity paved the way for current-day racial inequity. If we continue on the current path the median wealth gap will continue to grow until by 2053 wealth for black Americans will drop to zero and climb to $137,000 for white Americans (Collins, Asante-Muhammed and Nieves). This investigation allows us to see clearly how we came to be here and why we must change.
The Fourth and Third Noble Truths, developing a path away from suffering so as to realize an end to suffering, can also be easily implemented in the work of social justice. A process of
iv Redlining was the drawing of red lines around Black and low income communities which resulted in banks withholding loans for housing development. v Urban Renewal was the systematic redevelopment of neighborhoods resulting in displacement of more than 300,000 families across American cities, the majority African Americans. vi Legislation supporting highway construction which required demolishing neighborhoods, mostly African American and low income, leading to displacement. vii Planned shrinkage was the systematic removal of services from communities of color resulting in greater deterioration and displacement. viii Mass incarceration is the disproportionate systematic imprisonment of people of color in the US. ix Gentrification is the process of increasing cost for housing and amenities that occurs during community redevelopment, resulting in displacement of historic residents and businesses. Buddhist teachings and racial and social justice: similar paths to peace Gomez MB investigation will bring clarity to ensure laws requiring sufficient affordable housing. The enactment of such laws and redistributive economic policies that support equitable and sustainable community development can move us on a path away from historic uneven community development and toward equitable housing and land justice. In discovering the paths leading to injustice we also discover paths leading away from this suffering to realize its cessation (Table I). The Four Noble Truths and their duties). Having a mind trained to focus on and understand the causes behind the current social predicaments is critical on the path of freedom from injustices and all suffering. Buddhist teachings on the path toward freedom from suffering require not only the acknowledgment of existing suffering but a clear comprehension of the path that removes ignorance that causes continuation of the suffering. Systematic investigation within a framework of truthfulness, kindness, non-harming, greater equity, truthfulness, respect for facts, and reverence for all life, brings insight of the way to discontinue this path of suffering (Table I). These same Four Noble Truths of Buddhism can be interpreted as the Four Noble Truth of Injustice and enacted within social justice work as the path toward justice.
______Table I. The four noble truths of injustice/suffering and their duties 1. we must understand the injustice/suffering/unrest/stress in the world 2. we must discover the causes of this injustice 3. so we can realize an end to this injustice 4. by developing a path leading away from injustice ______Dependent origination, intersectionality, and social injustice
Buddhist teachings and racial and social justice: similar paths to peace Gomez MB
The teaching of dependent origination is another Buddhist teaching that can be directly interpreted in the context of social justice (Bodhi). Dependent origination, what some refer to as “cause and effect,” describes the dependency of certain states—the effects—on other states, the causes or conditions (Nanamoli and Bodhi).
Ignorance of why we crave for things that continuously lead to suffering is the cause for us to crave for those same things that lead to suffering over and over. When we understand why we crave for things and how these things lead to more suffering we can choose to make different decisions and end this cycle. For example, I may feel empty or ungrounded so I seek food or drugs or alcohol or sex to dull this sense of emptiness. If I investigated why I felt empty I would see clearly how my craving depended on this feeling of emptiness. This investigation would illuminate the cause of my feelings and over time lessen my distracting myself from these feelings with consumption and intoxication. Removing the cause of the emptiness, removes the cause of the craving that leads to intoxication. Understanding the causes of craving also shines light on the reasons we cling to certain objects and people, mistaking temporary fulfillment of an emptiness for happiness. Thich Nhat Hanh describes dependent origination within the
Mahayana tradition of Buddhism in this way:
We know that for something to be there, we call an effect, like a table, we need more
than one cause. The wood, yes, but we need other things, like the carpenter, like time,
like the skill, like the sunlight. And each of these would need other things in order to be.
Like the wood would need the forest, would need the sunshine, would need the rain
and so on. And in turn, each thing would have to be brought about by several
conditions. So if we continue to look like that we will see that nothing is left out. Buddhist teachings and racial and social justice: similar paths to peace Gomez MB
Everything comes together in order to bring about the presence of the table. The one is
made of the many, the all. And the one can be seen in the all (Hanh).
