Events that may be of interest

4/14/2021

Just a note here that a number of events have been added to the resource page for April and May.

Mark Howell

4/14/2021 04:05:08 pm

I noticed this item added to the resource page: "Ann Gleig on Undoing Whiteness in American Buddhist Modernism."

I haven't heard Ms. Gleig's comments yet, but suggest this blog post by Brad Warner as an additional perspective on the issue: "Is American Buddhism Really 'Too White'?"

http://hardcorezen.info/is-american-buddhism-really-too-white/6520

Ryan Murphy

4/26/2021 10:23:58 am

Ouch!
As a Japanese American person, reading this really troubles me a lot. It makes me uncomfortable to share share space where I have to choose between peacefully abiding in the purported absence of racism or speak up in a way that is non-ideological or doesn't create waves.

Looking back a few weeks to the suggestion that we avoid ideology in this space, I would be interested to hear how this article comports with that suggestion. It feels like some ideologies are okay to be expressed while others are being asked to politely sit back and just be peaceful.

I feel like this quotation from Brad Warner speaks from a place of privilege that is unreflective and inconsiderate of non-white members of the community.

"My suggestion is that we just relax. People come to Zen Buddhist centers to learn about and practice Zen Buddhism. There is no evidence that there is any pressing need for Zen Buddhist centers to worry about diversity."

Mark, I say this from a place of compassion: I want to understand where you are coming from, but I honestly cannot expend my time and energy debating whether Zen or Buddhism in the West has a problem with race erasure and cultural appropriate.

If it makes you feel more comfortable. I'd be happy to bow out.

Mark Howell

4/26/2021 01:58:36 pm

That's disappointing. I did not want to leave on that note.

Ryan is correct to point out my suggestion to avoid ideological topics. I offered Brad Warner's post as a valid alternative voice to what already existed in the YOBA pages. There was hope of conversation.

I mentioned to Hoko last week my decision to step away for a different path and will step away from YOBA as well.

I am always available for conversation. Best wishes to everyone.

-Mark

Nate

4/27/2021 08:03:19 pm

If a person of color says they are troubled and not comfortable sharing in this space then all ears should perk up and we should be attentive. Instead he receives disappointment and attempts to keep the peace. I hear you Ryan and I can see why this article is problematic. I also agree that Brad Warner is speaking from privilege. He does not even bother to look outside his own whiteness and actually ask a non white person if the Buddhist sangha has a race problem. (Iris wrote about all of this in eloquent detail.) And you can’t just Dogen-splain it all away while criticizing Buddhist leaders who have the courage to help their sangha understand the suffering under the delusion of whiteness. I am certainly not finding that support in my sangha right now and I am not finding it in YOBA. How can we cultivate beneficial action for a cause we can’t openly discuss in meetings? That makes me too feel unsafe in that container. There is no such thing as a position-less position. Not to act is to act. Not to speak is to speak.

Hoko

4/26/2021 12:27:09 pm

I attended Ann Gleig's presentation and found it very informative (it will be posted on YouTube at some point). I have a longstanding interest in Buddhist Modernism (why we practice the way we do in 21st century America), which is her field of endeavor, and it bears directly on consideration of issues of white supremacy. Her point of view diverges completely from that of Brad Warner in the article cited above which, for the record, I find uninformed and lacking in subtlety. It can perhaps be attributed to the emergent nature of the national dialogue at the time it was written. hjk

Iris

4/26/2021 10:07:43 am

Brad is looking at the fact that there are many Asian American Buddhists in this country and therefore the percentage of American Buddhist practitioners that are white is lower than almost every other religion (and non-religious folks and atheists). He wants us to believe that this makes our sanghas “diverse” and therefore we don’t need to consider or deal with racism. However, the idea that this exempts American Buddhism from the white supremacy woven into the fabric of our society is naïve at best.

