#black buddhists

[divinum-pacis]

Long overlooked and newly energized, Black Buddhist studies challenges US Buddhist history

(RNS) — Buddhism is an American religious tradition that intersects meaningfully with African American religious history, experts in the eme

[brettesims]

NOTES ON YOGA

Yoga is mind control. Having control over your mind so that the mind does not wander.

Yoga = your mind controlling capacity

Yoga is often utilized as mental clarity before meditation. It Quiets the mind monkeys.

When your mind is wandering everywhere, searching all places, this is not peace.

Practice asanas.

Practice practice practice.

Practice = whole life.

Life is practice.

When you stop, you remain stagnant, idle or sluggish.

Make it habit.

🌼

Love,

Brette

Click HERE for more notes on yoga..

[divinum-pacis]

Reckoning with race, Black Buddhists seek space for healing in the dharma

(RNS) — The nation's reckoning with racism has prompted Black Buddhists to seek a practice that answers the moment.

[navigatethestream]

Oppression is a distortion of our true nature. It disconnects us from the earth and from each other. Awakening from the distortion of oppression begins with tenderness : we recognize our own wounded tenderness, which develops into the tenderness of vulnerability and culminates in the tenderness that comes with heartfelt and authentic liberation.

From The Way of Tenderness: Awakening through Race, Sexuality, and Gender by Zenju Earthlyn Manuel 

[speak3]

Where my Black Buddhists at?

[buddhistsofcolor]

I'm an African-American Buddhist and these are some of my observations. There aren't many Black Buddhists.

This is the blog of a Black Buddhist living in Seattle. This particular page I'm linking to has some really good book and article links. 

Enjoy!

[buddhistsofcolor]

The purpose of Rainbowdharma is to stimulate openness in the Buddhist community, and to provide transcendent teachings to the global community of peace seekers. Enjoy free streaming audio from beginning meditation teachings to advanced dzogchen dharma talks, watch videos and download to your computer, mobile phone, iPod or MP3 player.

This interview addresses culture, inclusion, and Buddhism as a tool for healing. 

[buddhistsofcolor]

Buddhism's pedagogical structure moves step by step. We don't start with enlightenment, we start with suffering, and then we proceed in a direction. The purpose of that is to clear obstacles that prevent us from living as a fully awakened, unobstructed human being. Some of these obstacles are intellectual, some are emotional, some are psychological, and some of them are cultural. It is how we move through these obstacles that gives Buddhism its ability to penetrate into the depths of people's hearts. It is important for African-Americans to be free to use their culturalisms as a means of liberating themselves from their culturalisms. We're not in competition with our Asian Buddhist counterparts, but just like Tibetans or Chinese or Japanese people can use their culture to achieve enlightenment, African-Americans can use their own culture, too. No one questions Tibetan, Japanese or Chinese culture in Buddhism, but the moment African-Americans say, "this is my culture and I am doing Buddhism," people say we are being ethnocentric. In fact, culture itself can be a vehicle for liberation when we use its narrowness and divisiveness as a teaching of what we must transcend. This is not just for African-Americans, but also for all human beings to consider carefully. What is your culture and has your practice allowed you to transcend it, or are you maintaining your culturalisms under the guise of Buddhology? Ultimately, we must always remember that the seed syllable Om is Buddha's gift to all of humanity. Buddha was not thinking about giving it to ensure the longevity of one cultural group.

Black Buddha: Bringing the Tradition Home by Lama Rangdrol

highly recommend reading the entire piece!