Using this lens of awareness, we see that the current racial wealth inequity in the US is an effect of a history of systematic racism, which is the underlying cause. Looking deeply into today’s wealth gap we can see slavery and all the subsequent unequal racial policies and behaviors as different causes for today’s racial inequality, their effect. We can see how we constructed the society in unequal and unjust ways that led to today’s current inequality and suffering for black and brown people.
Different causes come together to have an effect, which then causes another effect. We can say that Jim Crow continued the legacy of slavery in a different mode, or tempered the consequences of the Emancipation resulting in an effect in black Americans.
The effect would have been different if there was only slavery, still devastating and impacting today’s inequality, but different (Figure 1). However, the combination or interaction of these two major events, along with other forms of racialized policies such as urban renewal resulted in different effects. Each additional policy caused another effect after interacting with the effect of the previous two causes. This explains why the current wealth inequity existing today for black Americans differs from that found among Latinix, Native indigenous peoples, Asians, and other people of color. The different causes of inequality for each racialized group over the years has determined the current inequality for each group today. The intersectionality of the various causes is specific for each racial/ethnic group due to each group’s history in the Americas. Thich
Nhat Hanh in his discussion of dependent origination says: “a cause must be, at the same time, Buddhist teachings and racial and social justice: similar paths to peace Gomez MB an effect. An effect must be at the same time a cause for something else. So, there is nothing that can be described as ‘the only cause’”. Bhikkhu Bodhi similarly describes how different causes can have a similar or different effect, depending on what other causes are present and interacting (Bodhi). As with the teaching of dependent origination or causation in Buddhism, understanding how our perceptions and lived experiences are shaped or depend on different experiences can help activists better understand how and why injustice exists. This understanding can help inform the need for different types of strategies dependent on what type of social injustice requires change.
Fabrication and social injustice
Understanding that the world is fabricated or constructed by the mind is another important teaching of Buddhism that can be understood within a social justice framework (Bodhi).
Buddhist teachings suggest that we fabricate/construct/create our reality through our mind: Buddhist teachings and racial and social justice: similar paths to peace Gomez MB
‘All states of being are determined by mind. It is mind that leads the way’ (Munindo). Ajahn
Sumedho of the Theravada Thai Forest tradition suggests that a newborn baby for example does not know its gender to be male or female or its race/nationality. Its mind is not yet filled with perceptions of socially- or biologically- male or female identities or the social prescriptions assigned to these categories. The baby’s mind, perceptions, and feelings become constructed through parents, care providers, family, and community who themselves have been socialized with norms created by minds of their ancestors and their society. These constructed or fabricated socialized norms shape our perceptions throughout life. If those constructing the world have a fragmented view of the world, segregating and discriminating according to race, class, sexual orientation, gender, language, etc., it follows that the society will be constructed in a fragmented way (Figure 2). The result is that individuals are not merely assigned a personal identity in society but each identity confines them to this designated group and the systematic status and power each group maintains relative to its counterpart, hence the suffering and injustices.
Buddhist teachings and racial and social justice: similar paths to peace Gomez MB
This fabrication and sorting, according to location in each category, contribute to a perception of inferiority or superiority (Table II). A sense of superiority and inferiority results in a persistent need to treat others poorly or to accept one’s poor treatment by others as appropriate.
______Table II. Socially constructed identities/categories and their power relative to each other
POWER RELATIVE POWER Male Female White, Caucasian Black, person of color Rich Poor ______
The path toward social justice and away from suffering requires investigation of the world and ourselves in the world. This investigation reveals the truth and moves us away from ignorance, Buddhist teachings and racial and social justice: similar paths to peace Gomez MB the cause of our wrong perceptions and suffering. We become aware not only of ourselves but of our ancestors and the history of how our socially constructed world evolved into current day social and racial injustices (Rothstein). For example, an accurate history of how we came to have current racial inequity is not taught in our primary or secondary educational system. Many children grow up with this ignorance which continues the generational wrong perceptions that black Americans and other people of color, poor people, are lazy. Ignorance fuels the perceptions that if ‘those people [black or brown] would only work hard enough, they would do better’, like their white counterparts. This type of wrong perception leads to blaming the victims of the legacy of racial injustice for the cause of said injustice. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. reminded us in the 1960s that: ‘…it’s a cruel jest to say to a bootless man that he ought to lift himself up by his own bootstrap’ (M. L. King). This lack of understanding of the history of racial injustice allows many white people to believe that as a socially constructed racial group,
[Caucasian/European descendent/white-skinned individuals], they are superior to their non- white sisters and brothers. For some, these wrong perceptions of an innate biological superiority justify the existing gap between black and white Americans in all sectors of society: educational attainment, house ownership, employment, income, wealth, health. This unfair and inaccurate perception leads to a social construction of the US which compel black Americans and other people of color to internalize the belief that they are inferior to white-skinned individuals. Shining the light of awareness on this inaccurate history of racial injustice can change the way we perceive and fabricate the world.