Brad clearly doesn’t understand systemic or interpersonal racism. He looks at racism very narrowly, as “preaching white supremacist doctrine from the dharma seat (the Buddhist equivalent of a pulpit).” He doesn’t understand our history of racism, dating back to the 1400s, when Prince Henry of Portugal needed to convince the Catholic church that it was morally acceptable to (illegally) take African people and sell them for labor in other countries. He hired someone to create a “scientific” text documenting “differences” between Black Africans and white Europeans in order to justify the Church’s approval, showing how these inferior people needed to be saved. Cue racist tropes that exist through today. All of this happened centuries after Dogen and Buddha’s time, so of course their teachings don’t delve into white supremacy. But Brad implies that the absence of this information means that it’s not relevant for Buddhist practitioners (regardless of race) to pursue the subject.

The fact that he brushes off the idea of racism in sanghas without asking folks of color what their experience is leaves me shaking my head. People who don’t experience racism (white people) should not have more authority to determine what is racist than the folks who actually experience racism. Brad is brilliantly demonstrating one of the more aggressive ways white American Buddhist clergy dismiss the very real experiences of people of color in the collective Buddhist sangha. (Others do it much more quietly and with a kind smile, as if they are helping the practitioners of color understand that they are actually mistaken, and if the practitioner would just look at it from a different perspective they would see this and be free from their delusion.)

When we talk to actual sangha members of color, when we look at various accounts published in books or online, it’s fairly easy to conclude that yes, racism within sanghas is a major problem for some practitioners of color, not all. (I’m generalizing for this particular conversation.) We can say the same about people who experience sexual harassment in their sangha: some, not all. Yet Brad recognizes sexual harassment in sanghas as a problem and dismisses racism. He has no idea that this is pure opinion, not the carefully considered perspective supported by Buddha and Dogen that he claims. White supremacy negatively affects white people in very specific ways. Instead of celebrating and encouraging diversity (of perspectives, cultural heritages, sexual orientation, genders, etc) within this enormous collective of “white-skinned” people, we erase our diversity and subscribe to a rather narrow set of standards for what is “good” and “right” for society. Unless we examine this more closely, we completely believe that these standards are “neutral,” “normal,” “universal,” “apolitical.” It is none of these. Since the mainstream holds power and declares this to be true, these terms are cemented into mainstream belief as true and we lose the ability to see it as only opinion. Those who don’t share this perspective appear to be individual outliers instead of entire groups of people with their own values, perspectives, cultures, and desires.

Brad mentions that Buddhism is so white because so many Americans come to Buddhism from the mostly-white non-affiliated and atheist categories. He doesn’t discuss the Asian-American Buddhists who were born into Buddhism through their cultural heritage. Has he considered whether these Buddhists attend centers that may be mostly comprised of families from shared cultural heritages? (I think that would be what he calls mono-cultures and which he seems to believe exist outside of Buddhism.) When I lived in Bloomington a few years ago, I worked with a 17-year-old Cambodian girl. We ended up having wonderful conversations about Cambodian Buddhism once she understood that I was very respectful and felt positively toward her specific form of Buddhism. Another woman I worked for was part of another Buddhist group which was majority Thai. It sounded like these communities included entire families, not just individuals (which I suspect is much more prevalent in white Buddhist spaces). My point is that Brad doesn’t realize how he considers only his own experience

Iris

4/26/2021 10:18:24 am

My point is that Brad doesn’t realize how he considers only his own experience and viewpoint when interpretating the data he presents. He wants to prove his point and uses only the information he deems relevant to do so. Again, he provides a brilliant example of racism. Focusing on the mainstream white perspective, ignoring others’ perspectives, declaring his unproven findings as legitimate, with the full support of a white society that doesn’t push back. It’s not a coincidence that this happens, that’s what systemic racism IS.

(To be clear, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with sharing the article. My personal opinion is that it’s always okay to share opinions, even when they’re bigoted. But it’s just as important to say it.)

