Guided meditation on the breath; peace of mind as a natural state. Dhamma talk on the disruptive and mysterious figure of the 'dark sage' with reference to three people in the suttas: Nālaka, Asito Devala, Ambaṭṭha. Discussion of this archetype, racism in the suttas, the three figures and their attempts to problematise caste.

On this 54th anniversary of the killing of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and the 55th anniversary of his talk, "Beyond Vietnam," at the Riverside Church in New York, we explore the nature of Buddhist practice to transform racism, in the context of examining the nature of awakening in the contemporary world. We start by asking whether we may be undergoing a kind of "Fourth Turning," in which there is emerging an expanded contemporary sense of awakening, which includes the transformation of forms greed, hatred, and delusion not explicitly identified in the traditional understanding of awakening. Answering the question affirmatively, we point to two broad areas of ignorance, related to psychological material, and to social conditioning and institutions. On this basis, we then use the traditional Buddhist framework of training in wisdom, meditation, and ethics (and action) to give a preliminary account of a Buddhist approach to transforming racism. From a wisdom perspective, we look particularly at the Buddha's response to the caste system, and his sense of caste divisions as arbitrary (and empty) constructions, followed by looking closely at the constructions of whiteness, blackness, and race in the colonies in the 17th century, linked with greed and the strategy of divide-and-conquer, which have been central to maintaining racism since then. We then look more briefly at the nature of meditative and ethical training in the transformation of racism. A discussion period follows the talk.

We are in a time of great transition. The climate crisis, the pandemic, war, injustice, racism: they're all pressing on us to live in a different way. And if you live with a peaceful heart, the point is not to let your heart get hardened. Don't turn your gaze away. But see another possibility—see with the great heart of compassion. My teacher Ajahn Chah said, "We human beings are constantly in combat, at war to escape the fact of being so limited by so many circumstances we cannot control. But instead of escaping, we continue to create suffering, waging war with evil, waging war with good, waging war with what is too small, waging war with what is too big, waging war with what is too short or too long, or right or wrong, courageously carrying on the battle. It's time to stop the war. " The sociobiologist Edward O. Wilson said, "The real problem of humanity is the following: we have Paleolithic emotions, medieval institutions, and god-like technology." The first response is tend the wounds, feed the hungry, and stand up for peace in whatever way you can. But there is also an inner response needed. We know where war starts—it starts in the human heart. We must make the heart a zone of peace. Set your compass to your highest intention. Something in us knows there is another way.

A year after the massive demonstrations in the US following the killing of George Floyd, we reflect on different aspects of the integration of Buddhist practice and transforming racism, identifying nine key themes.

How to relate to afflictive states; thoughts of unwholesome acts arise in meditation; how can I feel safety in my brown body when there is external racism; is the movement of citta saṇkhāra the same as cetana; feels like body grows bigger while meditating; body cells are asking for more oxygen; how to direct energy to peripheral parts of body; remaining with awareness mind while noticing absence of ‘I’; self-consciousness, fear making a mistake and being judged; affected by family’s trauma like citta is haunted.

In this dharma talk and discussion Norman Fischer presents his just-out book “When You Greet Me I Bow: Notes and Reflections from a Life in Zen,” a collection of thirty years of his Dharma essays, with his own contemporary reflections. Covering topics as wide-ranging as what is a Zen teacher, racism and Buddhism, politics and religion, women in Zen, and the dialogic nature of Zen practice, the book is a broad look at the Buddhist movement in the West, its challenges and changes over the decades. Norman reads a bit, talks a bit, and opens for conversation and exploration.

Dharma Talk

During this half-day, we will gather as a community of white people to investigate the impacts of racism and white supremacy culture in our hearts, minds, and communities. The Buddha’s teachings form a liberatory framework that helps us to explore racial conditioning. Using the Buddhist teachings, we will gain insight into how conditioning causes suffering both individually and collectively. With curiosity, compassion, and humility, we will learn together to uproot the delusions of separation and to nurture communities that foster liberation for all beings.

True belonging — a sense of connection, freedom, and joy — is possible in any moment, in any circumstance, for anyone. However, true belonging is not a destination; it is the process of continually reconnecting to the present moment, including everything happening in our lives and in our world. In this current moment, we may be feeling the belonging of interconnection: Everyone in the world is in the same rough waters of a global pandemic. Every American is tied to the history of slavery and anti-Black racism. But we also may feel the separateness of varying circumstances: We have differing "boats" to traverse these waters. We may have benefited or been oppressed by systems of institutionalized white supremacy. We belong to it all. Our practice teaches us to recognize our differences while never letting go of our inherent interconnection.

We explore the nature of ethical commitment and how our commitment not to harm also implies, following some of the teachings and actions of the Buddha and of other teachers, such as Thich Nhat Hanh, a commitment not to let others harm (or kill). On this basis, we then outline a number of possible ways to act to address the harm of racism, clarifying an important aspect of such action--that our actions to address harm as much as possible not cause further harm themselves. We end by remembering that we need perspectives and capacities, inner and outer, that help us to be engaged for the "long haul."