Buddhist teachings and racial and social justice: similar paths to peace Gomez MB
Delving into how our history was constructed as part of our engaged practice makes our practice relevant to the world. We do not attempt to practice cultural spiritual bypass and ignore the world created by our ancestors. We are able to transform the difficulties and celebrate the strengths. When we are ignorant of this knowledge we act heedlessly. We do not take care or remain diligent of our role in society and thereby continue the suffering and injustice through future generations. Being heedful we do not attempt to drop our social selves at the door when we enter the meditation center but we invite in this history, understand it, and become empowered to act from this clarity. Engaged practice helps us remain mindful of all the parts of who we are, to hold all with compassion and act diligently from a base of clear seeing and knowing. Our fabrication of society then becomes influenced by right perceptions instead of wrong perceptions such as discrimination based on skin color, the objectification of black-skinned individuals that easily creates perceptions of them as ‘things’ instead of as human beings requiring equal human rights.
This cycle of constructing our society, informed through interpersonal, community, and institutional influences/interactions re-create the society in each generation (Figure 3).x To construct a more equitable society, free from separation/fragmentation, will require that this cycle be broken. Buddhist teachings suggest different forms of meditation as a way to cultivate stillness in order to see these patterns and change them,. Stillness invites us to investigate our minds to be aware of what we say and how we act to create the world. We can determine
x Here we see the principle of dependent origination and cause and effect again. Each cause in this cycle is itself an effect of another cause in the same cycle, one dependent upon the other and vice versa. Buddhist teachings and racial and social justice: similar paths to peace Gomez MB which perceptions to keep, which to change, and how alternative perceptions may change the cycle of cause and effect. In seeing our perceptions and how these perceptions influence those around us to shape the world, we can choose to fabricate a different world. This internal and external process moves us toward a more just world, one leading toward, greater equity, non- harming, truthfulness, greater happiness and less suffering.xi
Mindfulness and social justice
Mindfulness is a foundational practice in Buddhism. Being mindful in the present moment is to be in touch with what is in front of us as well as remembering our ethics in that moment. We are keeping in mind an ethical view that guides us to be aware and practice with truth and compassion in each moment.
xi Here we see the teaching of the Four Noble Truths again. Acknowledging something exists, investigating the cause, and developing a path toward something more liberating. Buddhist teachings and racial and social justice: similar paths to peace Gomez MB
Socially engaged Buddhism involves being present in the midst of society as well as practicing in seclusion, keeping in mind a framework that emphasizes ethical behavior (S. King) (Hanh)
(Hanh). The practice of sitting or walking meditation in seclusion trains the mind to be still and see more clearly what may not be apparent when we are moving around in the world, with more distractions. This training helps to bring the mind to calm and clarity and allows us to ‘see’ what is needed for justice and peace to be present. When we engage in action, this training reminds one to walk with mindfulness in the midst of the marketplace and the spaces of injustice. In the midst of great suffering and the awareness of urgency of action, one is able to remain calm and clear. While addressing someone speaking words of violence and injustice one can address them in a calm manner, from a place of compassion and non-violence. For example, when a police officer violates the rights of black and brown skinned individuals, the response by these individuals require awareness. Reacting with violence to violence can lead to death. A mind trained in awareness can effect an outcome that leads directly or indirectly to justice. Such training immunizes us to the energy of greed or hatred driving social injustice and establishes the spaciousness to recognize it for what it is [I see delusion manifesting here] and what must be done to address it in that moment.
Engaged practice is captured in this gatha from the ARISExii community in the Thich Nhat Hanh tradition, also known as the Plum Village Community of Engaged Buddhism (PVCEB):
xii ARISE – Awakening through Race, Intersectionality, and Social Equity; https://arisesangha.org/about/#MissionandVision Buddhist teachings and racial and social justice: similar paths to peace Gomez MB
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 (Mausisa).