My takeaway from this article is that our vows are indeed endless. “Beings are numberless, I vow to free them.” We are all swimming in the waters of white supremacy and one of the tragedies is that we (white people) lose our compassion and interconnectedness when we turn away from the reality of human oppression and suffering. “Delusions are inexhaustible, I vow to end them.” When our own participation in systemic harm is unexamined, we take away our very ability to choose compassion, to follow the precepts, to nurture life, to avoid harming others. “Dharma gates are boundless, I vow to enter them.” I’m grateful for this opportunity to examine the attitude displayed in this article. I’m trying to heal the trauma from my marginalized identities. Part of that is to look more critically at the narratives that legitimize and reward the most mainstream. Facts and history present a different story in which non-white, non-male, non-het (etc etc) beings have space to exist. “Buddha’s way is unsurpassable, I vow to realize it.” Buddha and Dogen teach us about non-duality. Racism is rooted in and supported by duality. As Buddhists we can go beyond white people’s ingrained fear of being wrong or mean or simply not the center of the conversation, and explore our country’s deep-rooted racism as a path toward our liberation.

Nate

4/27/2021 08:12:08 am

Concerning systemic racism in the United States, the vows have never been more clear to me. Thank you for your thoughtful, well articulated observations.

Hoko

4/26/2021 02:28:56 pm

May I point out that everyone offering to bow out and leave the room when the conversation gets difficult is exactly what has participants concerned about Sanshin's positionless position? Can we all see now why this is so difficult for both individuals and organizations?

It was my hope that when this project became sangha-led rather than staff-led, wise and compassionate candid conversation would be unblocked. As I so frequently remind the sangha, Job One for the bodhisattva is not to look away. It's possible to have the tough conversations without breaking relationships. I've already seen it happen in this YOBA project, so I know it's possible.

We need to be able to be vulnerable together and expose our areas of ignorance. Buddha knows I've got a bunch, and lately I've been trying to put those blindspots in front of people who can point them out to me so I can do something about them. Scary? Glory, yes. That's why practice takes courage. No one said this would be easy. There is a reason that vīrya (persistence/perseverance) is one of the pāramitās.

I see that Mark's comment doesn't allow for replies. I will forward this to him separately. hjk

Mark Howell

4/27/2021 04:31:03 am

DOGEN AND ZAZEN- ANYTHING ELSE IS EXTRA.
This exchange of comments has been upsetting. I feel that I need to make a few comments and provide a level of specificity that I could not muster last night.

First, comments by Iris and Ryan had nothing to do with leaving YOBA- I made that decision following an email and phone conversation with YOBA’s leadership. My interest in the group has always been to explore Dogen’s Shishobo as a guide to beneficial action. Anyone who has read my comments on these pages will see that I made the case that there is much to learn from Dogen and from Sanshin’s leadership. Within the last month, I learned by email that the group is “moving away from the Shishobo as the foundation of our work and more to our broader dharma network to provoke discussion and action.” This was confirmed after a cordial telephone discussion with Mark Fraley. My interest is in the teachings of Dogen and Sanshin’s lineage, the practice of shikintaza, none of which teach provocation. Therefore, I decided to leave this group in peace on April 14th.

I was surprised to see Iris’ comments yesterday (the website has an option to be notified of comments so I received them by email.) I have tried in earnest to read them without getting the sense that I am being called a ‘bigot’ Anyone that knows me knows I am not now and never have been a bigot. Nor am I oblivious to the argument that everyone lives in delusion. I get that, Dogen has a lot to teach on the subject. I believe we are defined by what we control; our actions and intentions, and our moment-by-moment practice. We do not control our gender, race, or ethnicity. I think that is why they’re not discussed in Zen literature as points of practice.

That is a general indication of where I am coming from. And here is a specific indication. I first came to Sanshin to participate in Okumura Roshi’s Dogen study group. It knocked my socks off! A Japanese priest established a Zen temple and shared the wonderous and profound teachings of a 13th century Japanese philosopher. Dogen’s teachings, translated and manifested through Okumura Roshi, were foundational in my personal Zen training and practice.