While not the only tradition within Buddhism practicing mindfulness and engaged Buddhism in
Western cultures (Bond) (S. King), (Fellowship) (Sivaraksa) Plum Village Community of Engaged
Buddhism has grown out of Thich Nhat Hanh’s community of engaged practice in Vietnam in the 1960s:
We have been practicing “engaged Buddhism” in Vietnam for the last thirty years.
During the war, we could not just sit in the meditation hall. We had to practice
mindfulness everywhere, especially where the worst suffering was going on…
Meditation is a point of contact. Sometimes you do not have to go to the place of
suffering. You just sit quietly on your cushion, and you can see everything. You can
actualize everything, and you can be aware of what is going on in the world. Out of that
kind of awareness, compassion and understanding arise naturally, and you can stay right
in your own country and perform social action (Hanh).
Following in this tradition of engaged Buddhism, the ARISE sangha or community is
attempting to engage with the history of racial inequity and intersectionalities as they
currently exist in 21st century North America, within its practice settings (Sivaraksa) (S.
King). Aware that within our Buddhist communities of practice, there exists a microcosm
of the same social systems of oppression, ARISE aims to skillfully identify these systems Buddhist teachings and racial and social justice: similar paths to peace Gomez MB
and our participation in them as barriers to greater inclusivity. Their process supports
practitioners to understand the legacy of racial and social injustices to remove the
ignorance that can lead to wrong perceptions of differences and perpetuate harm. This
understanding in turn helps with assuring that practitioners’ thoughts, speech, and
behaviors do not create oppressive conditions for each other in their spiritual centers.
With this clear seeing an environment is created (Mausisa) that invites in everyone
through skillful speech and behavior which accounts for our different histories (Bond).
ARISE’s activism is directed within the PVCEB (Mausisa) practice settings in North
America as well as in the work of social justice outside.
Social justice work as Buddhist practices
The following summary of justice seekers provide examples of Buddhist philosophy and practices by non-Buddhists. These are by no means exhaustive but an invitation to dig deeper into the work of these peace makers and discover the commonality among them. Would we call them Buddhists? Social Activists?
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. reminded us fifty years ago: “… justice is really love in calculation.
Justice is love correcting that which revolts against love” (Hare). Throughout the civil rights movement Dr. King consistently spoke of the need to pursue racial and class justice without resorting to violence. His teachings took love as the means and the end, a tactic and an ultimate moral value and never deviated away from the insistence for equity - racial and class. Dr. King was inspired by Mahatma Gandhi’s (1869-1948) struggle to free the people of India from British economic oppression through non-violent means and alternative collective enterprises. Buddhist teachings and racial and social justice: similar paths to peace Gomez MB
Gandhi’s wisdom in organizing Indians toward independence was guided by constant internal reflection and a search for truth:
To see the universal and all-pervading Spirt or Truth face to face one must be able to
love the meanest of creation as oneself. And a man who aspires after that cannot afford
to keep out of any field of life. That is why my devotion to Truth has drawn me into the
field of politics and I can say without the slightest hesitation and yet in all humility, that
those who say that religion has nothing to do with politics do not know what religion
means (Gandhi).
Gandhi taught that for a nation to take independence from its oppressor and maintain fairness among its people, all the people must themselves be a collective of truth seekers. Both King and
Gandhi’s social justice practices enact the Buddhist teachings of non-harming and truthfulness as the causes for equity.
Speaking and acting into truth as a path or cause of justice was also embodied by female activist and poet Audre Lorde (1934-1992). Lorde spoke and wrote about how the intersections of race, gender, sexual orientation, and class affected an individual and why this understanding was important to assure full human rights for these persons.xiii She was persistent in asserting that silence would not protect human rights and equality and why investigating and understanding our own experiences and speaking these truths was a necessary and skillful way to accomplish change:
xiii Again the similarity to dependent origination and cause and effect. Buddhist teachings and racial and social justice: similar paths to peace Gomez MB
We must first examine our feelings for questions, because all the rest has been
programmed. We have been taught how to understand, and in terms that will insure not
creativity, but the status quo. If we are looking for something which is new and
something which is vital, we must look first into the chaos within ourselves. That will
help us in the directions that we need to go--that's why our poetry is so essential, is so
vital (Hammond).
As in Buddhism, Lorde suggests here that self-inquiry is necessary for truth and justice. Lorde’s activism through poetry shifted the lens on Black women and feminism and like Sojourner Truth
(Black female abolitionist and women’s rights activists, 1797-1883) challenged us to experience and understand how our identities intersected as both cause and effect in a totality as opposed to presenting separately and in a hierarchy (Truth, The Narrative of Sojourner Truth). Both
Lorde and Truth asserted that being black and female was experienced differently and effected different outcomes than being black and male or white and female (Lorde). This assertion and experience can be understood within the context of the Buddhist teachings about cause and effect or dependent origination. Here Sojourner Truth is affirming that freedom for black women was as urgent as freedom for black men from enslavement:
There is a great stir about colored men getting their rights (they received their rights
after the Civil War), but not a word about the colored women; and if colored men get
their rights and not colored women theirs, you see the colored men will be masters over Buddhist teachings and racial and social justice: similar paths to peace Gomez MB
the women, and it will be just as bad as it was before. So I am for keeping the thing
going while things are stirring (Truth, Sojourner's words and music).
Sojourner Truth spoke consistently of the need for understanding [investigating] all of who we are so we are aware of what we are bringing to the process of seeking freedom. Likewise,
Rigoberta Menchu Tum, an indigenous and women’s rights activist from Guatemala, received a
Nobel peace prize for her struggle for the rights of the indigenous people exploited and oppressed during the Guatemalan Civil War (1960-1996). Today Menchu Tum continues to work for human rights for all indigenous peoples and women’s rights internationally. She asserts that if we are to change the world we must understand and transform ourselves, through non-violent means:
I think that nonviolence is one way of saying that there are other ways to solve
problems, not only through weapons and war. Nonviolence also means the recognition
that the person on one side of the trench and the person on the other side of the trench
are both human beings, with the same faculties. At some point they have to begin to
understand one another. (Guerra).
Menchu Tum also addresses the full meaning of peace: ‘Peace is not only the absence of War; as long as there is poverty, racism, discrimination and exclusion we can hardly reach a world of peace’ (Menchu). This same understanding is what socially engaged Buddhism in particular, seeks to address: engaging mindfulness in the world, in the midst of racism, discrimination, and exclusion to assure love and justice coexist.
Buddhist teachings and racial and social justice: similar paths to peace Gomez MB
Discussion
The Mahayana tradition of Buddhism teaches of the path to becoming a Bodhisattva, a person who expresses a determination to work for the happiness of others. The Bodhisattva makes four pledges: to save all beings from difficulties, to destroy all evil passions, to learn the truth and teach others, and to attain Buddhahood. This vow is not unlike the intentions driving the action of activists: to bring justice and equity for all. In general, individuals following the teachings of Buddhism take up a path of integrity: the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles. Activists do the same in their work of justice seeking. Indeed, it is hard to not refer to the Buddha as an activist: one who clearly delineated a path of integrity leading to internal and external freedom, the end of suffering and injustice.
This essay did not attempt to make any connections between the different Buddhist teachings presented here. Neither did it attempt to distinguish the different schools of Buddhism. It is not an essay to describe the interconnected teachings of Buddhism. Instead this essay provides specific teachings that could be arguably easily interpreted into the realm of social justice work.
Lastly, this essay does not delve into arguments against the interpretation of Buddhism as a means for social justice. In brief, Thanissaro Bhikkhu has written that Buddhist teachings seldom mention ‘justice’: ‘The Buddha did have clear standards for right and wrong, of skillful and unskillful ways of engaging with the world, but he hardly ever spoke of justice at all.
Instead, he spoke of actions that would lead to harmony and true happiness in the world.’
(Thanissaro). In this essay, the distinction between right and wrong is interpreted as the path to end suffering, harm, and inequity. Buddhist teachings and racial and social justice: similar paths to peace Gomez MB
Of importance is to mention that within both social justice work and Buddhist practices, there exist contradictions to the teachings of peace and non-harming. For example, activists working for racial justice may oppress women or queer people directly or indirectly. Some social justice organizations have large income gaps between employees. Similarly, Buddhist monks in Burma do not oppose “discrimination and exclusion,” and many Buddhists in North America and beyond placidly accept an economic order in which there is much poverty and remain patriarchal. Still, the teachings of Buddhism and social justice provide clear direction toward ending suffering, non-harming, and non-discrimination even while past and current practices in some places may contradict these.