I see no benefit to twisting the temple through the lens of white supremacy- why do this? If white people are in the Sangha it’s because the temple is in Bloomington, Indiana. As far as the delusions that these people may carry in their minds, Dogen, Okumura, Uchiyama and Sawaki have very sound advice for dealing with it through Zen practice. This is exactly why people go there.

Lastly, I welcome any opportunity for a discussion of ideas, for conversations. To “Think Deeply. Listen to the other side. Reflect on what others are saying. Then ask yourself not just how you feel, but what you think is right[1]”. I am easy to find- please reach out.

Now, I am signing off these pages.

Best,
Mark
--

[1] A. C. Brooks, Love your enemies: how decent people can save America from our culture of contempt, First edition. New York, NY: Broadside Books, 2018.

mark fraley

4/28/2021 04:50:43 am

Hi folks - This discussion reminds me of a video conversation between Reverend Alex Kakuyo and Brad Warner that took place in the context of the George Floyd killing and subsequent protests. They don't talk specifically about issues of whiteness in Buddhist sanghas, but Reverend Kakuyo speaks quite compellingly about the role of Buddhists in activism and addressing racial justice. Brad seems to be listening earnestly and re-evaluating his perspective in real time. These conversations are uncomfortable to have. But our discomfort can be an opportunity for self-reflection and growth.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePXVj2iv7rE

Sawyer Jisho Hitchcock

5/6/2021 06:36:08 am

Finding time to read again through these posts, and especially watching the conversation from a year ago between Brad Warner and Alex Kakuyo (thank you Mark F!), for me there's this feeling that beautiful potentials are alive right here, right alongside the unsettledness, stuckness, and even personal, social, and historical traumas/"woundedness." Comparing what felt to me like, yes, privileged and simplistic dismissiveness, in Brad Warner's essay from a few years ago to what I saw in the 2020 video as his genuine aspiration to respond wisely and personally to our society's ills (including systemic racism) feels important. Feels like real affirmation that good transformation of views, though often awkward or even traumatic, is possible within the frame of this practice. Blooming happens, sometimes slowly, or "inefficiently" -- that lack of control of results might be necessarily part of any deep healing and transformation of suffering.

Slowness of right response within sangha to what feels very urgent can be frustrating, but considering the complexity of the historical traumas that Iris brought forward above (and the difficulty of consciously connecting that insight to daily, moment by moment life and practice, as Mark H. reminds), maybe slowness, even inefficiency, is not the enemy. But steps can be taken, conversation can be encouraged to unfold. Not everyone comes to a conversation from the same level of understanding. Right speech over the Internet has its own difficulties and possibilities...

I'm wondering if anyone who sees this post would like to join me in watching Ann Gleig's talk (Hoko posted a link to a recording on the resource page). Maybe easiest to watch on our own, then find a time to share space for conversation around it sometime in the near future. People could respond here with interest and we could arrange a time to gather round Zoom?

I'm wondering also if there could be a way of displaying on the resource page who plans to attend certain event offerings. Could start to grow some communal feelings around what we're doing here with YOBA, maybe ground some future discussions within the sangha spun off from shared events...

I'm interested also in sharing an avenue with others for direct contemplation/discussion of Shishobo, maybe in a similar format as some of us here are doing for the Wednesday night book discussion of "Homeless Kodo." Could discuss the text, Hojo-san's writing on it, Hoko's talks on it, etc. "Loving-speech," the section after our focus on "offering" from earlier this year, feels very relevant to me for all of this. I'd love to hear more from our teachers on this text, alongside the outside speakers which have been great, considering Sanshin's special focuses and strengths relating to Dogen. Anyone else?

"In the Buddha way, we have the words "Please treasure yourself," and there is a disciple's filial duty to ask their teachers "How are you?"

I really do feel there's fertile ground here. Take care all !

What's Here

We'll post one or more questions each week for reflection and discussion. Please actively contribute to the discussion by posting your reflections and responses and engaging with the posts of others. Your posts need not be text only if you prefer to share artwork, songs, videos or other forms of expression. Click on the title of the post to bring up a comment form that you can full out and submit.

Year of Beneficial Action:
Discussion