Conclusion
While many consider Buddhist teachings and practices as beneficial only on an individual level, this is not so. As shown in this discussion, the teachings presented here can be used as a framework for understanding and creating the structural formation of society as well as through an individual’s transformation and their subsequent actions in society. Both impact the type of society we create, moving between degrees of justice and injustice. This understanding is critical for the translation of appropriate teachings to social justice work. The teachings discussed in this essay- The Four Noble Truths, Cause and Effect, Social Fabrication,
Mindfulness- as means to end suffering and non-harming are readily adopted into the mission of justice seekers. This was exemplified by examples of different activists, not known to be
Buddhist practitioners, living into these same Buddhist principles. In the work of today’s social Buddhist teachings and racial and social justice: similar paths to peace Gomez MB justice movements, identifying and aligning Buddhist teachings as a way to understand and carry out justice work can sustain internal and social transformation. Both social justice work and Buddhist goals of non-harming, truth-telling, equity, and peace can inform each other for a better society.
Lastly this is a mere summary intended to remind those already familiar with these concepts and practices and invite in those new to this understanding, of these timeless Buddhist teachings and their seamless social justice outcomes. During these times when our society seeks new means to end old problems we are reminded that these timeless teachings still remain the answer to past and present social problems.
Buddhist teachings and racial and social justice: similar paths to peace Gomez MB
Works Cited
AlanSenauke, Hozan. The Bodhisattva's embrace: Dispatches from engaged's BUddhist's front line. Bunnell: Clear View Press, 2010. Alexander, Michelle. The new Jim Crow: Mass incarceration in the age of colorblindness. NY: The New Press, 2000. Bodhi, Bhikkhu. "Khandhasamyutta: Connected discourse on the aggregates." Bodhi, Bhikkhu. A new translation of the Samyutta Nikaya. Wisdom Publications, 2000. 853-983. Bodhi, Bhikkhu. "Right Effort: Samma Vayama." Bodhi, Bhikkhu. The noble eightfold path: The way to the end of suffering. Kandy: Buddhist Publication Society, 2010. 65-78. Bodhi, Bhikkhu. "Setting in motion the wheel of the dhamma." Bodhi, Bhikkhu. The connected discourses of the Buddha: A new translation of the Samyutta Nikaya. Vol. 56:11. Boston: Wisdom Publications, 2000. 3 vols. 1843-1847. —. The Buddha's teachings on social and communal harmony. An anthology of discourse from the Pali canon. Somerville: Wisdom Publications, 2016. —. The great discource on causation. The Mahanidana sutta and its commentaries. Kandy: Buddhist Publication Society, 1995. Bond, George D. Buddhism at work: Community development, social empowerment and the Sarvodaya Movement. CT: Kumarian Press, 2004. Collins, Chuck, et al. "The road to zero wealth: How the racial wealth divide is hollowing out America's middle class." 11 September 2017. Institure for Policy Studies. 1 August 2018.
Fullilove, Mindy T. Root shock: How tearing up city neighborhoods hurt America, and what we can do about it. New York: One World/Ballantine, 2004. Gandhi, Mohandas Karamchand. The story of my experiments with truth. London: Pheonix Press, 1949. Glassman, Bernie. Bearing witness: A zen master's lesson in making peace. New York: Bell Tower, 1998. Gomez, Marisela B. "Dr. Kings' non-violence: Tactic and Truth." 27 March 2018. Path: Rebuilding abandoned communities in America. 4 May 2018.
Manuel, Earthlyn Zenju. The way of tenderness: Awakening through race, sexuality, and gender. Boston: Wisdom Publications, 2015. Mausisa, Victoria. "Plum Village Racial Equity Sangha: Living the dream of Thich Nhat Hanh and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr." 72 (2016): 23-24. 29 Jan 2019.
Willis, Jan. Dreaming me: Black, Baptist, and Buddhist. One woman's spiritual journey. Boston: Wisdom Publications, 2008.